twd: florida lime pie

for this week's tuesdays with dorie, dianne of dianne's dishes choose the lovely dorie variation on the classic key lime pie. after all the more rich peanut butter tortes out there last week, i was really looking forward to everyone's light, refreshing lime pies.



the variation here is the coconut cream layer on the bottom, plus the coconut meringue. i like coconut, but i'm not a fan, i really wouldn't go out of my way for it. so i chose to only do the cream layer. and because i'm even less of a fan of meringue, i also chose to do a simple whipped cream for garnish (although i have to admit i walked away while the lovely KA was whipping, and i came back to almost butter, woops!) i also added a little bit of zest to the filling because i am a firm believer that limey things should be puckery tart!





even though graham cracker crusts are easy enough to make, dorie says that she usually just buys a store crust. well, if it's good enough for dorie, it's darn good enough for moi! especially when i find myself at 22:30 on monday night just starting to make this thing! to make myself feel a little better, i opted for an organic crust. it was 9" but maybe a little shallow because with the cream layer and lime filling, it went right up to the top.

coconut cream layer


i wasn't terribly fond of the coconut cream layer, but mr. mimi liked this pie lot. then again, you'd be hard put to find a sweet treat that mr. mimi doesn't like! just kiddin' hunny!! but i prefer the full tartness of a classic key lime pie. if i were to make this one over again, i probably would at least toast the coconut first.

i really wanted to make candied lime slices and rim around the crust, but again, the 22:30 on a monday night kind of made that a no-go. i hope someone else did, because i'd love to see how it looks! to catch up with all the other TWD bakers, check out here.



florida lime pie: serves 8
adapted from dorie's baking (2006, p. 340)

1 9" graham cracker crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs yolks
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1 tb of fresh lime zest

1. preheat oven to 350F. put pie plate on baking sheet lined with parchment.

2. on medium low, heat the cream and coconut in small saucepan. bring to boil, stir almost constantly. continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and mixture is slightly thickened. set aside.

3. with mixer and paddle attachment, beat egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale. reduce to low and beat in condensed milk. add half of the lime juice and mix. add the remaining juice and zest and mix until well incorporated.

4. spread coconut cream layer in bottom of pie pan. pour lime filling on top.

5. bake pie for 14-16 minutes (should look set but still a little quivery; this time is longer because i didn't use the meringue). transfer to cooling rack, let cool completely, and then refrigerate until cold or next day. serve with dollop of fresh cream!