Lime Pie with a Meringue Topping Recipe

This recipe for a lime pie with a meringue topping makes use of (normal) limes and combines the appealing aspects a key lime pie with a lemon meringue pie. It’s also on a graham cracker crust, which is superbly simple.

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Lime Pie with Meringue Topping

A zesty lime pie with a delightfully light meringue topping

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Citrus, Eggs, Lime, Lime Meringue Pie, Lime Pie, Meringue, Pie, raspberry desserts

Servings 8 slices

Equipment

• Pie dish
• Whisk or mixer

Ingredients

Lime Pie

• 12 graham crackers (1/3 of a box)
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter melted
• .25 cups sugar
• 8 limes (Juice of 8, zest of at least 2)
• 1 can sweetened, condensed milk
• 3 egg yolks

Meringue Topping

• 3 egg whites room temperature
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar optional but very helpful
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• .33 cups sugar
• salt to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Lightly spray/grease a pie dish with canola oil (optional)

Crust

• Pound/break/food process the graham cracker to crumbs
• Mix with melted butter and sugar
• Spread into pie pan and press to form a crust
• Bake 8 – 10 minutes and let cool

Filling

• In a large, sturdy bowl, beat egg yolks until fluffy (may warrant use of a hand mixer)
• Slowly add in condensed milk
• Add in lime zest and juice and mix until just combined
• Pour over pie crust evenly

Meringue

• Clean and dry bowl
• Whip egg whites, sugar, vanilla and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form (this warrants the use of the hand mixer unless you want a workout)
• Scoop meringue onto pie, using the dollops to form a design

  Alternatively, use a piping bag to get a more intricate topping
• Bake pie for 15-20 minutes (meringue should look toasty at the peaks)

Sorry, this pie was consumed before proper pictures could be taken. But, there are some lovely images of my first attempt at a meringue topping, taken during the cool down.

Citrus pies are delightfully efficient. A moral quandary in baking is often, “what do I do with the other half of this egg?”, commonly encountered after one asks oneself, “why does this recipe only need the yolk?” or ” well, now what happens to this lonely yolk now that the egg white is separated?”.

In meringue pies, you get the lovely effects of egg separates without the waste; the filling utilizes the yolk and the fluffy topping makes use of the white. Beautiful inside and out. Also, delicious. It is particularly suited to the citrus pies – lemon and lime – because the light flavor of the meringue soothes the zing of the acidic base to achieve a dynamic balance.

I do need a slight disclaimer here. I ended up using close to three quarters of a cup of lime juice, which was about 6 to 8 limes. However, the limes were from Costco and oddly large. Not as large as Costco’s lemons, which nearly resemble oranges, but about as large as lemons I’ve gotten from other places. Please be warned; I enjoy the sourness of lemons and limes to an extent others may not agree with. Modify to suit your tastes.

Graham cracker crusts are structurally precarious yet forgiving in taste. A certain ratio of cracker crumb size and butter is required to reach an ideal finish. Too large the particles of cracker or too scant the measurement of butter and your crust will not stand up to cutting. Just remember, it is far less butter than a true pie crust, although if you’d like to avoid butter altogether, a few layers of phyllo dough might do the trick.