CIA'S Key Lime Pie

We were entertaining some family friends the other night for dinner. And my mom asked me to make some sort of fruity dessert. "Maybe a Key lime pie? or something?", she said.

I've never made anything out of my "Culinary Institute of America" baking book before, and when I saw how easy their Key lime pie recipe was, I decided on that.

This was absolutely the EASIEST pie ever to put together, and I couldn't believe how good it tasted! The key lime filling was perfect and had that sweet, yet tangy taste of key limes. Everyone loved it, so much so that they were all licking the pie plate after we'd finished it! If you need an easy, go to pie recipe. This is it.

Key Lime Pie

Baking at Home w/ The culinary institute of America

Graham Cracker Crust

10-12 graham crackers

2 tbsp. sugar

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Key Lime filling

4 large eggs

one 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lime juice, preferably from key limes

1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. lightly spray a 9inch pie pan with cooking spray.

Crumble crackers in a food processor to a fine crumb. Or in a plastic bag. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of crumbs. Stir together crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Use bottom of a glass or flat surface to press into a compact layer in pan covering bottom and sides.

Bake crust for 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool while preparing filling.

Separate eggs into whites and yolks.

Combine condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks and blend. Pour filling into crust and bake  until filling is set, about 15 minutes. Prepare meringue while filling bakes.

Beat egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl just until blended. Heat this mixture over simmering water until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture reaches about 110 degrees on a candy thermometer. remove from heat. whip the warmed egg white mixture until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Remove the baked pie from the oven and increase oven temp. to 450 F. spread meringue over the filling while the filling is still hot. make decorate peaks and swirls over surface.

return pie to the oven just long enough to lightly brown the meringue, about 5 minutes.

Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve chilled.