Fool proof recipe for a key lime pie?

[Jenise]

Next weekend I'm doing a huge Carribbean dinner (80 people) and think key lime pie done sheetpan style would be perfect. Anyone have a fool proof recipe?

Exactly what do you mean by a "sheetpan"? How many standard pies would fill one?

[Jenise]

Exactly what do you mean by a "sheetpan"? How many standard pies would fill one?

Jelly roll type pan. Large, shallow, for cutting into squares.

I use the Gourmet March 2009 recipe adapted from Town Hall Restaurant. Found it on Epicurious. Crust is ground almonds, graham crackers and the filling is double what is in most recipes. It makes a 10 inch pie that is quite generous both crust and filling. The technique is foolproof and I'm sure that you can convert it to rectangular pans on a volume basis with much less baking time.

[Jenise]

I use the Gourmet March 2009 recipe adapted from Town Hall Restaurant. Found it on Epicurious. Crust is ground almonds, graham crackers and the filling is double what is in most recipes. It makes a 10 inch pie that is quite generous both crust and filling. The technique is foolproof and I'm sure that you can convert it to rectangular pans on a volume basis with much less baking time.

Thanks, I'll go take a look at it.

[Jenise]

Christina, I used that recipe you recommended to me--loved the almond crust, and I added a bit of cinnamon for complexity. To the filling, I made another adjustment from a recipe I saw somewhere else, using a bit of cream cheese in it. The dirty-dishwater color of many key lime pies I've seen has been a bit off-putting to me, so the idea of the opacity brought by the cream cheese sounded like a visual improvement to me and the result is both beautiful and tasty. We made the pies yesterday so they'd be properly chilled for tonight. I dread cutting them, btw. Not sure how to get the cleanest edge. Can't have any back and forth movement, but not sure knives are going to go through as cleanly as we'd like. At least, it didn't seem so at room temperature yesterday! Anyway, thanks for the recco, this dessert is going to be fabulous.

Jenise, what about dipping the knife you are going to use in hot water just prior to making each cut? Not hot enough to cause the surface it touches to melt away, but just enough to slice through.

[Jenise]

Jenise, what about dipping the knife you are going to use in hot water just prior to making each cut? Not hot enough to cause the surface it touches to melt away, but just enough to slice through.

Karen, yesterday we tried that, also an oiled blade--this just to release the 'pie' away from the pan, which we'd Pammed. Pretty sticky stuff! But yes, we'll have to repeat the wet knife blade trick today. Works on gelatins, terrines and the like, but of course they don't have all the sugar. We made two 8 x 8's and two 9x13's so that we could cut enough bars for 80 people. It's the long cuts in the 9 x 13's that really have me worried. I'm going to ask Bob for a wire--we might have to fall back on something like that.

[Jenise]

Karen, my long, beveled ham knife worked like a charm on cutting the chilled pies. That poor knife--it does so many things so well, but it almost never sees a ham!