A no-bake custard of sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks and key lime juice set in a graham or pastry crust, finished with meringue or whipped cream. Key West's argument in dessert form.

Nobody has documented who baked the first one. The Curry Mansion in Key West credits Aunt Sally, the cook for salvage millionaire William Curry (1821-1896), with making the pie in the late 1800s. A competing account, held by local historians, gives it to Key West sponge fishermen, who carried tinned sweetened condensed milk to sea and combined it with egg yolks and key lime juice, the acid setting the custard without an oven. Both stories are told locally as fact and neither is proven; the first written recipes only appear in the 1930s. Florida made key lime pie the official state pie on 1 July 2006.

Where to eat Key lime pie in Key West

5 editor picks for Key lime pie in Key West, ranked by editorial score. All Key West signature dishes · Key lime pie across every city.

Make it at home

Serves 84 hrEasy

Ingredients

  • 200g graham crackers or digestive biscuits, crushed
  • 100g unsalted butter, melted
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 400g tin sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 120ml key lime juice, freshly squeezed
  • 1 tbsp key lime zest
  • 300ml double cream, for the topping
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 175C. Mix the crushed biscuits, melted butter and caster sugar, press firmly into a 23cm pie dish and bake 10 minutes. Cool.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks with the lime zest for 2 minutes until pale and thickened.
  3. Pour in the condensed milk and whisk 3 minutes more, then add the lime juice and whisk just until combined.
  4. Pour into the cooled crust and bake 15 minutes, until the centre barely wobbles.
  5. Cool to room temperature, then chill at least 3 hours.
  6. Whip the cream with the icing sugar to soft peaks and spread over the chilled pie. Zest more lime over the top to serve.

Editor tip. Use real key limes if you can find them. They are smaller, yellower and sharper than Persian limes, and the pie sets paler because of it.

Common allergens: Dairy, Eggs, Gluten.