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Cynthia's Key Lime Pie

INGREDIENTS

  • Lime Filling

    • 4 teaspoons grated lime zest
    • 1/2 cup lime juice from 3 to 4 limes
    • 4 large egg yolks
    • 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

  • Graham Cracker Crust

    • 11 graham crackers, processed to fine crumbs (1 1/4 cups)
    • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

  • Whipped Cream Topping

    • 3/4 cup heavy cream
    • 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
    • 1/2 lime, sliced paper thin and dipped in sugar (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • For the Filling:

    1. Whisk zest and yolks in medium bowl until tinted light green, about 2 minutes. Beat in milk, then juice; set aside at room temperature to thicken.

  • For the Crust:

    1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add butter; stir with fork until well blended. Pour mixture into 9-inch pie pan; press crumbs over bottom and up sides of pan to form even crust (helps to use a glass or other pie tin). Bake until lightly browned and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
    2. Pour lime filling into crust; bake until center is set, yet wiggly when jiggled, 15 to 17 minutes. Return pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours. (Can be covered with lightly oiled or oil-sprayed plastic wrap laid directly on filling and refrigerated up to 1 day.)

  • For the Whipped Cream:

    1. Up to 2 hours before serving, whip cream in medium bowl to very soft peaks. Adding confectioners’ sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, continue whipping to just-stiff peaks. Decoratively pipe whipped cream over filling or spread evenly with rubber spatula. Garnish with optional sugared lime slices and serve.
Notes:  
I have never actually added the zest or made the whipped cream.  Fat-free sweetened condensed milk can also be used with no change to texture or flavor.  Using pre-made graham cracker crust makes everything astonishingly worse.  
Citrus notes:  
-rangpur lime- actually a sour orange. wonderful rich, full, sour, bitter-free taste; hands-down the best juice for baking (I use this for lemon bars also). good luck getting them though (I have a ton in the freezer if you actually want any ever).  wayyy toooo intense in mixed drinks.  
-regular grocery limes- also good, notably more sour and less "full" tasting
-actual key limes- small, seedy, expensive, markedly bitter, basically a trick