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Key Lime White Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

Yield: 12 Slices (9-inch pie)
Prep Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 40 minutes

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 1 ½ cups (150 g) graham cracker crumbs, about 13 rectangles
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 8 tablespoons (113 g) salted butter, melted

Lime Curd:

  • ¼ cup (57 g) salted butter
  • 1 cup (212 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup fresh lime juice (see note)
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime zest

White Chocolate Cheesecake:

  • 8 ounces (227 g) cream cheese, softened
  • ⅓ cup (38 g) powdered sugar
  • ½ cup (113 g) sour cream
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice
  • 4 ounces (113 g) white chocolate, melted and cooled until no longer warm but still pourable
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lime zest, zest limes before juicing!
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions 

  • For the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and butter in a bowl until well mixed. Press evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch baking pan; bake for 8-10 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden. Let cool completely while preparing the other parts of the pie.
  • For the lime curd, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar, lime juice, eggs and salt. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and thickens, 10 minutes or so (depending on how hot the stove is); it should be the consistency of soft pudding. To avoid any little bits of cooked eggs, strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl. Stir in the lime zest. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate until no longer warm.
  • For the cheesecake topping, in a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), mix together the cream cheese and sugar until very smooth. Add the sour cream and lime juice and mix until combined. Add the white chocolate and whip until creamy and thick.
  • In a separate medium bowl with the electric mixer (no need to clean the beaters), or with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (PS: I often use my Blendtec fro whip cream!), beat the cream to stiff peaks.
  • Fold the cream gently into the cream cheese mixture with a rubber spatula until evenly combined.
  • Spread the cooled lime curd over the crust. Dollop the cheesecake filling over the curd and spread evenly.
  • Sprinkle additional fresh lime zest on the pie for garnish and use fresh lime slices, if desired, to decorate the top of the pie.
  • Chill for at least 4 hours before serving; the pie can be made a day ahead of time.

Notes

Lime: all said and done, you'll need about two tablespoons lime zest (that includes zest needed for garnishing the top of the pie) and 3/4 cup fresh lime juice for this pie. Depending on the size of limes (I used every day grocery store Persian limes), you may need between 5-8 limes. If you use key limes, you may need upwards of 20 limes for juicing.
DON'T FORGET TO ZEST THE LIMES BEFORE JUICING!: By doing this, you can minimize using more limes than you actually need.
Plan Ahead: the curd can be made up to a week ahead of time and refrigerated. Keep in mind the assembled pie needs to chill for at least four hours so plan ahead (it can easily be made a day in advance).