Key Lime Pies of Michigan: October 2010

Introduction

I have a friend who orders a turkey club sandwich for lunch at every restaurant he goes to. If there's a turkey club on the menu, that's what he gets. There's something nice about that; his hope is that he'll see something familiar on his plate, something he knows. My father, on the other hand, orders chili for lunch whenever it appears on the menu. His hope is quite different. Because the word Chili means very different things to different people, he always hopes that the chili he gets is something he hasn't seen before.

This blog is somewhere between those two ideas of ordering the same thing in different places. For years, I've loved key lime pie. The best I've had was down in the Florida Keys when I was a teenager going to visit my cousins. But that was a long time ago and I had a teenager's large appetite and low standards. How different are the various key lime pies from each other? What makes for a good or bad key lime pie experience? I'm not sure, but I'm going to try to find out by tasting a bunch of them.

The posts on this blog will illuminate the key lime pies available in Michigan (and possibly other places as well). Each entry will judge a different restaurant's idea of just what a key lime pie ought to be. Criteria for judging include presentation, crust, filling, topping, originality, and tradition. All that will be cooked down to a rating in limes--one, two, three, or four limes, with four limes being the highest.

If you know of a truly wonderful or original key lime pie, e-mail me and I'll check out, giving you credit of course.

Happy reading,

Jon

Thursday, October 7, 2010

KLP 3: Northpoint, Dexter

North Point in Dexter is located downtown. If you were a local, you'd say it was next to the Dairy Queen. For the rest of us, it's on Main Street between Baker and Central, across from the gazebo.

Their key lime pie is excellent, one of the best I've tried. Interesting presentation, great crust, tasty filling, real whipped cream topping.

Presentation: The sprinkling of confectioner's sugar over the pie and on the plate looks like a fine dusting of snow. Maybe it's a little over the top, but I like it.

Crust: Walnut crust is one of the things that sets this pie apart. Substantial without being too heavy and not as overly sweet as some graham cracker crusts can be. It's a wonderful crust.

Filling: Good citrus flavor. Not as strongly lime-y as some others, but very good texture and mouth feel.

Topping: Another excellent part of the experience. Nice dairy flavor, sweet without being overpowering.

Original elements: The walnut crust. Unusual, tasty, good texture.

Traditional elements: Filling is very much the traditional key lime pie filling.

Rating: Four limes. An excellent key lime pie and a great way to finish your meal at North Point.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

KLP2: Grand Traverse Pie Company

Grand Traverse Pie Company serves many varieties of pie; their Lakeshore Berry pie is particularly good. It's a nice place to have a quick lunch. A clear step up from fast food.

The key lime pie, though, is not a particularly strong entry. Here's how it fared:

Presentation: I got mine to go. It's pictured at left sitting on my kitchen table still in its 'togo' container. Even when served on location, though, the presentation leaves much to be desired. No fruit or garnish of any kind.

Crust: Very thin graham cracker crust. Not much taste other than sweet.

Filling: Good flavor of lime, but not a strong presence. Inoffensive.

Topping: A low point. Medicine tasting fake topping, didn't add visually or to the taste.

Original elements: None really. About the only thing that sets this pie apart from the others is that it's easier to get it to go.

Traditional elements: The color and consistency of the filling matches the traditional way in which this dish is served.

Rating: One lime out of four. Not a good example of how key lime pie should be made. Grand Traverse Pie company makes much better pies and other restaurants make much better key lime pie.