Key Lime Meringue Pie

The only way I could think of making key lime better is getting rid of that whipped topping and replacing it with MERINGUE!!! Genius.

I made this last week as a birthday dessert request and it will definitely be making it into my dessert rotation!

You Will Need:

For Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (around 11-12 rectangles)

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick butter, melted

For Filling:

3 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice

2 sticks butter, room temperature

For Meringue:

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp water

3 large egg whites

1 lime

To Make Crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Pour in melted butter and stir to combine. (It should look and feel like wet sand.)

Transfer to a 9" pie dish and press (using a measuring cup helps). Bake 6-8 minutes and set aside to cool.

To Make Filling:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lime juice. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it thickens (about 5 minutes). 

Transfer the filling to a heat-safe container. Press piece of plastic wrap flush over the curd to prevent skin from forming. Cool completely - about 1 hour.

Once cooled, scoop curd into mixer or food processor (or use immersion blender if you've got one - you fancy) and mix, incorporating butter one tablespoon at a time, until all is incorporated and curd is smooth. Scrape curd into shell and cover filling with plastic wrap, pressing flush against the curd and refrigerate, at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

To Make Meringue:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add sugar and water and stir until mixture resembles wet sand. Cook without stirring, until mixture reaches 240 degrees, about 15 minutes. 

While the sugar cooked, whip egg whites. While whipping, slowly pour in the sugar mixture, whipping until soft peaks form, about 6-7 minutes. Zest lime and add zest, beating just to incorporate.

Top pie with meringue, making soft peaks.

Adjust rack to upper-middle position in oven and preheat broiler to high. Broil pie 1-3 minutes, until meringue browns. Don't take your eyes off of it! It happens quickly!

As you can probably guess from all of the words I had to use to write that recipe out - it is quite a doozy, but that's what I love about the "complicated" desserts. Sure, you could just buy pre-made crust and lime curd, but it just isn't the same. 

Pre-fab pies usually don't make people cry when they take a bite. This pie comes close.

This is what the curd should look like - make sure it's nice and thick before you start to cool it!

Butter added (and I know, it is a lot of butter - I had to check the recipe thrice to make sure I was reading it correctly) and ready to cool.

And I made a mini pie to taste test :) 

This meringue topping is a WINNER. It holds up, doesn't shrink or get janky and has a nice sweetness/airiness to it. 

Happy Pie Making My Peeps!