Key lime pie is a Floridian dessert pie made with Key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk. It may be served with no topping, with a meringue topping made from egg whites, or with whipped cream. Traditionally, Key lime pie is made using a graham cracker crust. It may be made with or without baking in a pie crust or without crust. The dish is named after the small Key limes, which are more aromatic than the common Persian limes, and which have yellow juice. The filling in a Key lime pie is yellow because ripe key limes are yellow. The recipe is attributed to Borden's fictional spokesperson, Jane Ellison, and includes condensed milk, lemon juice and rind, and egg yolks. It is covered with meringue, baked, and served cold. According to the pastry chef Stella Parks, users of the recipe altered it with local ingredients; she describes it as "a stunning reminder of how deeply America's traditions are shaped by advertising".
A "Tropical Lime Chiffon Pie", using condensed milk and egg yolks was documented in a 1933 Miami newspaper article. An "icebox lime pie", was mentioned as a specialty of the Florida Keys in 1935. and a recipe under the name "Key Lime Pie" was published in 1940.
No earlier solid sources are known, despite appeals to the public. A 1927 Key West Women's Club cookbook does not mention the recipe. A 1926 restaurant menu includes "lime pie", but it is unclear what it was. Various accounts claim that it was known earlier, but none were recorded before 1933. Key lime juice, unlike regular lime juice, is a pale yellow. Bottled Key lime juice, invariably from concentrate, is widely available at retail in the United States.
Florida statute 15.052, passed in July 2006, designates Key lime pie "the official Florida state pie".
See also
- Cream pie
- Lemon meringue pie
- Lemon pie
- Lime
- Pavlova