his favorite

While I'm assuredly pretty close to the tippy-top of my boyfriend's list of favorite people*, this is a post about his favorite desserts.

*I'm pretty sure he isn't thrilled that I'm focusing on him in a post, and it could result in me moving down a notch or two on the aforementioned list.

I was working in a bakery when I met my boyfriend and always offered to bring or make him things, no doubt hoping to impress him with my mad baking skills. The first thing he requested** was key lime pie (which I hate really, really dislike), and this is the recipe I made for him.

**Other treats he loves include anything oreo-based and his mom's chocolate chip cookies. That said, I think given the option of having any dessert in the world or a thoughtfully brewed IPA, he'd take the beer every time.

Here's what my beau said when I asked him to describe the pie (since I'm painfully biased and would say nothing positive except that I love a graham cracker crust and whipped cream is a gift from God): Crisp, creamy, limey, and refreshing. As you can tell, he's a man of few words. He also said that it was better on day #2 than the day I made it, so that's a nice note, and although he didn't mention it, my thought was that it'd be fine to double the filling to have a thicker, more luxurious pie.

There you have it, folks. Classic key lime pie for my favorite fella.

Classic Key Lime Pie for my Favorite Fella
Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 10 crackers)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 tablespoon lime zest, optional
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup lime juice, fresh or bottled

Topping:

• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered or granulated sugar, or to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and stir until mixed.
Add butter and stir with a fork until crumbs are evenly coated.
Press crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-inch pie dish.
Bake crust until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Set on cooling rack while you prepare filling.
To make the filling, zest the limes into the bottom of a medium bowl, if you're using them.
Beat zest and egg yolks with an electric mixer until pale and thick, about 5 minutes.
Add sweetened condensed milk and beat until thickened again, about 3 minutes more.
Whisk the lime juice into the yolk mixture until combined.
Pour into graham crust and bake pie for another 10 minutes, until set but not browned on top at all.
Let pie cool completely before adding topping, which is simply the cream and sugar beaten until soft peaks are formed. Chill at least another 2 to 3 hours with the cream on top so that it can fully set before slicing.