![]() on Thursday, July 4, with a Kick-Off Party at the Southernmost Beach Café at 1405 Duval St. The Festival officially begins at 11 a.m. There are self-paced pie samplings that wind through town, raffles, a pie-eating contest (duh) and more. The Festival consists of a wide spectrum of citrus-celebratory activities spread across four days, with events ranging from intimate culinary classes to the hugely popular Key Lime Sip & Stroll, where ten bars will compete for the honor of calling themselves the purveyors of the best Key lime cocktail on the island. Together, they’ve produced the new and improved Key Lime Festival, now in its seventh year.Ĭrystal Villegas and Paul Menta show off their First Legal Rum Distillery Key lime cocktail. Together, the two agreed to resuscitate the long-forgotten festival, modernizing the events so as to attract a new group of fans. The pair were so perfect for this project not even Nicholas Sparks could have invented the whimsical serendipity of the arrangement. He reached out to Pierson, whom he knew suffered from a not uncommon Keys-specific affliction: a love of Key limes so strong he cooked his breakfast with them every morning. Being a fan of all things historic and odd about Key West, Sloan’s interest was sufficiently piqued. And during his research on Key West’s haunted history, he’d gone searching for ghost stories at the Curry Mansion and instead discovered a yellowed and faded Key lime pie recipe card, claiming to be the provenance of the celebrated dessert. It was a good fit: Sloan had worked as a professional baker in his youth, so he certainly knew the power of a good Key lime pie. ![]() Sloan had already published his book, “The Key Lime Cookbook,” when a friend suggested that he try to resurrect the old Key Lime Festival, which had died out decades ago. Key lime cocktail sauce? Pass the Key West pinks.ĭeanna Kay Cox mixes up a Key lime cocktail at First Flight Restaurant during last year’s Key Lime Cocktail Sip ‘n Stroll. Key lime sea salt? Most food could use a little extra citrus anyway. Key lime beer? The folks over at the Waterfront Brewery would agree that it’s as natural as pairing peanut butter and jelly. Culinarians here in the Keys will throw Key lime into anything that can take it, standard culinary usage be damned. Pies may be a serious business but when it comes to the limes themselves, we’re far more equal opportunity gastronomes. A tip from an expert who’s been there, heard that: just agree with the invective and then back away slowly and respectfully, as you would from a rabid Key West rooster, and hopefully you won’t get pecked. Ask a local on the proper way to top a pie - is it a dollop of whipped cream or a colossal mound of slightly toasted meringue? - and you might be there all day, trapped in an endless lecture about just how wrong the “other side” is. There are two schools of thought on how the top of a perfect Key lime pie should be crowned, and each school is vehemently convinced that theirs is the truest, purest way of pie-making. COURTESY PHOTOĪnd things get even more heated when the topic of topping arises. You can also use the zest from regular limes as a substitute for the grated key lime zest in these bars.Key lime lover and Fest co-creator David Sloan with a slice of his favorite pie. I use this same lime juice in my No Churn Coconut Key Lime Ice Cream. I wasn’t able to get fresh Key Limes, so I used Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice for these bars, which is a really great substitute if fresh key limes aren’t available. The filling is so fluffy that biting into one of these is like biting into a key lime flavored cloud. These Coconut Key Lime Pie Bars are simple to make and not too tart. Bar desserts are easier to make, share, and transport than some other desserts. ![]() I love turning everything into bar desserts. That is why I came up with the recipe for these Coconut Key Lime Pie Bars. ![]() And there isn’t a more summerly flavor than coconut, so that had to be a part of my bars as well. I highly recommend going there if you ever end up in Key West.Īfter my trip I ended up with a love for key lime pie, and the desire to use the flavors in my own desserts. My favorite thing ended up being the chocolate covered key lime pie bars at Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe. Obviously I dedicated a large part of the day to finding the best key lime desserts in Key West. I had never been there before, and we only got a few hours to spend there. Last year I took a cruise that made a stop in Key West. Key West is known for a few things, but most famously it is know for its Key Lime Pie.
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