Authentic Key Lime Pie Recipe

Heat oven to 350ºF. In a food processor, blend the graham crackers until they are fine crumbs (you should have 1 ¾ cups crumbs). Add the sugar and butter and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.

Press the crust mixture evenly into a 9-inch pie pan, pressing firmly on the bottom and sides to create a full crust. Bake until dry and light golden brown, about 6 minutes. Leave oven on.

Mix egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add the condensed milk in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Raise speed to high and mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the lime juice; mix until just combined.

Pour filling into baked crust and bake again until filling is set, 10 minutes. Let the pie cool completely, then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. (You can stick toothpicks in the filling and wrap the pie in plastic wrap; the toothpicks will prevent the plastic wrap from sticking to the pie surface)

To make the topping, whip the cream and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer until firm peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.

Dress the pie by placing the topping in a piping bag fitted with a #824 large open star tip and pipe the topping around the outside edge of the pie. Garnish with sliced limes. Or, for a more simple presentation, serve each slice of pie with a dollop of cream topping and a slice of lime.

Leftover pie can be wrapped and kept in the fridge up to 3 days.