Key Lime Pie

This summer, for the first time, I made key lime pie.  It's one of my dad's favorite pies.  After reading some recipes I settled on this one by Emeril from the Food Network.  It's a good, easy to follow recipe that makes a scrumptious pie.  It is so tasty!  I ended up making this pie four or five times this summer.  

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted
• 2 (14-ounce) cans condensed milk - I like Eagle Brand
• 1 cup key lime or regular lime juice - 8-10 limes 
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon lime zest

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (depending on your oven) and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  (Side note: sometimes I baked my pies for 30 minutes.  I baked them until they were no longer jiggly in the middle.  There was a little movement but it didn't jiggle like jello.  Another test is inserting a knife and if it comes out clean, the pie is done.)

Once chilled, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar and spread over the top of the pie using a spatula. Sprinkle the lime zest as a garnish on top of the whipped cream sour cream and serve chilled.

So the original recipe calls for a sour cream topping...personally I didn't like it.  Call me crazy or a Yankee, but I wanted a sweet topping.  I substituted good ole' whipped cream for the sour cream, and it was delicious.  

This is a recipe I am locking away in my arsenal.  It's a good pie recipe that yields happy tummies.