On Pi Day (March 14, 3.14) 2025, I served as a judge for the annual Pi and Lattes party at the Pilates Indy studio. Six pies were entered in the contest this year and the studio owner sent a slice of each home for me to judge; I hosted a dinner party to recruit assistance. One pie stood out to me and several others: a key lime pie submitted by one of the clients at the studio. The studio owner obtained the recipe for me, and I am writing this blog to share it with you because it is now my “go-to” summer pie.
People: Clients and restaurants who donate pies for judging at pie contests. The client who submitted this pie told the studio owner that she was worried that the pie would not be competitive because it was too easy! Which is exactly why I am writing a blog about it.
Places: A Pilates studio that has hosted a pie contest for the last eight years and has the space and set up for serving pies and lattes. On this special day, the studio serves pies contributed by clients and local bakeries and lattes from a local coffee shop. The first-, second-, and third-place winners receive a ribbon and a certificate.
Pies: The pie that received the second-place ribbon this year is a unique version of a key lime pie. The Ultimate Key Lime Pie Cookbook notes that there are 150,000 variations on the basic recipe and this one is the perfect key lime pie for dessert on a warm summer night, listening to the birds while sitting on my deck.
Here is the recipe:
Crust:
1 graham cracker or chocolate cookie pie crust (1.5 cup crumbs, 1/3 cup sugar, 6 TBSP melted butter, mix and put in freezer for 30 minutes.)
Filling:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 8 oz container whipped topping
½ cup key lime juice (Nellie’s and Joe’s is best)
Stir, pour in crust and refrigerate until ready to serve. Before serving, ring the pie with whipped cream if you are entering it in a pie contest! Shaved chocolate is also decorative.
No eggs to separate, no hot oven, no mess…. Easy, peasy!
