Clients and visitors to Florida ask me all the time, what is my favorite recipe for this Florida favorite? Here is my go-to for the Best Key Lime Pie! Whether you are here in paradise or are shoveling snow and counting the days til summer, this easy recipe will transport you to your favorite Florida beach with swaying palms and crashing waves!
Key Lime Pie Recipe from The Pink Elephant Restaurant at The Gasparilla Inn, Boca Grande, Florida
Owned by the William Farish family, the famed Gasparilla Inn has played host to many notables throughout its storied history, including Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison, Katharine Hepburn, the George H.W. Bush family, members of the DuPont family, and others. Originally built to appeal to wealthy Northerners, The Inn has always been the center of village life on Gasparilla Island, a charming subtropical barrier island where “Old Florida” meets well-heeled New England-style sophistication. It is my favorite place for a “staycation” in Florida!
Ingredients:
½ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
2 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
6 egg yolks
Juice and zest of 3 Key limes (½ cup juice)
2 ½ cups sweetened condensed milk
½ cup Manhattan Key lime juice (see note)
Preparation:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-For crust: In bowl, combine crumbs and sugar. Add butter and mix well.
Press mixture onto the bottom of a 12 -inch springform pan. Crust should be about 1/8 inch thick. Bake in preheated oven 5 minutes.
-Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
-For filling: Place egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and add lime zest. With electric mixer, whisk on high speed until pale and fluffy.
-In a small saucepan, warm the sweetened condensed milk and add gradually to egg yolk mixture.
-Add the fresh and Manhattan lime juice, being careful not to overmix at this stage.
-Pour over prepared crust and bake in preheated oven 30 minutes or until mixture is set.
-When ready to serve, unmold and garnish as desired. *Make and pipe favorite meringue recipe, torch and plate with raspberry coulis and optional mixed berries or slices of key lime for garnish.
Note: Manhattan Key Lime Juice, which the restaurant uses, is available through the Internet. There are other brands available and locals in Florida may want to use freshly squeezed key lime juice (very acidic, wear gloves and watch out for surfaces).
Enjoy this Florida favorite as created by a place that does an outstanding rendition! For more food and lifestyle posts like this from Florida and all the places I like to travel (past and future tense, I haven’t left Florida since the pandemic started a year ago), but please follow me and sign up for me newsletter on my blog and Facebook pages! www.fredbollacienterprises.com