Silky No-Bake Key Lime Pie

Hi everyone! Today I am sharing with you a super quick dessert that requires little effort but bursting with zesty bright flavor. This recipe is so easy and the texture is incredibly silky. This is not your traditional keylime pie where it uses eggs, requires baking and has a sharper tart flavor profile. Instead, the texture of this pie is so silky and soft, it's as smooth and shiny as silken tofu, but melts in your mouth like ice cream but not goopy or drippy. It's so close to yogurt but not really. You just have to try it for yourself!

I found myself very busy juggling mom life, work, extra curricular and family recreation that I have barely any time left to do much baking. But once in awhile, I do miss bringing out the good o' mixing bowl and whip up something delicious, minus the baking time. This recipe is so effortless, it takes so little time to bring it together, and plenty of time for busy moms such as myself, to complete many other task while the pie sets in the fridge.

So let's get to it!

Ingredients for the Graham Pie Crust:

2.5 cups of Graham cracker crumbs

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

(This recipe is for a deep-dish 9.5 inch pie pan, if you have a shallow pie pan, you need to reduce the graham crumbs approx by half. Alternatively, you are welcome to use your favorite homemade pie crust recipe or store bought crust. Remember, this is a no frills recipe!)

Ingredients for the Pie Filling:

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup of whole sour cream

1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup of freshly squeeze Keylime juice, or bottled Key-lime juice (I used Nellie & Joe's)

1 tbsp of fresh KeyLime zest

Melt your butter in a shallow pan or a microwave till it's fully melted, but not browned.

In a medium mixing bowl, pour the melted butter into your graham cracker crumbs and mix it till it resembles wet sand.

Place your buttered crumbs into your pie pans and equally distribute the crumbs on the sides and bottom. Using a flat bottom cup or measuring spoon, gently but firmly pressed the crumbs till it is compacted.

You can place your pie crust directly into the fridge to cool and solidify at this point, OR you can bake it for 350F for 10 minutes to brown it just a little more. Once baked, cool it slightly before placing it in the refrigerator. This is completely optional.

Begin my pouring 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk into a medium mixing bowl. Then add in your sour cream and heavy whipping cream.

Prepare your KeyLime juice and zest, and set aside but DO NOT add it in just yet.

Now mix your dairy mixture first with a whisk. PLEASE USE A WHISK. This will ensure that the pie filling is not lumpy nor curdle unevenly and separates into curds and whey.

Once your milk/dairy mixture is homogeneous, add in your Keylime juice and zest and immediately starts whisking it quickly and vigorously as the mixture starts to thicken right away.

Once the filling thickens, immediately pour into your chilled pie crust.

Smooth the top and CHILL for 24 HOURS.

You can wrap with a plastic wrap but ensure it doesn't stick to the surface or you won't have a smooth shiny top.

DO NOT attempt to cut the pie any less that 12 hours. If so, the mixture won't slice but remain goopy still. I learnt that 24 hours or more is the perfect duration. The texture should be silky like silken tofu but has a melt-in-your-mouth quality. It's light but not fluffy like airated whipped cream, instead it's like eating a soft ice cream but not melty.

An important sidenote: I will not recommend anyone to bring this pie out of the fridge and take it for a spin around the neighborhood. Several reasons,one, being this pie is stabilized by a chemical reaction when citrus reacts to dairy, so even if it stays firm while you are at home eating it, it won't survive being in the car. Think about a yogurt taking a trip back home from the store, it's messy.

Two, it's dairy. Just for food safety, let's not let dairy sit out too long on the counter as this will hasten spoilage.

Keep it cold, serve it as when you are ready, and it will remain refreshing and beautiful!