This was also one of those "you learn something new every day" recipes. You see, I didn't realize there is a big, big, BIG difference between "evaporated milk" and "sweetened condensed milk". What is the difference you ask? About a pound of sugar. I have never used any sort of canned milk before, other than coconut milk. Which, come to think about it, would probably make a dandy key lime coconut pie.
Note to self: Use a can of coconut milk next time. And make a pecan crust like in Goaty Goodness so that Alan can enjoy it.
So the recipes for Key Lime Pie are simple enough, and are pretty standard. All of them seemed about the same.
Start with the crust. Melt 1/4 cup of butter on a low heat in a pot. Once melted, add 1 cup of graham crackers and stir.
Realize that there is no way this amount of graham cracker mixture will cover the bottom of the round pan to make a thick enough crust.
Melt another 1/4 cup of butter and add another cup of graham crackers, mix, and pour into the pan and fill in the last bits. Use the back of a spoon to smooth it and press it in. You are looking for even-ness all around. Bake this in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes.
In the meantime, make the filling.
Juice enough key limes (or regular limes, if so inclinded) to make up half a cup.
Zest a couple of limes, to make up about 1 Tablespoon of zest.
Separate 4 eggs, and dump the yolks in a stand mixer and whip them up nice and fluffy. Set aside the egg whites for use later. Add the can of CONDENSED SWEETENED MILK. Or in my case, add a can of evaporated milk. Take a taste after you have added all the lime juice, zest and a good wodge of vanilla. Realize it is INCREDIBLY SOUR. Spend 20 minutes reading up on the internet about the differences between condensed milk and evaporated milk. Smack yourself on the head and think to yourself, "DAMMIT. I should have gotten Pam Eisen-Goldfarb's recipe after all". Then discuss possibilities with your 11 year old pastry chef on ways to fix it.
He decided that we should add sugar by the tablespoonful until it tasted reasonably sweet. I think we added about 6 tablespoons, but I am not quite sure. I stopped counting after 3.
We then decided to add one more egg yolk, just for good measure.
Ethan really enjoyed separating the eggs.
All of the recipes I reviewed said to pour the mixture into the already cooked graham crust and to cook it for about 15 minutes in a 350 oven. We did that. And noticed it was still completely liquid, so we baked it for another 10 minutes. And it was still liquid. So we kept it going, checking it every 5 minutes or so. It ended up being in the oven for 40 minutes, and still had a substantial jiggle to the centre, but I figured if I left it in any longer the crust would burn. Turned out, it was perfect.
We let it cool overnight in the fridge, and the next day I whipped up some whipping cream in the stand mixture, and used it to decorate the pie. Last year I bought a pastry bag (which promptly disappeared) and a whole bunch of tips for making all kinds of cool shapes. Since I couldn't find the pastry bag anywhere, I folded up some wax paper and used that, with one of the metal tips shoved in the end. I could have used a ziplock too, but didn't think of it in time. It probably would have been easier. So I shmeared a huge wodge of whipped cream in, and oh so delicately started to pipe in the cream around the edges. I then added some slices of lime, and voila! Key Lime Pie.
I have to say... even with the screwup, it was delicious. So boo sucks to you Pam Eisen-Goldfarb! Our guest enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure it wasn't just the wine talking.
To see what we did with the egg whites, tune in to part 2. To be continued....
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