Key Lime and Meyer Lemon Swirl Pie

Key lime pie is incredibly simple to make. The only thing it requires is the patience to squeeze 2 dozen tiny key limes by hand (or access to good quality fresh key lime juice). After that, all you do is mix up sweetened condensed milk with a few egg yolks (conveniently left over from the 24 egg whites required for the angel food cake your boyfriend makes for your birthday), stir in the lime juice, pour into a basic graham cracker crust, and bake. The condensed milk does most of the work of making key lime pie, well, key lime pie. I made a slight twist to the recipe by reserving some of the filling and mixing it with Meyer lemon juice, then using a few drops of food coloring to color the lime mixture green and the lemon part yellow, then swirling the two together. The result is mostly aesthetic, but if you don’t mind the extra step, I think it gives the pie a fun ’50s look.

Key Lime and Meyer Lemon Swirl Pie

Serves 8-10.

• 9 graham crackers
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 5 TBS butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 9 TBS key lime juice, freshly squeezed (from about 20 key limes)
• 3 TBS Meyer lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
• yellow and green food coloring
• 1 c. heavy cream or whipping cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, Place the graham crackers in a food processor or blender and process until finely crushed. Mix the crumbs with the sugar, melted butter, and sea salt, then press into a 9-inch round pie pan. Press the crust firmly into the bottom and up the sides using your fingertips. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and the egg yolks until fully combined. Scoop half a cup of the mixture into a separate bowl and set aside. Mix the lime juice with the batter in the first bowl (the larger amount) until evenly combined. Mix the lemon juice with the batter in the second bowl (the smaller amount) until evenly combined. Stir 2 drops of green food coloring into the lime batter and 4 drops of yellow food coloring into the lemon batter.
3. Pour the lime batter into the pre-baked pie crust. Carefully spoon the lemon batter into concentric circles on top of the lime batter. Use a knife to cut swirling patterns into the batter by running the knife from the center of the pie to the edge and back in again. Bake the pie for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool completely. Chill for at least 2 hours.
4. Before serving the pie, whip the cream into soft peaks. Decorate the pie with the whipped cream or spread a thick layer on top. Serve chilled.