Key Lime Pie, Coconut Crust

A classic, silky, key lime pie with a chewy, toasted coconut macaroon crust.

Clockwise from top left: Key Lime Pie in crumb crust with whipped cream; vintage Florida Keys postcard; (Put the Lime in the) Coconut record cover, by Harry Nilsson; vintage key lime pie recipe cards; Key Lime Pie with Coconut Crust

I’ve only been to Florida once, and that was to drive through all of the keys to get to Key West. The single-lane road is flat with scrub on either side and sandy—it reminded me of parts of New Jersey by the shore. It’s dotted with produce stands selling lime pie, grocery stores that sell it, and charming little stands that sell nothing but. Some pies came as a slice frozen on a stick, or lightened with egg whites like a chiffon, but mostly it’s the reliable recipe with just key lime juice, eggs, sugar, and sweetened condensed milk. It’s too sweet by half, but it’s also just as it should be.
The bite is what I love. When it’s ice-cold, which is my preference, the filling has an irresistible fudgy texture that is pretty unique to lime pie.

There are a couple of standard ways to go about making the lime pie. If you look at the vintage recipe cards above, you’ll see that they don’t cook the filling. The recipe on the Carnation tin doesn’t even use eggs, just lime juice mixed with condensed milk; the acid in the lime juice thickens the milk as it chills in its shell.

Sometimes you have mishaps or are short on ingredients and the process helps you land on just the right thing. I made three attempts at different crusts until I landed on this coconut macaroon crust. For my first try, I used my gf cream cheese crust but I didn’t use weights and the sides collapsed and I ran out of dough. Then I tried crushed up store-bought gf snickerdoodles, but I burnt them while making crumbs out of them. Lastly, and fortunately—because this is a spectacular crust for a citrus pie—I made the winning coconut macaroon crust. This crust would be perfect also for a chocolate pudding pie, banana cream pie, or a butterscotch pie. If it’s a pie that requires baking after filling, just pre-bake it a touch less than for a non-baked filling.

Also: about key limes. I bought a bag of fresh key limes (not from Florida), and they just don’t taste like Florida key limes. It’s like Concord grapes grown in California— they are a shadow of what the east-coast original is and not worth using. Use what is best in your part of the country.

This pie is sweeeet, and I suggest a little unsweetened whipped cream yin to tone down the yang.

RECIPE

Yields one 9-inch round tart made in a springform pan

Crust
• 225g / 3 Cups small-flake unsweetened coconut

•130g / 2/3 Cup sugar

• 6 Tbs gf flour blend

• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 4 egg whites, large

• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350ºf.

Prepare springform by buttering sides and bottom of pan.

Mix crust ingredients and press into pan. Press the mixture evenly in the bottom and up the sides 1 1/2-inches, making sure the top is even. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Filling
• 2 (14-oz) cans sweetened condensed milk

• 5 large egg yolks

• 1 1/4 C key lime juice, “regular” lime juice, or lemon/lime combo

• Finely grated zest from 1 lime (optional)

• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Whisk together all ingredients and pour into pre-baked pie shell. You needn’t cool shell first, just pour straight into the hot shell.

Bake 350°f 15-20 minutes until set but a little wobbly still. Cool, chill well.

Top with softly whipped, unsweetened cream. If the cream gets a little over-whipped, you can gently mix in a little more cream and it will smooth it out (this only works if it’s not too terribly over-whipped).

Keeps refrigerated for 5 days.