TWD: The Best (Key Lime) Florida Pie

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Dianne of Dianne's Dishes: Florida Pie. This is basically Dorie's version of a fancy Key Lime Pie. It's Key Lime Pie filling sandwiched between a layer of coconut cream and coconut meringue - genius!

This recipe was extra special because my mom made the shredded sweetened coconut. Yep, she cracked the coconut open, used some special coconut shredding device she found in my grandmother's garage, and then she cooked/sweetened the coconut just for me. So perhaps it was the fresh, shredded sweetened coconut I used, or perhaps it was Dorie's brilliant recipe (or a bit of both?), but I absolutely loved this Florida Pie! I thought I already had my favorite key lime pie recipe, but Dorie totally blew it out of the water. If you're not a fan of coconut, I do recommend you try the other recipe (because it really is a good one), but if you do enjoy coconut, then you must give this recipe a try!


I have to admit that I almost didn't post any finished pictures of this pie. You see, I somehow managed to over whip my egg whites and instead of a beautiful, soft, foamy meringue, I ended up with a curdled white, lumpy mess (and not enough eggs to give it a second try). Then on top of that, I happened to turn my back on the broiler just a few seconds too long and almost burnt my meringue. To add insult to injury, I was taking pictures at my mom's house, with totally different lighting from what I am used to, and couldn't really get any good shots.

I know that everyone else is going to have the prettiest meringue - from smooth and swirly to spiky and fun. Mine was flat and boring. But in the spirit of showing you that we all have those moments in the kitchen when things don't turn out quite right, I'm posting my pictures. Regardless of how my pie looks, I promise that it still tasted great.


As with last week's recipe, I'm not sure who Dorie is serving, but the recipe states that you can get 6 servings out of this pie. Those would be six HUGE slices. I suppose with how popular this pie was at our Mother's Day family gathering, some would prefer to eat 1/6th of the pie, but you could easily get 8-10 servings out of this (we had a lot of people, and probably got about 12 slices out of it).


Thanks Dianne, for picking this week's recipe. This is my new go-to Key Lime Pie recipe! Make sure you check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see everyone else's citrusy sweets.

Florida Pie
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

For the Pie:
1 9-inch graham cracker crust (recipe below), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut (1 cup for the coconut cream layer, 1/2 cup for the meringue)
4 large eggs, separated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes) (I used about 25 Key limes - about 3/4 lb)
1/4 cup of sugar

For the Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used cinnamon grahams)
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

To Make the Crust:
Butter a 9-inch pan. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs over the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)

Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the pie filling.

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.


Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale.



Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk.


Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the remaining juice, again mixing until it is blended. Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust,


and pour over the lime filling.


Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue:
Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks. (Be careful not to over whip them!)


Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.)


Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

Yield: 6 Servings.