The best desserts offer sweetness and something special: the merger of flavors, contrasting textures, a splash of color. To be interesting, they also must seem to be complex, regardless of whether they really were complicated to make. Some of the best desserts I have eaten presented real challenges in the kitchen, while others were deceptively easy to create.

Key lime pie lands squarely in the latter category. I suppose it had been a good five years since I had eaten key lime pie when someone brought a couple of them to a dinner party I attended. The citrus flavor is a natural complement to meals prepared largely on the grill or summer potlucks.

This dessert is the perfect marriage of sweet and sour, within the filling itself and through the contrast of the filling and the sweet, buttery crust. And while key lime pie is ridiculously simple to make, people tend to assume there’s something extraordinary about it. I suspect that’s because it shows up frequently on the dessert carts of high-end restaurants.

This myth can work in your favor next time you have to bring dessert to a party. Suddenly people will believe you have special knowledge and skill in the kitchen.

The fact of the matter is that the filling of a key lime pie contains as few as three ingredients, and the crust is usually basic graham cracker. You can present the pie with a meringue, a topping that adds prep time. However, a plain key lime pie with whipped cream topping also will be a hit.

Several of my cookbooks use the same basic custard-style recipe as this one from gourmetsleuth.com, where you also will find more complicated variations, including a recipe for an appropriate meringue.

A word about the limes: Limes in the supermarket are usually the Persian variety, unless they are marked otherwise. Key limes are smaller and thought to be more flavorful. If they are not available, buy other fresh limes. This is preferable to using bottled lime juice, but if you do go that route, read the label carefully. You want to avoid products such as Rose’s Lime Juice, which contain sugar and will distort the taste of the pie.

Key lime pie

16 graham crackers, crushed

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cube (1/4 pound) margarine or butter

4 large or extra large egg yolks

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice (approximately 12 key limes)

2 teaspoons grated lime peel, green portion only

Whipping cream for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly combine the crushed graham crackers, sugar and butter and press them into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned. Place on a rack to cool.

Use an electric mixer and beat the egg yolks until they are thick and turn to a light yellow. Don’t overmix. Turn the mixer off and add the sweetened condensed milk. Turn speed to low and mix in half of the lime juice. Once the juice is incorporated, add the other half of the juice and the zest. Continue to mix until blended (just a few seconds). Pour the mixture into the pie shell and return it to the 350-degree oven for 12 minutes to set the yolks and kill any salmonella in the eggs.

Before serving, whip the cream and place a dollop on each slice of pie.