It’s a simple recipe, but it’s award-winning. Our Publix Bakery Key Lime Pie all starts with 1 key ingredient — the perfect Key lime juice. It’s what gives our slice of Florida a sharp bite with rave reviews.
About the pie
Our Key lime pie is made in our Atlanta bakery plant and has been a part of the Publix Bakery product mix since 1957. The recipe used today has a balanced taste our customers know and love — not too sweet or too tart. Available in both 9-inch and 6-inch sizes, our Key lime pie is made with real Key lime juice, real whipped cream and a graham cracker crust.
The pie is named after the Florida Keys because the limes found there are tarter and more aromatic than typical Persian limes. And the Key lime pie’s lighter color is due to the juice in these limes being yellow rather than green. We use the best sourced ingredients from Global Food Safety Initiative approved suppliers, which meet strict quality and food safety guidelines.
We compete in the American Pie Council’s National Pie Championships every year, and in 2019 our bakery brought home 13 blue ribbons — the most we’ve ever won — including for our Key lime pie.
How we make it
It all starts in the Atlanta bakery plant’s kettle room, where the pie filling is made. The simple recipe consists of sweetened condensed milk and Key lime juice. The ingredients are added into a mixing tank and blended together to create a 2,700-pound batch of filling.
Once the mixture reaches the right consistency, it’s placed into a large tote in a cooler for up to 2 hours. During this time, our kettle room associates take a small sample to the quality assurance lab and test viscosity to determine thickness, Brix to determine sweetness, and pH to determine acidity.
From there, the mixture is carried over to the production line and pumped into a hopper that sits above the line. The filling is then deposited into graham cracker pie crusts which sit inside pie tins moving down the line.
Once the boxed pies make it to our stores, bakers finish them off by adding whipped topping, toasted almonds and a candied white chocolate lime garnish piece.
About the bakery plant
The Atlanta bakery plant was purchased in 2004. Today, more than 160 associates work at the 110,000-square-foot facility. The plant is the sole producer of Publix’s bakery pies and premium frozen pies, producing more than 40 different types along with three varieties of Publix deli sub rolls.
The facility safely produces quality products, even winning our 2020 Safety Award. The food safety and quality programs are certified to meet the strict guidelines of the Global Food Safety Initiative through the Safe Quality Food program. A team of sanitation associates continuously clean and maintain the facility, which is inspected by a team of quality assurance associates. In addition, a team of maintenance associates ensures our equipment receives proper preventative maintenance to help run efficiently.
So, the next time you’re enjoying a refreshing slice of Publix Bakery Key Lime Pie, with every bite you can appreciate how — and where — it was made!
