I was inspired to make Key Lime Pie after watching The Great British Bake Off. Ryan Chong made one that was called the 'best bake of the series' by the judges. Technically this pie is a lime pie, as it's hard to get hold of key limes outside of America, so regular limes are used instead. If you can get key limes of course, then you can make a true Key Lime Pie!
Ryan used short crust pastry for his pie, but I've made it a little simpler and more in keeping with the American classic recipe by using a biscuit base. I've combined digestive biscuits with ginger nuts for a hint of ginger flavour - inspired by Ryan! The filling is super zingy and I've topped the pie with whipped cream to set off the sour lime. If you've never made Key Lime Pie before, this is a great place to start!
How to make Key Lime Pie...
To make the base I used my food processor to whizz up the digestive and ginger nuts into crumbs. I mixed them with the melted butter and pressed them into a loose bottomed tart tin. Then I baked it for 10 minutes. To make the filling, I whisked the egg yolks together, then whisked in the condensed milk with my electric hand mixer.
Then I added the juice and the zest of the limes and whisked it for a few minutes. I poured the lime filling into the base and baked it for 15 minutes until it was set, but it still wobbled in the centre.
To decorate the Key Lime Pie I whipped up the cream with the icing sugar and the vanilla, and I piped it onto the pie. You can of course just dollop it on with a spoon. I sprinkled over some more lime zest too.
The Key Lime Pie filling is so zingy and sour, it makes your mouth tingle in such a good way! The whipped cream balances it out perfectly and the base adds crunchy texture. It's a great summer dessert and an excellent refresher after a heavy meal. Key Lime Pie is one of those classic desserts that everyone has to try!
Recommended equipment & ingredients*
| 9" tart tin | Mixing bowls | Cooling rack |
| Kitchen scales | Piping bags | Zester |
| Food processor | Wilton 1M Piping nozzle | Citrus juicer |
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More recipes using lime...
Key Lime Pie
Ingredients
For the base
- 250 g Digestive biscuits
- 100 g Gingernut biscuits
- 150 g Butter or baking spread melted
For the filling
- 3 Egg yolks
- 397 g Can of condensed milk
- 4 Limes zest and juice
For decoration
- 300 ml Double cream
- 1 tbsp Icing sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Lime zest
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
- To make the base use a food processor to whizz up the digestive biscuits and ginger nuts into crumbs, or you can put them in a bowl and bash them with a rolling pin
- Mix the melted butter into the biscuit crumbs and press them into a loose bottomed 23cm/9" tart tin
- Bake the biscuit base for 10 minutes, take out and set aside to cool
- To make the filling, whisk the egg yolks together with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes
- Then whisk in the condensed milk
- Add the juice and the zest of the limes and whisk the mixture for a few minutes
- Pour the lime filling into the base and bake it for 15 minutes until it is set, but it still wobbles a little. Let it cool completely
- Whip up the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla, pipe or dollop it on top of the cooled pie then sprinkled over the lime zest
- Serve immediately and store any leftovers in the fridge for 2 days
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Good Food. Ryan's recipe can be found on the BBC website.
If you like this, check out more of my Sweet Tarts & Pies recipes!
Pin for later!
Sarah Barnes
I reckon I could manage three slices! Looks delish 🙂
Joanna Frangos
Lovely recipe, great format to follow.... might have a go at that one in a couple of weeks when I have family coming for lunch
Sarah, Newport
Looks amazing, well done!
Anonymous
No stemmed ginger?
thebakingexplorer
No I didn't copy Ryan's recipe, I just did a classic Key Lime Pie 🙂 was very delicious!
Emine Hassan
Love your updated pics!
I made a key lime pie the other day using oreos for the crust. I used an American recipe though, and ended up with too high a ratio of butter to biscuit in the base - it was still delicious though. This is deffo one of my fave desserts!
Interesting too that we call it a key lime pie when we are blatantly not using key limes. Lime pie sounds so wrong though.
Anyway, love your pics and so glad I re connected with your blog after finding you on Insta!
Em x
thebakingexplorer
Thank you! I know what you mean about the fact they're not key limes, everyone knows the dessert as key lime pie now because it became so famous, but very few have access to the genuine key limes - I'd love to try them to see the difference. It's great to re-connect, I remember you from when I first started blogging but I've not seen you around for a while. Glad to see you're back!!
Kate
Wow, I love how you piped the cream on top! I’m in the States, and we use graham crackers for the crust, but I like the mix you used for the crust. Also, I don’t know how widely it’s available, but I use a bottled Key lime juice, which has been surprisingly good...Nellie and Joe’s juice. That whipped cream is beautiful!
thebakingexplorer
Thank you Kelly! Yes I've heard that graham crackers are your version of digestive biscuits, maybe you could add a little ground ginger powder to get the same flavour? You can get lime juice in bottles over here, but it's not key lime.
Lesley Sinclair
I absolutely love this. Really easy recipe to follow and the end result is just scrummy. First time making and trying Key Lime Pie and will definitely be making it again xx