well, it was a busy week for RLB in our catering kitchen last week:  the cake bible was out to help troubleshoot the making and almost curdling of orange-caramel mousseline buttercream; the bread bible was out for guidance on baguette; and the pie & pastry bible was out for that fabulous key lime pie recipe.  what would we do without our prolific rose???  it’s just that she keeps us looking so good all the time . . . !!!

my question today has to do with the key lime pie.  the custard of the last version was ever so slightly grainy.  not lumpy, not curdled, just not creamy smooth.  i made the recipe as called for with two exceptions:  the recipe was exactly doubled and baked in a half sheet pan, and the lime juice was nellie & joe’s bottled key lime juice (fresh bottle, but not fresh squoze).  other than those items, all else was the same.  the taste was great (natch!), the meringue was fine and didn’t weep, and the whole sheet set up nicely.  any ideas regarding the consistency flux? 

thanx in advance.

Just to clarify…  You made the pie in the shape of a sheet pan?  With a crust?

yes:  double recipe made in a half sheet pan over a graham cracker crust which was slightly baked (5 min.) before proceeding with rest of pie recipe.

Hmmm - you say the curd was “slightly grainy, but not lumpy, not curdled”.  The only thing that comes to mind would be sugar.  Did you add any sugar after the curd was made?

i made the recipe as written.  no sugar in the curd.

I use Nellie and Joe’s too for my individual Key Lime pies; but I found that I get better results using their recipe:  8 oz juice, 4 yolks, 14 oz sweetened condensed milk…. mixed then poured into individual rings (I have a bottom crust of graham cracker crumbs, tamped down);  the rings are sprayed with pan release; bake, then let stand for 45 mins then remove rings and chill overnight.

The only time I have a different texture is when I use a different brand of juice; and like your experience, it seems a bit grainy.  Maybe the “solids” (the particulates that settle to the bottom) didn’t get mixed thoroughly enough; there’s definitely an expiration date on the N&J;bottles and gallon jugs.

I have recently had a craving for key lime pies. I used a very basic recipe-4 eggs, 2 cans sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup lime juice (one fresh Persian lime and the rest bottled) & some zest for the first. It came out perfectly creamy. My next one, I used everything the same but used fresh squeezed key limes. My texture is exactly as you describe. Grainy-not curdled. But not smooth. Wondering if it’s the acid in the fresh limes versus the bottled stuff.