Tuesdays with Dorie - Florida Pie

I start getting excited every Sunday night, not because the husband goes back to work the next day and I get the house ALL TO MYSELF, but because I know it's almost time for the Tuesdays with Dorie recipe to be posted. The week was extra exciting because the chosen recipe was Florida Pie!

I lived in Florida for quite a few years but I'd never heard of Florida Pie. Weird right? It turns out that it's basically a key lime pie with a layer of coconut cream and some more coconut folded into the meringue. And let me tell you, I love me some key lime pie.



The recipe was chosen by Dianne of Dianne's Dishes and I think this might be my favorite yet. Yeah, I know I've said that at least twice before but this one is seriously the best.


The only bad part about this recipe was all the limes I had to squeeze. I swear I went through 30 of them before I had enough juice. I even tried to recruit the husband but he managed to tune out all my yelling.

I had initially planned on doing whipped cream instead of a meringue because I'm still a little burnt out from the lemon meringue pie I made in January, but I gave the husband a choice between the two and he chose meringue.


The recipe was very simple although I had one screw up. Dorie calls for 1 1/2 cups of coconut DIVIDED and well, we know how this ends. I put all of it into the cream. It turned out fine though. I'm just lucky that my family loves coconut.

Dorie mentions in her recipe that she usually uses a store-bought graham cracker crust and since it's good enough for her, I decided it was good enough for me. I used the tiny ones and ended up with 11 little pies. Luckily my mom's birthday was this weekend so I passed some on to her and my dad.



Thank you to Dianne for choosing a great recipe!

Florida Pie
from: Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, seperated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended. Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.

Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue:

Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.) Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.