Lurkers and Limes

Not long ago, a friend of mine visited Anna Marie Island and snapped a photo of a lime tree laden with juicy, shiny, ripe fruit. I ran across the photo one day while lurking admiring his personal website and it immediately made me think of key lime pie. I like to check out his site often simply because he is eye candy takes great photos and even though he lives 700 miles away, I commented on his lime photo and promised to make him a pie. What better time to try a recipe from my new Dorie Greenspan cookbook called Florida Pie.

Now I know that "Baking: From My Home To Yours" by Dorie has been all the rage for quite some time but I'm slow to catch on to new things. I'm probably the last person in the food blog world to own a copy of this book. But I really had to ask myself, "Self, do you really need another cookbook?" No sooner had I asked myself that question when I heard my mother's wise voice and wisdom echoing in my head..."Wanting and needing are two different things," she'd say when I was a kid and just had to have something. My mother is always right (or so she says) - I didn't need another cookbook. But I sure did want one!

And speaking of Dorie, I'm probably the only person in the blogworld who doesn't participate in Tuesday's with Dorie, a blog event that celebrates her recipes. I'd love to join, but it's a commitment in itself to participate and right now I just have too many irons in the fire - some of which I'm trying my best to extinguish. I do consider myself a loyal TWD lurker though.

Florida Pie takes key lime pie to a whole new outstanding level by adding shredded coconut and a cream of coconut mixture. Even though I claim to have the best recipe for key lime pie (and I can't believe that I haven't shared it with you already), I think Dorie's Florida Pie may just be my new favorite! I got a little carried away with letting my meringue brown in the oven, and since I always have graham cracker crumbs on hand, I just melted a little butter and combined it with the crumbs and pressed into a pie plate. Bake at 350 for about 7 or 8 minutes.

1 9-inch graham cracker crust
1 1/3 c heavy cream
1 1/2 c shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, separated
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c lime juice
1/4 c sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and put pie plate on a baking sheet
2. Put cream and 1 c coconut in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook until reduced by half and slightly thickened. Set aside to cool in a separate bowl.
3. Beat egg yolks on high until thick and pale. Beat in condensed milk and then half the lime juice on low speed. Add the rest of the lime juice and mix to combine.
4. Spread coconut cream into the graham cracker crust and then pour the lime mixture on top. Bake 12 minutes. Cool 15 minutes and then put in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
5. Put 4 egg whites and sugar in a saucepan and heat over medium low heat until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer to a bowl and beat until the hold firm peaks. Fold in the last 1/2 c coconut.
6. Spread meringue over the pie and either run it under the broiler or use a kitchen blow torch to brown the top. Put the pie back in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to firm up.