Not familiar with Edward's but I am familiar with my own. I've been making "authentic" key lime pies commercially for almost 18 years and doing so with the traditional recipe I used growing up in Miami making them for myself, family and friends.
One (of the three) package of Graham crackers in a food processor turned into crumbs with one stick of butter, form the crust in a 10" pie pan, bake for about 7-minutes @ 325-degrees and let it cool. Please do not purchase a pre-made crust, the flavor of the home made buttery crust is essential to the overall taste. We make hundreds to thousands of KLPs a week and sticking to this traditional method is part of why we have been successful.
The filling is three basic ingredients, sweetened and condensed milk, egg yolks and fresh squeezed key lime juice. Since I have always used the "fill and chill" method, the egg yolks are raw, which I would still use fresh raw egg yolks if I were making one pie at a time, but we now use a pasteurized egg yolk. There are methods of pasteurizing egg yolks (use the Google-Machine) and some places may even sell pasteurized yolks. The yolks and the sweetened and condensed milk (one can) should be thoroughly incorporated using a hand mixer.
As a purist, I use ONLY fresh squeezed key limes. If you don't have access to key limes, use regular Persian limes. The bottled juice is highly recommended, for stripping paint or removing rust but NOT in food. Check at local Mexican stores and see if they have key limes (limon), as key lime production in the US on a commercial level has not happened since the 1930's. Whether key lime or Persian lime you'll need half a cup of the fresh juice.
Incorporating the juice into the SCM-egg mixture is very important and should be done with care. There is a chemical process that occurs when the acidity of the lime juice meets the eggs, and it is a subtle process that might be compromised if you mix the ingredients together too harshly. Do NOT use your hand-blender, rather use a whisk and use it gently. You will notice the filling start to congeal a bit as you continue. Make sure the juice is thoroughly and evenly mixed, pour into the cooled crust and let it chill for a few hours.
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One (of the three) package of Graham crackers in a food processor turned into crumbs with one stick of butter, form the crust in a 10" pie pan, bake for about 7-minutes @ 325-degrees and let it cool. Please do not purchase a pre-made crust, the flavor of the home made buttery crust is essential to the overall taste. We make hundreds to thousands of KLPs a week and sticking to this traditional method is part of why we have been successful.
The filling is three basic ingredients, sweetened and condensed milk, egg yolks and fresh squeezed key lime juice. Since I have always used the "fill and chill" method, the egg yolks are raw, which I would still use fresh raw egg yolks if I were making one pie at a time, but we now use a pasteurized egg yolk. There are methods of pasteurizing egg yolks (use the Google-Machine) and some places may even sell pasteurized yolks. The yolks and the sweetened and condensed milk (one can) should be thoroughly incorporated using a hand mixer.
As a purist, I use ONLY fresh squeezed key limes. If you don't have access to key limes, use regular Persian limes. The bottled juice is highly recommended, for stripping paint or removing rust but NOT in food. Check at local Mexican stores and see if they have key limes (limon), as key lime production in the US on a commercial level has not happened since the 1930's. Whether key lime or Persian lime you'll need half a cup of the fresh juice.
Incorporating the juice into the SCM-egg mixture is very important and should be done with care. There is a chemical process that occurs when the acidity of the lime juice meets the eggs, and it is a subtle process that might be compromised if you mix the ingredients together too harshly. Do NOT use your hand-blender, rather use a whisk and use it gently. You will notice the filling start to congeal a bit as you continue. Make sure the juice is thoroughly and evenly mixed, pour into the cooled crust and let it chill for a few hours.
Thats my story and I'm sticking to it. Good luck.