Sweet Success: Key lime pie at Jacksonville bakery named among 10 best in Florida

Teresa Stepzinski, Florida Times-Union
·3 min read
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The Key lime pie at a popular Jacksonville artisan bakeshop has earned national recognition as one of the 10 best in Florida by Southern Living magazine readers.

"Blurred Limes," the not-too-sweet and not-too-tart pie with its unique pretzel crust made fresh from scratch daily at Mixed Fillings Pie Shop, 1049 Park St., was ranked No. 8 by readers of the lifestyle magazine that celebrates Southern culture including food, fashion, home decor and travel.

Chef Natasha Burton, the bakeshop's founder and owner, was rolling out pie dough in the kitchen on Wednesday morning when she learned about the ranking.

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"Our jaws dropped completely on the floor when we found out. That's the coolest thing ever. … We're just so honored," she told the Times-Union. "I know our customers read Southern Living but I never in a million years would have thought we'd end up in it."

The recognition has prompted an "extraordinary spike" in the number of customer pre-orders for their Key lime pie, she said.

"It went up 170%. And I was like, 'What's going on? It's Monday'," she said of the growing demand that began Monday when Southern Living published its list.

Mixed Fillings Chef Natasha Burton's Key lime pie has been named among the 10 Best in Florida by readers of Southern Living magazine.
Mixed Fillings Chef Natasha Burton's Key lime pie has been named among the 10 Best in Florida by readers of Southern Living magazine.

Mixed Fillings was the only bakery or restaurant outside of South Florida to make the list. Not surprisingly, the other nine were from Key West, Miami Beach, Key Largo, Islamorada, Orlando, Palm Beach and Tavernier.

Known for its sweet and savory pies as well as its homemade pop-tarts and hand pies, Mixed Fillings routinely sells out hours before its specified closing times.

And that includes its Key lime offering, which Burton estimates she sells at least 150 each month.

Other popular flavors include “Wake Me Up Before You Cocoa,” "Beach, Don't Kill My Vibe Coconut Cream" and "The Nut Job. Chocolate Pecan."

Chef Natasha Burton says real Key limes and a unique pretzel crust make her "Blurred Limes" Key lime pies so special.
Chef Natasha Burton says real Key limes and a unique pretzel crust make her "Blurred Limes" Key lime pies so special.

Real Key limes are key

Key lime is one of Burton's "absolute favorite pies," she said, because "I like the way all the ingredients play together."

Real Key limes are essential.

"Having good Key limes is the No. 1 thing to making a good Key lime pie. You want to make sure they are nice and juicy and plump and very fragrant," Burton said.

The pretzel crust makes the Mixed Fillings' Key lime pie unique. It's also one of the reasons why people like it, she said.

"It doesn't taste like any other Key lime pie," Burton said. "It's a pretzel-brown sugar crust. The saltiness of the pretzel helps to like amp up the volume of the citrus."

The bakery charges $7 per slice, $19 for a half pie and $38 for a whole Key lime pie.

In 2022, Mixed Fillings was ranked No. 1 in Florida by Yelp while two other Jacksonville bakeries were in the Top 20 places to get a slice of pie, a survey among the website's users showed.

Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on Twitter @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Key lime pie at Jacksonville's Mixed Fillings named among Florida's best