Yesterday I made a key lime pie. I had promised to provide a dessert for a family dinner and had just picked some limes, so, being devoid of any other inspiration, it seemed like a good idea. I had no idea what a K-L pie was when I started out, as had neither tasted nor seen one, but knew it was an American favourite.
I began a search for a recipe on the Internet; what is a Key lime anyway? We have three lime trees growing in the garden – a West Indian, a Tahitian and a Kaffir. Which of these is the Key lime?
Soon I knew more about limes and lime pies than I had bargained for.
Fact #1 - A Key lime is the West Indian one – small and yellow when ripe. [Our ‘Key’ limes are not yet yellow, so are still unripe, but the Tahitian limes are ready to pick.]
Fact #2 - Any kind of lime juice will do in a key lime pie. The other ingredients for the filling are simple – eggs and sweetened condensed milk. [This is my kind of recipe.]
Fact #3 – Traditionally the filling is not cooked, but these days cooking is recommended because of the risk of salmonella in raw egg. [Will definitely go with the cooking.]
Fact #4 – There are several other recipe variations – with or without a meringue topping [definitely with!], with or without coconut [Mmmm could be rather nice] and with or without green colouring [no thanks].
Fact #4 - The pie crust should be made from crushed Graham crackers. [What’s a Graham cracker? I have an idea it is the same as our Sao biscuit. Better check.]
Then came an entirely unexpected diversion. If you don’t already know the fascinating story about Mr Graham and his crackers I suggest you read it some time. But by the end of the story I was still unsure of what might be the local equivalent of his cracker.
So, I click on to the Nabisco website – Graham crackers of every shape and flavour there - and a photo of the ‘original’ which was oblong and apparently made from whole wheat flour and sweetened with honey.
Off to the supermarket – maybe if I read some labels, something will jump off the shelf and identify itself as a Graham cracker in disguise. Perusing the shelves was an interesting exercise – just about every biscuit (that’s the Aussie term for both cookie and cracker) proclaimed itself an ‘Original’ – that is, excepting for the few that had NEW * * emblazoned across their packets. Came home with two different Originals, chosen as possible substitutes for the G. crackers. Which to choose?
I went for the Nabisco Premiums and prepared to start cooking.
I decide on a hybrid of 3 recipes – the filling of one, the meringue topping from another and the crumb base of a third. Bad move. Pretty soon, as well as juggling a basin and 3 cups containing cracked yolks, whites and whole eggs, I am shuffling print-outs of the three recipes.
Finally everything is assembled and I am ready to proceed with the 3 step cooking process.
[I will skip this part which took about ¾ hour.] …………..
I am pleased to report that there was no disastrous outcome. The crust was a little crumbly but otherwise the pie turned out perfectly - extremely rich, but quite delicious. And lime juice aside, the recipe is exactly the same as the one for Lemon Meringue Pie passed on to me by my mother - but we mostly used a shortcake pastry base for ours.
Finally, I have a query if there is a helpful reader out there. What exactly is a Graham cracker?
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