LIME PIE WITH TOASTED COCONUT & WHIPPED CREAM

Oh how I love a chess pie! This version, made with lime and coconut, is one of my favorite things to bake between fall and winter when limes are at the peak of ripeness. I like to use cornmeal to thicken my chess pies. I love the subtle texture it provides and the brightness it gives to the overall color. If you’re not a fan of coconut, I recommend toasting macadamia nuts and then blitzing them in the food processor before sprinkling them over the top.

Chess pie is a classic southern dessert composed of butter, egg, sugar, and milk. It’s thickened with either flour or cornmeal and generally features an acid like lemon, buttermilk, or even vinegar as its main flavor. It’s the kind of pie every baker should have in their repertoire because it’s made with the staples most of us have on hand in the house, and it’s so easy to adapt for new flavors.

ingredients

ingredients

• 1 ENRICHED PIE CRUST, extra par-baked and cooled

Filling

• 261 g whole milk
• 10 g lemon juice
• 56 g unsalted butter, melted
• 178 g whole egg
• 48 g egg yolk
• 260 g granulated sugar
• 65 g lime juice
• zest of 1 medium lime
• 6 g kosher salt
• 40 g cornmeal

Toppings

• shredded coconut, toasted
• whipped cream

equipment

• whisk
• large bowl
• wooden spoon or spatula
• half sheet pan
• small pan for toasting coconut
• 9″ pie pan

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instructions

MAKE THE BUTTERMILK:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Stir the lemon juice into the container holding your milk.

I learned to make my own buttermilk a long time ago after being so disgruntled with myself for not finding enough uses for the giant container of buttermilk I bought at the store. If you always have lemons and milk in the house, as I do, this little trick is a game changer. I like to give it at least 10 minutes to activate before using it. You’ll know it’s ready when you see that it takes on a sort of lumpy appearance. I have found that making my own buttermilk is more cost-effective and produces less waste, but of course, store-bought buttermilk can be used for this recipe; omit the lemon juice.

MAKE THE FILLING & BAKE:

1. Whisk whole eggs, yolks, cornmeal, cooled butter, sugar, lime juice, zest, and salt in a large bowl until well blended then stir in the buttermilk mixture.

2. Place baked and cooled pie shell on a half sheet pan next to the oven. This is a very sloshy pie before it’s baked, so the closer you are to your oven, the easier it will be to avoid spillage during the transfer.
3. Pour the filling into the shell and bake for 45 – 55 minutes or until the very center of the pie jiggles slightly. The pie will continue to bake once it’s out of the oven, and the center will set.

4. Allow the pie to cool for a minimum of 2 hours before finishing the top.
5. Sprinkle the cooled pie with toasted coconut and adorn it with whipped cream stars or rosettes or serve a slice with a dollop of whipped cream on the side.