Key Lime Pie

I (Sunny) love when friends ask me to cook for them. I would have to say "cooking definitely makes me happy"...sorry it just fit:) I was given the opportunity to cook for the church staff today and got excited because that gave me the chance to try a recipe that I have been wanting to try to perfect. I am in absolute love with Key Lime Pie and searched the web for a recipe that would taste like lime and not pudding. I wanted the real thing. Sunday I had my first go round and I knew that it was a "repeat with modifications"...OK, a little history lesson to explain this rating scale. Our Papa Pete didn't believe in getting rid of something just because it didn't work or was broken so just about everything he got his hands on was "modified". In many cases this also included things that were brand new but still needed a little tweaking. So Kelly came up with "repeat or repeat with modifications", in other words it is a pretty good recipe but could be better. Anyway, the crust on this recipe was as thick as the filling and was way over cooked in my opinion but wow was the filing great. So when given the opportunity to cook for people I thought I might just slide in an extra dessert so that I would not have had to eat the whole thing by myself:) I still think I am going to work on the crust ratio but this was good. You can see in the picture that I tried to get some of the extra crust off the top and it sprinkled the top of the pie. So here it is:

Key Lime Pie

Modified from GourmetSleuth

A few hints: don't over bake or it will turn out rubbery and is best if used fresh Key Limes...get your squeezing fingers ready or make sure you have a citrus squeezer you are going to need it:)

Crust

1 1/4 Cups graham cracker crust

3 Tbsp sugar

1/3 Cup Butter

Combine crumbs and sugar. Stir in melted butter and press firmly into 9 inch pan and cook for 5 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filing

5 egg yolks

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice (approximately 12 Key limes)

2 teaspoons grated lime peel

I N S T R U C T I O N S
Beat the egg yolks until they are thick and turn to a light yellow, don't over mix. Turn the mixer off and add the sweetened condensed milk. Turn speed to low and mix in half of the lime juice. Once the juice is incorporated add the other half of the juice and the zest, continue to mix until blended (just a few seconds). Pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake at 350F for 12 minutes

Whipping Cream (Optional)

1 cup whipping cream

4 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla
beat whipping cream until you get small peaks. Add sugar and vanilla and whip. Watch over whipping or whipping on too high of setting.