Key lime pie

Crush six ounces of graham crackers in a sealed bag by hand, so the crumbs come out in irregular sizes.

Mix the crumbs with half a teaspoon of kosher salt and two tablespoons of granulated sugar.

Melt four tablespoons of unsalted butter and add it.

Add one egg yolk and stir everything well with a spatula, then work it with your hands to even out the moisture until it looks uniformly like wet sand that holds when packed.

Build the crust in a nine inch pie plate by hand, then press the bottom flat with a measuring cup and press the mixture up the sides at a matching angle.

Bake at 350F until the edge is nice and dark brown and it smells toasty; hers was done in eight minutes.

Zest the limes with a microplane, taking only the green part and none of the pith, to about a tablespoon.

Juice the limes with a citrus reamer through a strainer into a measuring cup until there is about three quarters of a cup.

For the filling whisk one full can of sweetened condensed milk with about a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of kosher salt and five large egg yolks until smooth.

Whisk in the lime juice until the mixture is smooth, thick and custardy.

Turn the oven down to 325F, since a custard filling with eggs wants to go low and slow, and pour the filling into the still-warm crust, which helps set the bottom.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is set at the edges with a slight wobble in the centre and no colour on the surface; hers took 16.

Rest at room temperature to release some steam, then chill in the fridge a few hours until really cold, since it is best served chilled.

Work two ounces of room temperature cream cheese together with two tablespoons of powdered sugar with a spatula until smooth.

Switch to a whisk and add the cold cream a couple of teaspoons at a time at first, whisking well, or the cold will stiffen the cream cheese into lumps; once the mixture is pourable the rest of the cream can go in at once.

Whip the mixture by hand to between soft and medium peaks; soft peaks to swoosh it over the surface, firm peaks if it is to be piped.

Scrape the topping onto the cold, firm filling and smooth it around without touching it too much.

Return it to the fridge; the cream cheese keeps it from falling, so it can be topped hours ahead.

Grate lime zest over the pie from a height so the flecks spread out, and slice.