Key Lime Pie is something I ate a lot in my late teens and early 20’s when I lived in Miami. It’s everywhere in South Florida and surprisingly I found it was also fairly popular in New York City when I moved there too. Since coming to London I’ve really missed Key Lime Pie – there’s just nothing better. It might be my favourite dessert. My Whipped Key Lime Pie With Strawberries is a great substitute for the South Florida versions made with teeny, tiny key limes and rather than topping it with whipped cream it’s included in the filling making it so light and airy. This really is a great pie and it’s going on my regular rotation of dinner party desserts.
While I’m not going to insist you use actual Key limes which are difficult to find outside of Florida, I am going to insist you squeeze the lime juice yourself rather than buying the convenient little bottle of lime juice in the grocery store. It will taste better and be totally worth it.
This pie is absolutely fine on its own, but I really like the macerated strawberries on top or on the side – it’s a great flavour combination. That said, you can skip the strawberries if you like and serve it plain, sprinkled with some chopped pecans or even scatter a little coconut on top. It’s up to you how you serve, but this is how I like it best. Let’s get started!
Ingredients
- 3 punnets of strawberries
- 2 tablespoons white caster sugar (super fine sugar)
- 12 digestive biscuits (or graham crackers)
- 50g unsalted butter, softened
- 25g white caster sugar
- 50g pecans
- 1x 397g can of condensed milk
- Zest of 1 lime
- 125ml freshly squeezed lime juice
- 300ml double cream
- Additional pecans, very finely chopped to serve
Method
- Start with the strawberries so they can get nice and juicy in the refrigerator. Cut off the green tops and quarter them or slice them however you like and put the pieces into a sealable container with plenty of room as you go. Once they’re all chopped, add the sugar and stir until all the strawberry pieces are coated. You might like to do this one spoonful at a time as you might not need the entire 2 tablespoons of sugar, depending on how big the strawberries are and how many good ones you get. You just want enough sugar to lightly snow across the top of all the strawberries. As the berries rest in the fridge, they will macerate, meaning that the sugar will draw the juice out of them and as they rest in their own sweetened juice they will soften a bit. I prefer mine to not be too terribly sweet, but if you want your berries to be super sweet, then add as much sugar as you like. This is my favourite way to eat strawberries and it’s wonderful for desserts!
- Once the strawberries are in the fridge, it’s time to make the crust. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C / 180°Fan / 400°F and pop the digestives into a food processor along with the 50g of softened butter, 25g of caster sugar and the 50g of pecans. Whiz these ingredients together until you have what resembles damp sand. If you don’t have a food processor, you can absolutely do this by hand – bash the biscuits in a plastic bag along with the sugar and the pecans. Melt the butter first before pouring it in and massage it all together until you have that sandy consistency.
- Press the crust mixture into a pie plate, working it up the sides and pressing it to create a pie crust. When you’ve got the crust worked into the pie plate as best and as evenly as you can (it won’t be perfect nor should it be), bake it for 5 minutes in the oven. Remove the crust from the oven and leave it to cool. (You can make this a day before if you’d like.)
- Once your pie crust is cooled and ready, add the condensed milk, lime zest and lime juice to a large mixing bowl and stir until combined with a wire whisk.
- In another large mixing bowl, add the cream and beat it until stiff peaks form with a hand mixer, electric whisk, stand mixer or if you’re fit enough, by hand with a wire whisk. Pour the whipped cream into the bowl with the lime mixture and gently fold it in using a rubber spatula. Do not stir or the cream might loose some of its oomph. When the cream has been suitably incorporated into the lime mixture, use your rubber spatula to scrape every last bit of this into your cooled pie crust, smoothing it as best you can across the top. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving, but preferably for 4. After the first two hours cover it with cling film to keep it fresh until you’re ready to serve.
- To serve, plate a slice of the whipped key lime pie and scoop out some of the macerated strawberries onto the pie. Finish with a sprinkling of finely chopped pecans.
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