Trying to recreate Blue Heavens key lime pie.

I just recently got back from Key West and fell in love with the Key Lime pie from Blue Heaven. I wanted to make something similar to it for Thanksgiving, however, I did a trial run tonight and the recipe definitely has some flaws. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust 4 cups graham cracker crumbs 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling 2 cans sweetened condensed milk 1 cup Key lime juice, fresh 8 egg yolks

Meringue 8 egg whites 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

For Graham Cracker Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the cracker crumbs, sugar and butter together. Line a 9 inch pie tin with the cracker mix, pressing firmly to line bottom and sides. Bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees F.

For Filling: Whisk the condensed milk with the lime juice and egg yolks in a stainless steel bowl. Pour into the pre-baked graham cracker shell. Set aside while making the meringue.

For Meringue: Beat the egg whites to a soft peak; add cream of tartar and continue to whip to a stiff peak. Continue whipping and add the sugar, whipping until the meringue forms stiff peaks.

Decoratively add meringue on top of the custard. Bake for 15-30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cook until the meringue has good color. Check with a wooden skewer or cake tester to be sure the custard is done.

NOTE: Be sure the bowl and whisk used to beat the egg whites is very clean, otherwise the egg whites will not form a stiff peak.

• So the first issue is the crust, it is just a bad recipe. I tried to cut it in half at first and then realized I didn't have enough butter to get the graham cracker crumbs wet enough. I made a suitable crust but I am going to look for a different recipe the next time around. The crust itself looks like the custard broke through it in a couple of places. I am hoping that is just an issue with the recipe and will be fixed with a different crust.

  -The main issues are that I have never made meringue before this. Overall it tastes great but there is almost a coating of water under the meringue, above the custard. A few websites say that you should add the meringue to a hot pie filling to avoid the watery layer and help the meringue cook all the way through but I don't want to mess up the next pie doing this if it doesn't actually work.

-Also I haven't found another recipe that uses 8 egg yolks in the custard, is that too many? I am worried the custard is a little runnier than it is supposed to be and I don't know if it is because it is undercooked or it hasn't been refrigerated long enough.

So many questions, I would just love to be able to perfect it. Overall the pie tastes great it just has some consistency issues and any tips would be greatly appreciated!

bon appetit