If you have ever had the pleasure of having an authentic key lime pie, the smooth, tart, yet sweet flavors of the key lime custard baked creamy perfection just might become an obsession. However, chefs and home cooks have quite the love-hate relationship with fresh key limes. While it is easy to love the extra tart, aromatic, floral flavors form the key lime, they are famously labor-intensive to juice.
The Vinci Hands Free Citrus Juicer, unlike many other juicers, handles juicing key limes like a champ. While it still takes many key limes to get the juice yield you are looking for, the Vinci Juicer automatically and effortlessly juices key limes, requiring no hand strength.
Now when you see if recipe calling for fresh key limes, you can breathe a sigh of relief and pull out your Vinci Hands Free Citrus Juicer.
Key limes are fantastic in all kinds of recipes from limeade, ceviche, marinades, cookies, cakes, pies, ice creams, cocktails, cupcakes, sauces...the list goes on and on.
For our favorite Key Lime Pie recipe, we nearly double the custard filling, because well that's what we are craving.This recipe is made easy using the Vinci Citrus Juicer.
Ingredients
For crust:
- 7 (5-by 2 1/2-inch) graham crackers, broken into small pieces
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted plus 1 tablespoon at room temp for buttering pie pan
- 2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup fresh key lime juice (from about 2 pounds fresh key limes)
- Grated zest of 2 key limes
- 4 large egg yolks
- Serve with sweetened whipped cream
Instructions
Make crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch pie dish.
- Pulse together graham crackers and sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl and stir in melted butter. Press crumb mixture evenly onto the bottom and up the 3/4 up the side of the pie pan.
- Bake on the middle rack until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool completely. (Leave oven on.)
Make filling and bake pie:
- Gently whisk together filling ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth and pour into crust.
- Bake at 350°F until just set in center, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Cool completely (filling will set as it cools). Chill pie, loosely covered, at least 8 hours. Serve topped with fresh with sweetened whipped cream.
Key Limes Factoids:
-Key limes, also known as Mexican or West Indian limes, are more aromatic, with tarter and more floral juice than regular grocery store Persian limes.
-Key limes go by several different names. Some of the other names for key limes are Mexican lime, West Indian lime, Omani lime, or Bartender's lime.
-Key Limes turn yellow when ripe. People usually associate Key limes with being green, since that is the color they are when picked. However, Key limes actually turn yellow when they are fully ripe.
-They are slightly yellow and contain more seeds.
-Key limes can cost two to three times as much as common grocery Persian limes.
-Though less common in the U.S., they're more prevalent throughout the rest of the world.
-Key Limes are an excellent source of vitamin C. One Key Lime fruit contains 14% of the daily vitamin C requirement.
-National Key Lime Pie Day is September 26th! Be sure to mark your calendars now to celebrate accordingly!
Where to find fresh key limes:
Key limes are readily available year-round in most grocers. If your local store does not carry them try a Mexican specialty market. You can also find fresh key limes for sale online.
How to choose key limes:
To select a ripe key lime, make sure the skin has turned yellow and is unblemished. A ripe key lime feels heavy for its size.
Enjoy!
Vinci Housewares