The Origin Story Of Florida's Favorite Dessert

It's impossible to enjoy a slice of Key lime pie without imagining afternoons in the Florida sunshine, sandy beaches, and palm trees waving above the wide, blue waters. Key lime pie has undeniable Florida vibes, and it's not surprising that it was named the official state pie. Here's a fun fact, though: It wasn't always the uncontested favorite, and for years, Florida loved the sour orange pie. It's safe to say that today, Key lime reigns supreme, with any doubts vanquished by the fact that Florida celebrated their bicentennial with a 13-foot-wide Key lime pie.

A classic Key lime pie recipe is pretty straightforward, calling for eggs, condensed milk, and limes to be whipped into a graham cracker crust. Still, someone had to put those things together to create this delectable dessert for the first time, and it turns out that not only is there some debate about who invented the Key lime pie, but there are questions about whether or not it even came from Florida in the first place. (Gasp!)

And yes, it's just as controversial as one might expect, especially considering some food historians have claimed that Key lime pie actually comes from New York City. And Key limes? It turns out that they're not native to Florida either, so let's take a closer look at this lovely yet disputed southern delight.

According to long-held Florida lore, the Key lime pie was developed as a favorite among the fishermen of Key West. The pies were introduced to a wider audience when a mysterious woman known only as Aunt Sally started making them: She reportedly used the fishermen's recipe and served it at the Curry Mansion, once the estate of Florida's first self-made millionaire, William Curry, and a Florida landmark. Key lime pie, meanwhile, became a big deal.

So, who was this person known only as Aunt Sally? David Sloan, the co-founder of the Key Lime Festival and the author of "The Key Lime Pie Cookbook," has the answer. In a piece for Keys Weekly, he shared that with help from his genealogist father, he'd found the missing pieces to the puzzle. 

William Curry's son, Charles, had been married to a woman named Sarah Jane Lowe Curry. She was widely regarded as an aunt to William Curry's 14 grandchildren, and conveniently, Charles was a clerk at Curry & Sons — which sold everything you'd need to make a Key lime pie as far back as the 1890s. But why was she called Sally? It was widely used as a nickname for Sarah. That, however, wasn't the end of the debate.

The other origin story of Key lime pie comes from Stella Parks, author of "Brave Tart: Iconic American Desserts." According to her, Key lime pies don't start showing up until 1949. There are, however, older recipes dating to the 1930s that are almost identical to Key lime pie recipes, with one major difference. Lemons — not limes — were the star in Magic Lemon Cream Pies, created by New York's Borden condensed milk company. When the recipe spread across the nation, Key West bakers opted to use the area's plentiful limes instead of lemons. 

Parks explained to CBS News that Borden's recipe was definitely for the same pie. Parks said, "It's a graham cracker crust. It's a no-cook custard that involves a can of condensed milk, some lemon juice, and some egg yolks that is poured into this crust and topped with a little bit of whipped cream. That's a Key lime pie."

David Sloan, however, believes that the swap went in the other direction. He suggests that Borden got a Key lime recipe during a 1931 contest, and since lemons were more widely available than Key limes, it made the replacement. Who's right? No one's quite sure, but as a hilarious footnote to this, it's worth noting that Key limes aren't native to Florida, either. They're from Southeast Asia and made their way across Africa, Europe, and into the Americas by the 16th century ... give or take.