Caramel Lemon Pie

When I first heard about the limited edition flavors of sweetened condensed milk that Eagle Brand was releasing, I couldn’t wait to try them out. Once I tasted the chocolate and the caramel, I knew that there were lots of possibilities for bringing these flavors into some of my favorite desserts that already use sweetened condensed milk.

One sweetened condensed milk that everyone is familiar with is Key Lime Pie. Sweetened condensed milk gives the filling that perfect creamy texture and it has enough sweetness to balance the tart lime juices. Using the caramel sweetened condensed milk, I made the same type of pie filling using lemon instead of lime. I’ve had some fantastic lemon caramels over the years and felt like a Caramel Lemon Pie sounded just about irresistible.

Fortunately, I was right. This pie is absolutely delicious. It has a deep caramel flavor that is accented with bright, fresh lemon. The lemon keeps the pie filling from being too rich and helps to refresh the palate after every bite, though caramel is the dominant flavor. I used a homemade, all-butter pie crust for this recipe, but a graham cracker crust can also be used. If using a homemade crust, you will need to blind bake it before adding the filling so that it doesn’t get soggy. The crisp, flaky pastry combines with the creamy filling to make each bite of pie perfect.

Caramel Lemon Pie
1 9-inch pie shell, prebaked and cooled
1 14-oz can caramel-flavored sweetened condensed milk (not dulce de leche)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325F.
In a large bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt until completely combined. Pour into prebaked and cooled pie crust.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the crust is set and jiggles only slightly when the pan is tapped. Allow pie to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate before serving.

Serves 8.

* My all-butter pie crust recipe is perfect for this pie, but a graham cracker crust will also work well.