Welp. My Thanksgiving post is a week late, but what can you do? Once the kids got home from college, I didn’t want to do anything other than hang out with them, and y’all are fine with that I’m sure. I was planning to talk about pie anyway, so the topic is still fresh, so to speak.
My mom informed me yesterday (December 1) that it was National Pie Day, which I was not aware was the case so I did not have a pie ready. I did fact check her—we here at Sweet Tea do not willingly participate in spreading fake news—and according to the National Day Calendar, yesterday was, in fact, National Pie Day. Google was not clear which authority proclaimed December 1 as National Pie Day (honestly, I didn’t look very hard), but the weighty authority of the American Pie Council contends January 23rd is actually National Pie Day and Wikipedia concurs. At our house, we celebrate Pi Day—March 14 (3.14)—with pie because I live with a bunch of nerds. Honestly, you can’t go wrong if you celebrate all three National Pie (Pi) Days in a single year.
It’s indisputable that pie in all its many forms is proof that God loves his children.
Pies are amazingly versatile. They can be sweet or savory. Pie filling can be baked on top of a layer of buttery pastry, sandwiched in between layers of pastry, folded inside a pastry envelope, baked under a biscuity topping, or sprinkled with streusely goodness. Shepherd’s Pie, a savory favorite, is baked under a blanket of mashed potatoes. However you choose to bake it, pies are delicious.
Savory fillings can be made of anything you can think of that could be made even better by baking it in a pastry crust—chicken and vegetables, Jambalaya, pulled pork BBQ, Italian sausage—but the glory of pie shines most brightly as a dessert, and it comes in many forms—apple pie, pecan pie, chocolate pie, blackberry cobbler, key lime pie, and the list goes on and on. America’s Test Kitchen has a list of 8 Types of Pies You Should Know, in case you are looking to branch out into new pie territory.
We are a pie family here at the Jacobs house. Where most people turn to cake with super sweet icing for birthdays, we pride ourselves on having birthday pie. Our favorites include Kentucky Derby Pie, cobbler in it’s many incarnations, buttermilk pie, and of course apple pie, either baked in a fancy lattice crust or fried in a Dutch oven on the stovetop.
Last week at Thanksgiving, pies were featured front and center on dessert tables across the land. For many years, our Thanksgiving tradition was to spend the week with my parents at their house in Vero Beach, Florida, so Thanksgivings past had a decidedly Florida flavor. As a nod to tradition, our dessert table always includes a key lime pie with whipped cream for a topping.
Key lime pie is the official pie of Florida for obvious reasons, but there is some evidence that the recipe did not originate in Key West as most people assume. We certainly ate our share of key lime pie when we visited Key West last Christmas. The story has always been that key lime pie was invented by a woman known as Aunt Sally who cooked for millionaire William Curry in the late 1800s using local key limes and sweetened condensed milk, which would have been available in a place like Key West that lacked refrigeration and, well, cows. Cookbook author Stella Parks called that story into question in her book, BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts, which I just bought because I love culinary controversy. Parks believes the recipe was invented by the Borden condensed milk company in New York City using lemons for the citrus element, and enterprising cooks in Key West used the more readily available key limes as a substitute. It’s also possible Borden got the recipe for the pie through a recipe contest and swapped out the hard-to-find key limes for lemons. Regardless, key lime pie is synonymous with our Florida Thanksgiving and therefore has a place of honor on our dessert list.
Key lime pie is one of the easiest pies in the world to make. It starts with a graham cracker crust, either store bought or homemade, and then lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks are mixed together and baked for about 15 minutes. You can top it with whatever you want, but we like sweetened freshly whipped cream, although Cool Whip is delicious too. Some people like to get fancy by adding lime zest, but I haven’t yet tasted a key lime pie any better than the one whose recipe is on the Nellie and Joe’s Famous Key Lime Juice bottle. Stephen and I ate at a restaurant once in Marietta who told patrons this was the recipe they used.
I’m going to share with you the homemade versions of all the parts of a key lime pie, but feel free to substitute a store bought graham cracker crust and/or Cool Whip if you like. You do you, and the result will be yummy whatever you do.
Key Lime Pie
Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in a bowl and press into bottom and up sides of a pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Key Lime Pie Filling (from the Nellie and Joe’s bottle)
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup lime juice
Combine milk, egg yolks, and lime juice, and blend until smooth. Pour into pre-baked (or store bought) graham cracker crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes and refrigerate. Just before serving, top with whipped cream or Cool Whip if desired.
Whipped Cream
3/4 cup heavy cream
1-2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
Whisk cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. With an electric mixer, this will only take a couple of minutes.
I hope you and your families had a lovely Thanksgiving. This year I’m thankful for my health, the love and caring of my friends and family, and the grace and comfort God has given me through this difficult year. I am also thankful for you, dear readers, for coming along for the ride and sharing your love of Southern culture with me. Sweet Tea gives me a space to talk about all the things I love, and you give me encouragement to keep exploring and writing. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
Until next time,
Karla