Maribel Ortiz’s Key Lime Pie

Maribel Ortiz credits her mentor, former Santa Fe Bite owner, Bonnie Eckre, with teaching her all about baking. “Mari” started with the well-known eatery as a busser and food runner but was fascinated with the array of pies and cakes that Bonnie whipped up in the kitchen while husband John cooked the Bite’s famous burgers. By the time the Eckres transferred ownership to current partners, Mari’s husband Armando and Angela Mason, Mari had fully taken over the baking.

Key Lime Pie Recipe

Mari and Armando first met while working at La Fonda on the Plaza. They had both come to Santa Fe from Coahuila, Mexico but she laughs that she was a country girl and he, a city kid. Today, they have a daughter who also works with them at Santa Fe Bite. Mari particularly likes making cream pies, such as the key lime dream she whipped up for our competition. Judges found it “perfection in sight,” and “nicely tart, the essence of key lime pie.”

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Maribel Ortiz’s Key Lime Pie

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• Author: Maribel Ortiz
• Yield: Makes a 9-inch pie 1x

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the Pie Crust:

• 1½ cups ground Nabisco Honey Graham Crackers
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the Pie Filling:

• 3 large egg yolks
• 14-oz can La Lechera sweetened condensed milk
• ½ cup Nellie and Joe’s Key West lime juice
• ½ teaspoon fresh lime zest

For the Whipped Cream Topping:

• 2 cups whipping cream
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract

For the Garnish:

• 8 thinly sliced lime rounds

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Instructions

For the Pie Crust:

1. Combine the ingredients in a bowl and using your fingers, pinch mixture until well combined. Press evenly into a 9-inch pie plate.
2. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown. (Leave oven on.) Cool before filling.

For the Pie Filling:

1. Beat together the filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. When combined, pour into cooled pie crust.
3. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 3-4 hours.

For the Whipped Cream Topping:

1. Combine the ingredients in a stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, beat on medium to medium-high until stiff peaks just form.
2. Spread topping over finished pie decoratively.

For the Garnish:

1. Cut a small slit from the middle to the edge of each lime round. Pull apart and twist.
2. Place lime twists evenly on the pie’s surface. Serve.

Recipe by Maribel Ortiz

Story by Cheryl Alters Jamison

Photography by Tira Howard

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