real deal florida key lime pie with biscoff crust

and a love letter to summer.

I’m a devoted practitioner of little rituals, and my weekly Saturday farmer’s market run is among my most coveted. For months, I clocked the man with the fresh key limes (the bottle stuff just doesn’t do them justice), and last week, I finally picked up a couple of pints.

I live in North Florida now, but I grew up in South Florida–Pompano Beach/Fort Lauderdale specifically. Fun fact: South Florida is the only place in the continental United States with a true tropical climate–and it shows. Summer isn’t a season, it’s a state of mind. Mangos reign supreme across yards in the summer, it is hot all of the time (a big reason why I moved), and if you were to ask me the one smell that immediately transports me back to my childhood, it’s sunscreen. In January when North Florida is under a hard freeze warning, South Florida just needs a light sweater.

More so than other seasons, I crave “Florida” foods in the summer: mangos everywhere and in everything, seafood as often as I can get my hands on it, and, you guessed it: key lime pie.

Key lime pie is a centuries-old dessert that has historically been linked to the Florida Keys, where key limes were plentiful and fresh milk was not; condensed milk was frequently used instead. Key limes, unlike the Persian limes you typically see in the store, are smaller, yellow, and mildly tart rather than sour.

This recipe is key lime pie in its purist form–aside from the biscoff crust. Graham crackers are the traditional choice, but I love how the warm spices of the biscoff cookies mingle with the sweetness of the condensed milk and acid from the key limes.

I sincerely hope you carry it with you to a summer barbecue. Or two!