Everybody loves key lime pie – or at least, they should! For me, its a perfect pud – not too sweet, refreshing and light. This is a cracking recipe which is easy peasy and can be made in advance. It also lasts a few days in the fridge if you don’t eat it all in one go, although you probably will. I also think it’s perfect for summer – a post dinner slice with a glass of crisp cold white wine. What more could a girl want?
I found this key lime pie recipe in Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. And it really is a bible. There are so many recipes in there for nigh on any occasion (over 250 I think!). She’s the queen of bakes and as someone who’s a bit crap at baking, this is my go to book!
This recipe is for 8 servings (or in our house, 4 servings!)
Ingredients:
Base:
- 150g digestive biscuits
- 65g butter
- 25g demerara sugar
Filling:
- Grated rind 1 large lime
- Juice of 4 large limes
- 397g can condensed milk
- 450ml double cream
Before I start – here’s a question which I have long wondered… why do cans of condensed milk come in 397g?? Answers on a postcard!
Method:
- Put the biscuits into a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a medium sized pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the biscuit crumbs and sugar. Press over the base and sides of a 23cm loose bottomed tin and leave to set.
- Put the lime juice, condensed milk and 300ml of the double cream into a mixing bowl and beat until well blended. Pour into the prepared crumb crust and gently level the surface. Chill in the fridge for several hours, until set, then remove from the tin.
- Whip the remaining cream until it forms soft peaks and spread it over the pie, then finish with a scattering of grated lime rind.
- Serve the key lime pie well chilled
The lighting isn’t great but here is the finished key lime pie. It was delicious and didn’t take long to disappear. We polished it off in two sittings! If you want to bake more, why not try these melting moments, also from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible!
Know what's better than Key Lime Pie?
DEEP FRIED KEY LIME PIE.
Yeah that's a thing. We were travelling back up the Keys towards Miami and we stopped at this rib place. We ordered a Key Lime Pie (in the Keys, how could we not?!) and the waitress asked us if we wanted it plain or deep fried!
It was amazing. All crispy and beautiful on the outside and light and fluffy in the middle. It was perfection.
xx
No a big fan of cheesecake (crazy I'm told) but this does look really refreshing and the base looks so crumbly! RE condenseed milk: I thought the same about golden syrup being 454g especially since the recipe I used then required 450g. Mystery! xx
No way! That is hilarious but I bet it was nice! 🙂
Random tin sizes!! I'll make you one soon. 🙂
When the country went over to metric, I think that 454g was the equivalent of the lb. It's now been rounded down to 450.
WOW! These look amazing…making them this weekend. Lime “anything” gets my attention!
In The recipe for key lime Pye I watched on your tv program, you used cream cheese instead of double cream.
Which is best?
To answer your question about the 397g of condensed milk. The brand used is Neastle’s Carnation condensed milk sold in the U.K. and the can weighs 397g
Yes, but I think the nub of the question was why 397g as opposed to 395g or 400g? Such a random number!
Hello please can you tell me if I can freeze this key lime pie
I think that tins of condensed milk used to be 14oz which is roughly 397g …
This recipe simply does not work!
The biscuit base is about a quarter to one third less than the amount required.
The only way that the filling might work is if you whip the cream first into slightly more than soft peaks. I also added 6 gr gelatine.
I followed the recipe to the letter but the result was a (tasty) lime gloop.
I shall look elsewhere.
I forgot to add to my earlier comment that it does not say whether the condensed milk should be sweet or unsweetened
Would that make a difference?
I have compared this recipe with several others and can now tell you why it cannot work.
1. The quantities for the biscuit base are hugely understated. If you used 225 – 250 gr of biscuits and increased amounts of butter and demerara sugar accordingly you just might have made a smidge too much.
2. The base needs to be baked for about 15 minutes before chilling in the fridge.
3. The filling is missing the vital ingredient of 3 egg yolks!!! Further, most recipes seem to use more lime zest and juice. Delia Smith does not add cream and the pie, with filling, is baked until nearly set. The cream is the topping. That does seem a bit more logical.
Hi Norman, sorry to hear the recipe didn’t work for you – it’s one by Mary Berry, not my own but I’ve made it a few times over the years now and it’s always turned out well for me.
Hopefully you found a recipe that works for you – Delia Smith is always a good shout!
Thank you for visiting the blog,
Alex (GB author)
I disagree that this recipe does not work. I’ve made it twice (in two weeks 🤭) and it works perfectly! So light, refreshing and easy to make. Thank you 😊