{"id":8317,"date":"2026-10-19T15:19:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8317"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:44","slug":"key-lime-pie","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/key-lime-pie\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Lime Pie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A crust made from crushed crackers is filled with a mixture in which the tartness of lime and the sweetness of sweetened condensed milk are in balance. Key lime pie, emblematic of the Florida Keys in the United States, is a dessert with a pale filling made from egg yolks, citrus juice and preserved milk. The small, round Key lime belongs to a different lineage from the common Persian lime. Its flesh is yellowish green, strongly acidic and distinctively aromatic. The filling, made by mixing condensed milk with the juice and egg yolks, turns pale yellow rather than bright green, and this too comes from the colors of the fruit and the egg yolks. Beyond its color, the filling is also distinctive because it combines dairy with citrus.<\/p>\n

\n\"Key\n
Key lime pie with a white foamy topping (date and location of photograph unknown). The author describes it as a version made with egg-white foam. Photo: Peter Veldhuizen \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ Public domain<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. We have not altered or cropped the content.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Combining condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice and pouring the mixture into the crust<\/h2>\n

The basic method for the oven-baked version follows this order: sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks are mixed until smooth, the juice is added, and the mixture is poured into a graham cracker crust. The acid in the juice acts on the milk proteins and changes the viscosity, and the egg yolks set when heated, making the filling firm enough to slice. The process differs from that of a tart in which lemon curd is first cooked in a pan and then used as the filling. Because condensed milk adds sugar and milk solids at the same time, it cannot be replaced with the same amount of unsweetened milk.<\/p>\n

The crust is not made of folded layers of flour and butter like pie pastry, but of fine crumbs of baked goods pressed together. Some versions are topped with whipped cream and others with meringue. The leftover egg whites can be used for meringue, but meringue is not a required finish for every version.<\/p>\n

A 1964 Florida postcard carries a recipe in which beaten egg whites are folded into a filling of condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice. The filling is poured into a baked pie shell, topped with meringue made from separate egg whites, and baked until browned. It is one example of egg whites being used both in the filling and on top.<\/p>\n

Preserved milk on the islands and where Key limes are grown<\/h2>\n

In an era when fresh milk was hard to obtain on the islands, condensed milk, which keeps well, was used for making sweets. Today, Key limes are not grown only locally. A powerful hurricane in 1926 destroyed much of the islands\u2019 commercial plantings, which never recovered to an industrial scale, and current commercial production is mainly in Mexico and Brazil. Today, fruit grown outside the islands is also used in pies in the Keys. Old no-cook recipes (ingredient proportions and methods) are also mentioned, but thickening by acid is not the same as the effect of heating. Current baked recipes call for baking the pie in the oven, letting it cool slightly and then refrigerating it.<\/p>\n

Who was \u201cAunt Sally\u201d?<\/h2>\n

A Keys legend holds that the pie was made by \u201cAunt Sally,\u201d who was connected to the Curry family. Local historian Tom Hambright suggests that she may have refined a fishermen\u2019s sweet, while food writer David Sloan regards her not as a servant but as Sarah, the wife of Curry\u2019s son. Opinions also differ on who Sally was and how she was involved in making the pie.<\/p>\n

The fishermen\u2019s sweet that Sloan describes combined, in a cup, the condensed milk, limes and dry Cuban-style bread that fishermen took with them on fishing trips lasting several days. Because it used preserved milk and stale bread that was broken up and moistened, Sloan himself suggests it may have been more like a pudding than the modern baked pie. It is an origin story tied to island life, in which a meal eaten aboard a boat turned into a dessert of a grand household.<\/p>\n

The theory of a condensed milk company origin and the records that remain in the Keys<\/h2>\n

Pastry researcher Stella Parks drew attention to \u201cMagic Lemon Cream Pie,\u201d which a New York condensed milk company popularized in 1931. Her theory is that, because its composition of citrus juice, condensed milk and eggs is similar, the local limes may have been substituted for the lemons. Parks considered it possible that the method of making pies with shelf-stable dairy products spread from the condensed milk company.<\/p>\n

Countering this, Sloan cites a listing for \u201clime pie, ten cents\u201d at the Green Lantern Tea Room in the January 27, 1926 issue of the Key West Citizen. At the very least, an item named \u201clime pie\u201d was being sold in the Keys before 1931.<\/p>\n

He also presents the Blackwell family recipe from the August 25, 1939 issue of the Miami Herald, which includes eggs, lime juice, condensed milk, a baked crust and meringue, along with an explanation that the family had used it for more than half a century. Records of pies sold in the Keys and accounts of methods handed down in families remain, separate from the theory that the pie originated with the condensed milk company.<\/p>\n

\n\"Key\n
Key lime pie decorated with sliced lime and white cream (March 14, 2009, location unknown). Photo: Kimberly Vardeman \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. We have not altered or cropped the content.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Chosen as the state pie<\/h2>\n

Florida designated it the official state pie by a 2006 law, which took effect on July 1 of that year. In the mid-20th century it was also served as a celebrated slice at the Fern Inn in Islamorada and became known to visitors to the islands as well. The state designation marked the moment this regional specialty became an official symbol.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
Lemon icebox pie and raspberry sorbet (June 25, 2009, location unknown). It is a related dessert distinct from Key lime pie, and the author describes it as a pie made with condensed milk, eggs and lemon juice. Photo: stu_spivack \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. We have not altered or cropped the content.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A related pie made with lemon, and a frozen chocolate-coated version<\/h2>\n

For the \u201cMagic Lemon Meringue Pie\u201d that Eagle Brand currently publishes, egg yolks are combined with lemon zest, sweetened condensed milk and juice, and the mixture is poured into a baked crust or a graham cracker crust and baked. The pie is then topped with egg-white meringue and baked again. Although limes and lemons are different fruits, the similar compositions of juice, preserved milk and eggs can be compared.<\/p>\n

Kermit\u2019s shop in the Keys also sells an item made by putting a slice of pie on a stick, freezing it and coating it in chocolate. A cold chocolate surface covers the cracker crust and the tangy dairy filling. This item turns a pie served on a plate into something that can be held in the hand and eaten, and it differs not only in its topping but also in its temperature and in how it is eaten.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

\u30fbFlorida Keys<\/strong>: A chain of islands extending from the southern tip of the U.S. state of Florida.\n\u30fbSweetened condensed milk: A shelf-stable dairy product made by adding sugar to milk and concentrating it.\n\u30fbGraham cracker: An American cracker made with whole wheat. It is also crushed to make pie crusts.\n\u30fbMeringue: Egg whites and sugar whipped together.\n\u30fbWilliam Curry: A 19th-century Key West businessman. His family appears in the legend of Key lime pie\u2019s origin.\n\u30fbSally: A woman who appears in local legend as a pie maker connected to the Curry family. There are various theories about who she was and how she was involved in making the pie.\n\u30fbStella Parks: An American pastry chef and writer.\n\u30fbEagle Brand: A brand that offers sweetened condensed milk and home recipes that use it.\n\u30fbKermit Carpenter: The maker behind a shop in Key West that sells Key lime sweets.\n\u30fbTom Hambright: A local historian in Key West. He examined the fishermen\u2019s sweet and the Sally legend.\n\u30fbDavid Sloan: A writer who researched the origins of Key lime pie and proposes an identity for the Curry family\u2019s Sally.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u30fbState Archives of Florida, \u201cFlorida\u2019s Key Lime Pie,\u201d 1964 postcard<\/a> \u2014 The printed recipe in which egg whites are folded into the filling and a separate meringue is baked on top. The accompanying text dating the origin to the 18th century is not treated as proof.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u30fbUniversity of Florida IFAS, \u201cOverview of US Tahiti Lime Production and Markets\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The Key lime\u2019s strong acidity and aroma, the damage to the islands\u2019 fruit trees in the 1926 hurricane, and Mexico and Brazil as the current main producers. It does not give a date for when the pie came into being.\n\u30fbUniversity of Florida IFAS, \u201cKey Lime Growing in the Florida Home Landscape\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The yellowish-green flesh, small fruit, acidity and aroma, and the current situation in which there is almost no commercial production in Florida.\n\u30fbVisit Florida, \u201cWalking Tour of Islamorada\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A local tourism guide stating that the Fern Inn made the pie known as a local specialty. The specific year when it spread is based on supplementary sources.\n\u30fbKey West Weekly, \u201cAccolades for Fern Butters\u2019 Key lime pie\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Reports the Fern Inn\u2019s reputation, quoting a 1969 local newspaper article. The original 1969 newspaper was not consulted for this article, and the theory that the pie was invented in 1926 is not adopted.<\/p><\/li>

  3. \u30fbFlorida Keys tourism office, \u201cSweet Key Lime Pie Flavors the Keys\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The small fruit, the color from egg yolks, condensed milk, the two kinds of topping, unconfirmed local legends, and Kermit\u2019s frozen chocolate-coated pie on a stick.\n\u30fbFlorida Keys tourism office, published pie recipe<\/a> \u2014 Mixing condensed milk and egg yolks before adding the juice, pouring the mixture into the crust, baking and cooling, with meringue optional.\n\u30fbFlorida Legislature, 2006 SB676 enrolled bill text<\/a> \u2014 The designation of the official state pie and its effective date of July 1, 2006.\n\u30fbEagle Brand, \u201cMagic Lemon Meringue Pie\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A comparison with the current citrus, egg yolk and condensed milk type and its meringue.\n\u30fbCBS, \u201cPie fight,\u201d 2019<\/a> \u2014 Parks\u2019s focus on the 1931 recipe.<\/p><\/li>

  4. \u30fbDavid Sloan, \u201cOnce and for all \u2014 Key Lime Pie\u2019s New York City Origin Story Disproved\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The researcher\u2019s own rebuttal, citing the 1926 lime pie menu listing and the 1939 Blackwell family recipe.<\/p><\/li>

  5. \u30fbJennifer Kornegay, \u201cOrigin of a Classic: Key Lime Pie,\u201d Bake from Scratch<\/a> \u2014 Sloan\u2019s own hypothesis identifying Sally, his account of bread, condensed milk and limes on fishing boats, and a comparison with Parks\u2019s theory.<\/p><\/li>

  6. \u30fbEditorial check: The accounts of no-cook versions from an era when refrigeration was limited and today\u2019s published recipes, which are baked and refrigerated, belong to different periods and methods. Modern recipes are not used to determine where the pie was invented in the past.<\/p><\/li>

  7. Editorial notes (Japanese re-edit)<\/h3><\/li>

  8. No recipe has been confirmed from the period when the fishermen\u2019s sweet turned into the household pie. What the 1926 menu confirms is the name \u201clime pie\u201d and its price; it cannot show whether condensed milk was used or whether the eggs were baked. The Blackwell family recipe was published in 1939, and the statement that it had been used for more than half a century is a family recollection. The manuscript from half a century earlier was not itself presented, and these sources alone do not establish who invented the pie.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The filling of Key lime pie is typically pale yellow rather than bright green. This pie, associated with the Florida Keys, pairs the tartness of small limes with the rich sweetness of sweetened condensed milk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7088,"menu_order":72,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Key Lime Pie","subtitle":"A Florida Keys pie in which condensed milk balances the tartness of small limes","topics":"Key lime\uff0fCondensed milk\uff0fFlorida Keys","country":"United States","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["fruit","cream","egg"],"texture":["smooth"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[168],"class_list":["post-8317","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8289,8313,8316,8245,8246,8247,8248,8249]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t