–Molly Engquist, WDW Radio Team
It’s March 14th… Pi Day!!! Doesn’t that make you want to have a piece of pie?
We just went to Key West, Florida in January (ahh… pause for reflection), so let’s look at Disney’s Old Key West Resort to see if they have any pie.
Now I haven’t stayed at that resort since I was younger, but I remember how open it felt with all the bright colors. There was a very Florida vibe and the buildings had that Key West style. I also remember getting add-ons like golf for my dad, which was right out the back door. And my brother and I took one of the boats out for exploration (yes, many Jungle Cruise puns were said).
One thing a resort must have to be considered to be themed to Key West is, of course Key Lime Pie. Over at Olivia’s Cafe they have that along with many other “island-inspired” dishes. Since we are just here for the food and pie, let’s make Key Lime Pie! We know that Lou “isn’t a sweets guy.” Well, I don’t bake… really… I have maybe made cookies once or twice and cake from a box. I usually leave that to others that are much better at it. So let’s try this together and see how it goes.
Here’s my plan. I want to see if I can make my pie look like the way they serve it at Olivia’s but I‘m going to use a recipe from the Delicious Disney cookbook and some information I gathered while in Key West. The recipe only needs three ingredients for the filling so what could go wrong…
Ingredients for Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) butter, melted
Ingredients for Filling:
1 14-ounce-can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
⅔ cup key lime juice
The oven should be set to 300°F. I put about a sleeve of graham crackers in the food processor and crushed them. Next, I combined the graham cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the cinnamon in a mixing bowl. I melted the butter in a microwave safe dish and stirred it into the crumbs. (The mixture should hold together when squeezed.)
I used four individual spring form pans to get the desired look. So I pressed the graham cracker mixture on the bottom and sides of each pan.
In another bowl, I combined the milk, egg yolks, and lime juice and mixed well. Then I poured this into the crust.
I placed the pans on a cookie sheet and baked them for 18 to 20 minutes, when the filling should be set. (I had to look that up, it means it should jiggle slightly in the middle.) Last was to refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
During this time I made two different purees in the blender. One had raspberries, a little orange juice, and sugar to taste. The other had mangoes, key lime juice, and sugar to taste.
When I was ready to serve I tried to make meringue with the leftover egg whites. First I heated ⅓ cup water and sugar on the burner for about 14 minutes. At 7 minutes in, I started the mixer on medium speed whipping the eggs. Then I added ¼ tsp of cream of tartar and ⅛ tsp sea salt. Once the sugar was dissolved I slowly added this to the mixer. Then I waited for the meringue to form stiff peaks…. It never happened. It never set up correctly so I failed at my first attempt at making meringue.
Luckily I bought Reddi-whip just in case. I took the pies out of the spring form pans, topped with the Reddi-whip and tried my best with the puree around them.
The pie was great! I did get the crust a little thick, but all the flavors came together great!
Hope you enjoy Pi Day and take time to enjoy a piece of pie, whatever flavor you can!
