Lake of Fire Key Lime Pie

Ah, it's that time of year again. There's a chill in the air, people are in jolly spirits, and everyone is waiting with baited breath for that one special night. You guessed it! The Dexter season finale!
I will try not to give away any spoilers, but this year's season finale involved something called "the lake of fire", so I knew that for our Dexter season finale party I needed to make a "lake of fire" dessert.
I considered many options -- baked alaska (but seriously, it's way too cold for ice cream), creme brulee (not lake of firey enough for me)... and then it hit me. I could make a meringue pie and pour fire on it, baked alaska style, without the too cold ice cream! Hooray!
And, if you are a Dexter fan, you will know that the pie had to be key lime (a la Dexter season 3).
SO, here it is! Lake of Fire Key Lime Pie! Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

Key Lime Filling:
4 t grated lime zest
1/2 c lime juice squeezed from 3 or 4 limes
4 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue)
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

Crust:
1/2 c shredded coconut
1 c graham cracker crumbs
5 T melted butter

Meringue Topping:
1 T cornstarch
1/4 t cream of tartar
1/2 c sugar
4 egg whites
1/2 t vanilla extract

Lake of Fire:
1/4 - 1/2 c of 80 proof rum (depending on how big you want your firey lake)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the zest and yolks until they are well combined, about 2 minutes. The zesty yolky mixture should become a nice shade of light green.

Mix in the milk and juice.

Set the mixture aside to thicken while you tend to the crust.

Mix together all the crust ingredients, being sure to coat the crumbs and the coconut well in the butter. Press the mixture in to a 9" pie plate.

Bake the crust until it has browned sightly and smells delicious. It takes about 12-15 minutes.

Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 7 minutes.

While the pie is baking, make the meringue.

Mix the cornstarch with 1/3 c water in a small pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, whisking until it thickens and forms a thick translucent paste. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Mix the cream of tartar and sugar together.

Beat the egg whites until they're frothy. Then beat in the sugar mixture, one tablespoon at a time, until the sugar incorporates and the egg whites form soft peaks.

Add the cornstarch paste, again, one tablespoon at a time, continuing to beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.

After it's baked for 7 minutes, remove the pie and cover with the meringue. The easiest way to do this is to make a ring of meringue around the edge of the pie, then plop the remaining meringue in the middle, spreading it around until it's vaguely even.

Bake for 20 more minutes, until the meringue is nice and brown on top.

Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours until it's well chilled.

Then. And this is the exciting part. Make the lake of fire!

This is easy, if a little scary. Put the rum in a small saucepan on the stove and heat it up a little. You want it to be warm, but you don't want to boil the alcohol off otherwise it won't flame.

Use a long handled lighter or a long match and set the rum on fire! All the rum in the pan will go up in flames, pour this over the pie and prepare for the 'oohs' and the 'aahs'.