Tuesdays with Dorie: Florida Pie
May 13, 2008 at 4:08 am | Posted in groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 57 Comments
“What the heck is Florida Pie?” you ask. It’s basically a key lime pie with a couple of coconutty embellishments, and it happens to the TWD pick o’ the week from Dianne of Dianne’s Dishes. Dorie’s Florida Pie has the standard crumb crust and lime juice/condensed milk filling, but it also has a layer of coconut cream in between said crust and filling, and coconut folded into the meringue topping. I decided to go for mini pies, and half a recipe of filling gave me three babies. Mini pies do have a higher crust to filling proportion than full size pies, so I probably used about 2/3 recipe of crust.
I didn’t stray too far from Dorie’s instructions this time, but I did make a couple tweaks. I used regular (not key) limes and condensed low fat milk in the filling, which worked nicely. And for the coconut cream layer, I used way less cream than she called for, probably just a few tablespoons, and wound up with something more like a tasty goo. I also toasted my coconuts (both the shredded stuff I used in the goo, and the fine desiccated stuff I folded into the meringue), because I think it really brings out the flavor of packaged coconut, which can be pretty lackluster as-is.
“How did it taste?” you ask. Pretty darn good. Next time, I’ll add a little lime zest to the filling. I really like the combination of coconut and lime, but if you aren’t a coconut fan, just leave out the cream layer and keep your meringue unflavored. You’ll still wind up with a fantastic key lime pie. If you’d like to be transported via baking to Key West, Del Boca Vista, or the Floridian destination of your choice, put on your Lilly Pulitzer and check out the recipe here on Dianne’s Dishes, or in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to go look at the TWD Blogroll!
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a whisk and a spoon 
looks yummy! I didnt get to make it this week but may try it out over the next few days
Comment by Tammy— May 13, 2008 #
Gotta love the mini pies. Very pretty.
Comment by rainbowbrown— May 13, 2008 #
I love your little pies! So cute and tasty!
Comment by Heather— May 13, 2008 #
Looks great. I skipped out on this week, but am looking forward to choosing an old recipe for next week!
Comment by Melissa— May 13, 2008 #
Your pie looks lovely and you avoided the sugar syrup leak from the meringue that mine suffered from.
The only recipe I have used to avoid this is the one from Cooks Illustrated. It was only last year I learned about heating the egg whites to give a more stable (and less fluid leaking) meringue.
Comment by andreainthekitchen— May 13, 2008 #
beautiful lime pies! love the photo with backlight on the lemon slice. i still have to make mine tonight – ack!
Comment by mimi— May 13, 2008 #
lovely!
Comment by Aran— May 13, 2008 #
Beautimus! This makes me so hungry, I have been on a severe citus kick lately 🙂
Comment by Tartelette— May 13, 2008 #
Gorgeous! I’m thinking about running to the fridge for one of mine after seeing this.
Comment by Amanda— May 13, 2008 #
Minis are always perfect things! I was not a fan of the coconut but wow the lime filling was perfect! Great as always!
Comment by Gretchen Noelle— May 13, 2008 #
it looks delicious! beautiful color on the filling and the layers look lovely 🙂
Comment by kim— May 13, 2008 #
Beautiful job! I agree on teh lime zest, a little punch would’ve been nice. Next time!
Comment by Annemarie— May 13, 2008 #
Looks wonderful! Good to know the lowfat milk worked. I love the photos.
Comment by Anne— May 13, 2008 #
Those ribbons of coconut look fabulous! Great job!
Comment by Danielle— May 13, 2008 #
Your mini pies look great, I liked the combination of lime and coconut.
Ulrike from Küchenlatein
Comment by Ulrike aka ostwestwind— May 13, 2008 #
Looks fabulous. I like the use of the toasted coconut.
Comment by peabody— May 13, 2008 #
Oh, this looks delicious, I thought about toasting but then forgot about 2 seconds after that. Adult ADD can be a gift and a curse 🙂 Beautiufl job!
Comment by Carrie— May 13, 2008 #
Your pies look scrumptious!
Comment by Liliana— May 13, 2008 #
I love the shaved coconut on top with the little slice of lime – beautiful!
Comment by Caitlin— May 13, 2008 #
looks great! I didn’t use the coconut, but next time I do I’ll have to toast it.
Comment by Hygeian Stew— May 13, 2008 #
As always, looks wonderful!
Comment by April— May 13, 2008 #
Beautiful pies! Looks like they could be in a magazine. Nina @ Love Sweet Love
Comment by NinaBeth— May 14, 2008 #
Lovely looking little pies! I love the idea of the toasted coconut!
Comment by Marie— May 14, 2008 #
Your pies look great! Glad to hear the regular limes worked out as I am also using those and not key limes (I have to make mine tonight!)
Comment by Tracey— May 14, 2008 #
I love that first picture. The plantation shutters in the background makes me think of paradise weather. What a perfect pie to accompany my daydream. Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought
Comment by CB— May 14, 2008 #
Mmmmmm! Looks delicious!
Comment by RecipeGirl— May 14, 2008 #
I made mini-pies too. Mine were, um, very mini, so I ended up using the full crust recipe for a quarter of the filling and topping recipe. Good thing I like graham cracker crusts!
Comment by bridget— May 14, 2008 #
Very prett and I love the toasted coconut!
Comment by Holly— May 14, 2008 #
Yum! It looks amazing! Great Job!
Comment by Amy— May 14, 2008 #
I really love your pictures. Nice job on the pies!
Comment by Cheryl— May 14, 2008 #
Lovely! Mini-pies….awesome. I’ll be late in posting mine today…but I agree with you, it was tasty, huh? I will definately be making it again, and I really like your suggestion of zest in the filling. MMM!!!!!
Comment by rebekka— May 14, 2008 #
Such a beautiful little pie! I love it! And the photos are fantastic.
Comment by Food Librarian— May 14, 2008 #
Those are freaking adorable!
Comment by Melissa— May 14, 2008 #
i made minis too…!! i love small sized dessert items.
love your tweaks, mine are similar…whole foods was out of key limes. love your crust photos…yum!
Comment by Mara— May 14, 2008 #
Yes indeed it is so good. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Glad to see you did as well. Great pics. Beautiful pie.
Comment by Lori— May 14, 2008 #
Breathtaking! Love the pictures.
Comment by Lindsey (Cafe Johnsonia)— May 14, 2008 #
Your pie looks delish! I love your photography too. What photo software do you use? How did you write on your photo? I have so much to learn about this blogging world.
Comment by Mary— May 14, 2008 #
Ooooh – genius! I wish I had thought of toasting the coconut first! Love it!
Comment by Katie B.— May 14, 2008 #
This looks wonderful! The meringue looks so beautiful and fluffy!
Comment by Erin— May 14, 2008 #
love your mini pies! your meringue is so beautiful and fluffy 🙂
Comment by Jaime— May 14, 2008 #
Your photos are gorgeous…a beautiful (and delicious) looking pie! 🙂
Comment by Linda— May 14, 2008 #
I absolutely love learning from your experiments. The mini tart idea is a really great tweak – I would do these for a bridal shower in a heartbeat. I’m also thrilled to hear that they turned out great without using key limes – they’re harder to find here in the great white north.
Comment by giz— May 14, 2008 #
I like minis…more to grab and go! 🙂 Looks yummy!
Comment by Chris— May 14, 2008 #
Your pie looks great. Don’t you just love the mini pies. I did them too!
Comment by Amy P— May 14, 2008 #
Wonderful pie! It would make any Floridian proud! 🙂
Comment by Gigi— May 14, 2008 #
Love the mini pies, very cute! As well the toasted coconut would had been a nice touch on the top … next time!
Comment by Chez US— May 14, 2008 #
Toasting the coconut is a great idea for folding in the meringue. I’ll have to remember that…now, if only I could perfect meringue like you have. Great photos! (The shutter in the background looks appropriate for Florida Pie!)
Comment by Shari— May 14, 2008 #
Beautiful! Thanks for posting that you used low fat sweetened condensed milk. I’ll try that next time.
Comment by Baken— May 14, 2008 #
I will say, your pie is as usual, magnificent… but need I reallly say it since you are again going to end up in the most mentionned for the Secret Ingredient?
Well yeahhh… I know, it’s always nice to be complimented anyways! LOL
Also, thank you very much Steph, for the comment on my blog. And just to let you know, I’m truly impressed you took the time to read my Florida highway no.4 post in French, nevertheless… keep in mind next time, that I have a translating widget on my blog, so if you do come to visit again, you can read in English if you want… bad English I admit, for automatic translation is not the greatest. Oh! …and as you can see, English is really a second skin for me, so I have no problem with your English comments (or anyone else’s for that matter)! LOL
Keep up the award winning baking jobs! BRAVO! BRAVISSIMO!
Comment by Vibi— May 15, 2008 #
Steph, I’ll have 2 slices, ok? 😉
This is mouthwatering!
Comment by Patricia Scarpin— May 15, 2008 #
Lovely pic! it’s a great idea to use less cream too!
Comment by Piggy— May 15, 2008 #
What a nice job on your baby pies! Love your meringue!
I’d rather have more crust too. It was soooo yummy!
Comment by Donna— May 15, 2008 #
Your mini pies look great! I love the idea of the zest in the filling. I thought of that too, but I didn’t use fresh limes. The toasted coconut was a wonderful touch.
Comment by Dianne— May 15, 2008 #
Your pie looks gorgeous! and i’m not even a fan of florida pie;)
Comment by Laura— May 15, 2008 #
Love the mini pies, and the crust looks like the perfect amount to me. 🙂
Comment by Natalie— May 15, 2008 #
I didn’t even think of toasting the coconut, what a good idea!
And I love graham crusts, so the higher ratio is very appealing. 🙂
Comment by Jenny— May 15, 2008 #
Looks Great!
Comment by Sharon - Butcher, Baker......— May 16, 2008 #