Use This Ingredient For A Sweet Key Lime Pie Upgrade

Florida takes Key lime pie seriously. So seriously that the tart dessert has been recognized by Florida State Legislature and deemed the state's official pie, per eReference Desk.

The right limes must be used for this classic dessert. These aren't the bright green limes you easily spot in grocery stores; Key limes are yellow when ripe, smaller, have more seeds, and smell a bit more pungent, according to The Spruce Eats. Until the 1930s, Key lime pie was whipped up in a moment's notice, recounts What's Cooking America, as no refrigeration meant no fresh dairy or ice. Without milk, chefs used the sweetened condensed milk found in cans. (Food & Wine suspects written pie recipes were a milk company's marketing stunt.) 

While variations of Key lime pie recipes are aplenty — cooked, uncooked, whipped cream, egg whites, graham crackers, pastry crust, in a jar – we have an accoutrement that will turn the famed summer dessert up a notch.

Before we give you the full scoop, we have to make one distinction clear. White chocolate isn't technically a chocolate, according to Bon Appétit, as it lacks the component that characterizes "real" chocolate. Chocolatiers use only cocoa butter to make white chocolate, casting aside darker cocoa solids and flavoring batches to suit their own preferences, per Reader's Digest. That's why one brand of white chocolate can taste buttery, while another might carry hints of vanilla and spice. 

Opposites attract, as My Recipes smartly observed, and the pucker-inducing taste of lime mixed with the sweetness of white chocolate is the remix your fork will want to play on repeat. This combination is such a winner that white chocolate-mascarpone Key lime pie made it as a finalist in Nestlé Kitchens Pie Recipe Contest, with melted white chocolate morsels stirred into the pie filling. For the unconvinced, take Real Simple's advice and use white chocolate as a garnish, either by shaving flakes onto a finished pie or drizzling swirls onto slices ready to be served. Just like the heavily debated traditional Key lime pie recipe, there's more than one way to go about it. But one thing is certain: you should try this tantalizing combination once.