What Is Key lime?
Key lime: A small, round, seedy lime with thin skin and a more aromatic, tart flavor than the common supermarket lime. It is the traditional fruit in Key lime pie.
In the kitchen
Key limes are about the size of a golf ball, with thin skin that turns yellowish when fully ripe. The juice is more fragrant and often more tart than the larger Persian lime sold in most stores, and each fruit gives only a little, so recipes use a lot of them.
Bottled Key lime juice is a common shortcut, and fresh regular lime juice is a fine substitute if you cannot find the fruit. The flavor will be a little less floral, but the pie sets the same way because the filling relies on the acid in the juice and the sweetened condensed milk.
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