Calamansi Lime Pie

I am a dessert fanatic and this is why I couldn’t resist making this Calamansi Lime Pie. I would forego the meal if I could and go straight to dessert, no side dishes. There I’ve said it. Full disclosure. I would fill up this blog with just desserts if I could. But that wouldn’t be right, would it? We cannot just eat desserts all day. Yet, it would be honestly me. But let me tell you why I chose to share this delectable cloud-like concoction with you today.

One of my most favorite ingredients to add whether cooking or baking is calamansi. This is the Filipino lime. We had trees growing in our yard back in the day.  I have a photo of it here on this post. These calamansi pieces were from a family lunch my sister hosted for us when I went to the Philippines last year, on a home visit. My sister had sliced a plateful of these adorable little citrus fruit and put it alongside a pancit noodle dish as a flavor enhancer to the dish. Like most citrus, the calamansi is versatile and used in both cooking and baking.

Calamansi, the Philippine lime are small round citrus fruits, with a green or yellow outer skin,  measuring about quarter of an inch in diameter. They have the tart flavors of a mandarin orange, but are sour as much as they’re sweet. The calamansi also has a piercing sweet citrus scent.

The calamansi (sometimes also spelled ‘kalamansi’) is abundant in tropical Philippines. It can  also thrive in the warmer states of the USA. But here in the east coast, it is easier to obtain and more affordable for me to use the frozen “calamansi” concentrate, found in Asian markets.

It took very little time to make this pie. It actually took longer to wait for it to set firmly. The only thing I had to pre-bake was the crumb crust. What was marvelous was that I had leftover calamansi sables baked from another day. I crushed these fragrant lime-scented cookies, pounded them well and poured sugar and butter. As I pressed the crumbs to the edge of the glass pie plate, I knew this was going to be a luscious lime-like pie. Calamansi on calamansi. How can you top that ?

Once the crumb crust was ready and had cooled, I poured the  creamy white pie filling on it. A clean sweep of the spatula all over the top was all that was needed to smoothen the filling. The pie jiggled slightly as I carried it to the refrigerator to cool. I covered and let the calamansi pie refrigerate for a few hours.

After dinner, we sliced the pie and each pristine white wedge was simply sublime. The creamy citrus filling was soft, smooth and firm. One bite after another gave off a tart lime sweetness that went well with the lemon-buttery crumb crust. It was heavenly!

Print Recipe

Calamansi Lime Pie

This is a Filipino pie because it used calamansi, the Philippine lime. The sweet, tangy citrus flavor added a zesty, lightness to the pie filling. The creamy citrus smoothness was a great contrast to the buttery crumb crust. This calamansi pie recipe was slightly adapted from a Whipped Key Lime Pie on Better Homes and Gardens (www.bhg.com). The calamansi pie I made served 6.

Prep Time12 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Resting Time6 hrs

Total Time6 hrs 22 mins

Course: Brunch, Dessert, Merienda, Snacks

Cuisine: American, Asian, Filipino

Keyword: Filipino Calamansi Lime Pie

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 75kcal

Author: Asian in America

Equipment

• Pie plate: 9-inch diameter

Ingredients

• 1 cup crumbled calamansi sables for crust
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs for crust
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar for crust
• 1/3 cup Kerrygold unsalted butter melted butter for crust
• 1 can (14 oz.) condensed milk 14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup calamansi juice fresh or frozen concentrate
• 1 1/2 cups whipped cream for filling
• 1/4 cup whipped cream for garnish
• 2 Tablespoons (or 1 envelope packet) Knox unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup water for diluting Knox unflavored gelatin

Instructions

• To make the crumb crust : Combine the calamansi sables and graham cracker cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a bowl. Blend well.

  Place the crumb crust mixture on a 9-inch pie plate and press well to the bottom and sides with a fork. Chill this pie plate for about 10 minutes to firm up.

  Preheat the oven at 350 F degrees. Bake the crust for about 12 minutes. Take the pie plate out of the oven. Cool on the counter while preparing the filling.
• To make the filling : Dilute the unflavored gelatin powder in 1/2 cup water. Set aside for 5 minutes. Heat the gelatin and water over low heat for 3 minutes until liquid clears and gelatin dissolves. Stir the mixture. Set aside.
• Separately, beat the whipping cream with a mixer at medium speed for 5 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk, calamansi (or lemon juice), diluted gelatin mixture and beat till it blends (about 2 minutes) or till partially set.
• To assemble: Pour the calamansi pie filling over the crumb crust. Smooth the top with a spatula. Cover and refrigerate till set for about 6 hours. Garnish with whipped cream on top if desired.
• Cook’s comments : The closest in flavor to calamansi are Meyer lemons. You can substitute with Meyer lemons if calamansi are not available. If you are using juice from freshly squeezed calamansi, measure the same amount indicated in the recipe above.

  For the recipe of Calamansi Sables, see previous blog post. If you do not have calamansi sables on hand, use regular graham cracker crumbs for the entire recipe.
• For more Let’s Lunch pie recipes, including some very creative takes, follow #LetsLunch on Twitter or visit some of my blogging buddies:Annabelle‘s Chocolate Pie at Glass of FancyAnne Marie‘s Apple Pie Sandwiches at Sandwich SurpriseBetty Ann‘s Calamansi Pie at Asian In AmericaCheryl‘s Mexican Cottage Pie at A Tiger in the KitchenJill‘s Guava and Cream Cheese Empanadas at Eating My WordsLisa‘s Sweet Ricotta Noodle Pie at Monday Morning Cooking ClubLisa K‘s Chocolate Pie at Open Salon
• Hello, Friends! All the images and content here are COPYRIGHT PROTECTED and owned by my media company Besa-Quirino LLC. This means BY LAW you are NOT allowed to use my photos or content on your website  without my permission. If you want to republish this recipe or content, please ask my permission, re-write it in your own words and simply link back to this blog to give proper attribution. It’s the legal thing to do. Thank you.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 49mg | Potassium: 34mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Nutrition Notes: The nutrition information is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Did you love this recipe? I have more Philippine dessert recipes in my popular cookbook How to Cook Philippine Desserts, Cakes and Snacks.

If you need Filipino Instant Pot recipes, find more in my newest cookbook Instant Filipino Recipes: My Mother’s Traditional Philippine Cooking in A Multicooker Pot. Buy my cookbooks and books on Amazon.com sold worldwide in paperback and Kindle format.

Copyright Notice: Hello, Friends! Please DO NOT LIFT OR PLAGIARIZE my original recipe, stories, photos or videos. All the images and content on this blog are COPYRIGHT PROTECTED and owned by my media company Besa-Quirino LLC. This means BY LAW you are NOT allowed to copy, scrape, lift, frame, plagiarize or use my photos, essays, stories and recipe content on your websites, books, films, television shows, videos, without my permission. If you wish to republish this recipe or content on media outlets mentioned above, please ASK MY PERMISSION, or re-write it in your own words and link back to my blog AsianInAmericaMag.com to give proper attribution. It is the legal thing to do. Thank you. Email me at [email protected]