Key Lime Pie with Gingersnap Crust

Every now and then the stars align and an unusual ingredient mysteriously appears in my local grocery store. The last time this occurred we reveled in baby bok choy joy. This time around I became unreasonably excited over tiny key limes.

Beautiful, tart green globes of flavor- key limes are worth celebrating. In fact, whenever I become giddy over limes I immediately think of the Saturday Night Live spoof of Antonio Banderas, where he is flirting heavily with a female Lyme disease expert, telling her with a thick Spanish accent: "Thank you for inventing the lime. It is very sexy."

With summer in full swing I could think of no better way to enjoy my lime find than with a fresh key lime pie. When I assembled my ingredients I found that I was completely out of graham crackers so I improvised and used gingersnap cookies instead. It was a brilliant substitution. The bright peppery flavor of the gingersnap cookies was the perfect partner for the tart key lime juice. We loved this combination so much I doubt I will ever make a key lime pie with graham crackers again!

This pie could not be easier to make, and with a press in crust even those who fear dough have no reason to shy away. If you can find lovely key limes in your grocery store, then dive right in and give this pie a try. One bite of the creamy goodness and you will turn to the person next to you and say, "Thank you for inventing the lime!"

P.S. If you have any limes leftover they make a killer margarita!

Key Lime Pie with Gingersnap Crust (Printable Recipe)
Adapted from Gourmet
Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

Crust
1 1/4 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (from about 12 cookies)
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice (from about 1 lb of limes)

Topping
3/4 cup chilled heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F, with a rack in the middle.

In a medium bowl, mix together gingersnap crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Stir with a fork until ingredients are well combined. Press mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9" pie plate.

Place pie crust into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove pie plate from the oven and let the crust cool on a rack while you make the filling. (Leave the oven turned on.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the condensed milk and egg yolks until well combined. Add in the key lime juice and whisk until the ingredients are mixed and slightly thickend.

Pour the mix into the crust and return the pie to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie from oven and allow it to cool completely (the filling will firm up when cool). Cover the cooled pie and chill in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Prior to serving the pie, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form using an electric mixer or a whisk (and a lot of elbow grease!).

Cut the pie into slices and serve each slice topped with a dollop of whipped cream.