Key Lime Pie(s)

Okay, I admit it. I'm suffering from Blog Guilt. I bet you know the feeling. You haven't posted for a long time, and you have so many recipes to post, you just want to get some of them out there! That's exactly what I'm feeling right now. So I decided that I have to post the recipe for an awesome Key Lime Pie. Or, in my case, six of them.
The night before her bat mitzvah, my friend was having a family dinner. She wanted lots of one dessert (so that she wouldn't order, say, three apple pies and three lemon meringue and everyone wanted apple), and her favorite is Key Lime Pie, so she ordered six of them. I said I could do it, no problem, and then realized what it meant. I had never before in my entire life made a key lime pie. Ever. I had heard they were really easy, and I found a recipe that looked simple enough. Actually, really simple - just make a graham cracker crust and put in egg yolks, lime juice, and sweetened condensed milk. I made one to test out the recipe, and it came out really yummy. The only problem was that even after several hours of refrigeration, the filling was still a bit too runny. But I figured since it tasted great, I could just make a little adjustment and it would be fine.
The day before the party, I set about making the graham cracker crusts. Six of them. I just multiplied the recipe by six and made it all at once (yeah, I know you're probably not supposed to do that...), and it worked out just fine. This was the most time-consuming step, because I had to press together six crusts. In to the oven they went!
Later on, I made the filling. Again, I made it all at once. ;) This time I added a bit of agar-agar (vegetarian gelatin made from seaweed) and it worked like a charm.
All in all, the hardest part of this recipe was finding room in my fridge for six pies! Everyone loved the pies, and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. So try this recipe!

Key Lime Pie (from Baking Bites)

1 pre-baked graham cracker crust (8 or 9-in.) (recipe below)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (key lime, if possible)
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk with a large whisk until smooth. Whisking constantly, stream in lime juice and stir until smooth and well-combined. Pour into pie shell.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
Serves 8.

Graham Cracker Crust (also from Baking Bites)

8 large grahams crackers (to make 1 1/4-1 1/2 cups graham crumbs)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375F.
In a food processor, whizz graham crackers until reduced to crumbs. Add sugar and pulse to combine. Pour in vanilla and melted butter and process until crumbs are all moistened.
Press firmly and evenly into a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375F, until browned at the edge.
Set aside to cool.

Note: The lime juice supposedly cooks the egg, but if you have been told by your doctor to stay away from even a hint of uncooked food, I would go with a baked version.

Another note: No worries, this recipe makes only one pie, not six! :D

Enjoy!