No Bake Key Lime Pie
Lime juice, condensed milk and whipped cream in a graham cracker crust, chilled for 4 hours to a cool, tangy set.
Photograph credit: Sliced Key Lime Pie on White Ceramic Plate by Caramelle Gastronomia · Pexels License · Pexels
Make Ahead and Storage
Keeps in the fridge for 3 days.
No Bake Key Lime Pie: The Method
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Mix the biscuit crumbs and melted butter and press into a 23 cm pie dish. Chill for 15 minutes.
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Stir the condensed milk with the lime juice and zest slowly until thickened.
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Fold in the 300 ml whipped cream in 2 additions.
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Pour into the crust and smooth the top.
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Chill for at least 4 hours and top with the remaining whipped cream.
Worth Knowing
- Use fresh lime juice, not bottled.
- Fold in the cream gently.
- Chill for at least 4 hours.
Why the Method Is What It Is
The standard version of this pie from Florida is baked, though the setting is done by the lime juice itself. The acid in lime thickens the protein in condensed milk, so even without an oven the filling firms up into a creamy, sliceable custard in the fridge. A baked pie just speeds it up and adds a golden finish.
It was historically made with the tiny, intensely sour key limes of the Florida Keys, which have a floral, slightly bitter flavour, but ordinary limes work well. Use fresh juice only. Bottled juice is dull and sometimes metallic. Squeeze about 120 ml, which is 4 to 5 limes, and zest two of them for extra aroma before cutting. The zest is where the oils are.
Fold the whipped cream in last, and gently. The filling is condensed milk mixed with lime juice and zest, to which whipped cream is added to lighten it. Stir the juice in slowly, and the mixture visibly thickens within a minute. Whip the cream separately to soft peaks, and fold it in with a large spatula in two additions.
Pour into the biscuit crust, smooth the top and chill for at least 4 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a twist of lime zest. A traditional key lime pie is pale yellow, never green, so skip the food colouring.
What to Put Next to It
Whipped cream · Fresh lime zest · Coffee · Sparkling wine
Swaps and Variations
- Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.
Questions About No Bake Key Lime Pie
How long does No Bake Key Lime Pie take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 4 hours 15 minutes of Chilling, so allow 4 hours 35 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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