What makes this pie set up???

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navigator9

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OK, so my cousin came to visit last week, and I wanted to make some kind of cool, no bake pie, since it's been in the 90s here. I saw a few strawberry no bake pies that looked good, but when I got home from the grocery store, I realized that I had some of the ingredients for one pie, and some for the other, but I didn't have all the recipes for any of the pies...what??? So I threw some ingredients together, and the results were pretty good. But...now I have some disconnected ingredients left over, and wondering what to do with them. I have frozen lime juice, from a bag of Costco limes I squeezed. I have two cans of sweetened condensed milk, some sour cream, some eggs, and graham crackers. So I put those ingredients into Google, and it gave me this recipe. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15880/key-lime-pie-vii/ It looks good, it looks easy, but for the life of me, I can't tell what makes this pie set up! There are no eggs. I'm afraid I'm going to end up with lime soup. :crazy: So I'm wondering if any of you have ever made a pie like this, and does it really hold together?

P.S. Can anyone tell me why the graham cracker crust on my strawberry pie came out like cement? This was a no bake pie. The crust was 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and 6T melted butter. It was hard as a rock, and had to be chiseled off of the pie plate. It was still good, but not very pretty. Any ideas?
 
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It's a reaction between the lime juice and sweetened condensed milk when it gets heated together. I'm not sure about the crust thing though...I'm lazy and usually use premade...lol
 
Magic?

I have no idea. I read some of the reviews and no one complained about it not setting up.
Some only baked for ten minutes.

Try reading the condensed milk company's website and see if they have similar recipes that work without eggs.
 
It's a reaction between the lime juice and sweetened condensed milk when it gets heated together. I'm not sure about the crust thing though...I'm lazy and usually use premade...lol

Apparently that's the trick. I read a little deeper into the reviews and found this. "The lime juice actually reacts with the dairy ingredients to thicken the pie, so it lacks any eggy taste or texture." I figured it wasn't the heat, since it's in the oven for such a short time. This pie has over 2000 reviews, and it gets 5 stars, so I'm hoping it's really that good. For such an easy recipe, with so few ingredients, that would be great. I'll let you know. Hopefully, this crust doesn't suffer the same fate as the previous one. Fingers crossed.
 
Well, I was half right...lol... The recipe I have that's similar to this one, calls to cook the filling first then just pour in the crust. That's why I figured the heat did it :)


Apparently that's the trick. I read a little deeper into the reviews and found this. "The lime juice actually reacts with the dairy ingredients to thicken the pie, so it lacks any eggy taste or texture." I figured it wasn't the heat, since it's in the oven for such a short time. This pie has over 2000 reviews, and it gets 5 stars, so I'm hoping it's really that good. For such an easy recipe, with so few ingredients, that would be great. I'll let you know. Hopefully, this crust doesn't suffer the same fate as the previous one. Fingers crossed.
 
So, I looked up my gramma's graham cracker crust recipe...it says not to use more than 1 T. of sugar for each cup of crumbs, or the sugar caramelizes and make the crust very hard.
 

Lenarenee, it was kind of magical. It started thickening up as I was whisking it in the bowl!

So, I looked up my gramma's graham cracker crust recipe...it says not to use more than 1 T. of sugar for each cup of crumbs, or the sugar caramelizes and make the crust very hard.

I must have been reading your mind. I figured with only three ingredients, it was probably the sugar, so I added a slightly rounded tablespoon instead of the 1/4 cup, which was already less than the 1/3 cup that the recipe called for. It's in the oven now, so I'll let you guys know tomorrow how it comes out. I'm not a fan of overly sweet desserts, so I hope the 3/4 cup of lime juice is enough to cut the sweetness of the sweetened condensed milk.
 
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I got beat to the punch. Yep it was the amount of sugar that hardened your graham cracker crust. You lime pie will come out fine, that is an old common recipe that I used to make years ago. It does work fine. It is not an overly sweet pie but also not real tart from what I remember
 
Oh, dear, I've made that mistake. Ugh! More is not necessarily better! :)

So, I looked up my gramma's graham cracker crust recipe...it says not to use more than 1 T. of sugar for each cup of crumbs, or the sugar caramelizes and make the crust very hard.
 
It looks like you have all the answers you needed. Just wanted to say key lime pie is one of my all time favorite things. A vendor at our state fair sells it frozen, dipped in dark chocolate. Yum!
 
When I was little I made one even simpler, it was if I recall correctly, one can of sweetened condensed milk and one cup of lemon juice, with a premade crust, and it set up just fine
 
I haven't had it frozen, but if I have Hershey's Special dark fudge sauce on hand, I drizzle some on top of the chilled pie.


It looks like you have all the answers you needed. Just wanted to say key lime pie is one of my all time favorite things. A vendor at our state fair sells it frozen, dipped in dark chocolate. Yum!
 
We call the lemon version of that "Lemon Icebox Pie" here in the south. Key Lime Pie is just the lime version. It is a summer staple here. Matter of fact, I think I will make one next week. But I cheat and use the pre-made crust.
 
A quick update...some friends came over for brunch today, and they loved the pie! I was really pleasantly surprised, too. For as few ingredients as it has, and how quickly it went together, it was really good. And if you used a pre- made crust, it would take practically no time at all. I seriously wonder about that ten minutes in the oven...is it really necessary? It doesn't even have time to heat through in that short time. Anyway, it's silky smooth, tart, and not overly sweet. The crust came out perfectly this time. Some whipped cream on top went really nicely with the tart filling. This one's a keeper. Frozen? Chocolate? OMG! Thanks for all the tips. I'm sending you a virtual slice. :)

pie1.jpg
 
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