Back with a zesty bang!

I realise it has been a while since I last posted and there isn't much of a good reason other than being busy with work and now I have a week off, having a lot of fun. There has still been time for some good baking though so there will be a lot of posts coming your way. I'm going to start with the most recent and most amazing of them all. My friend from uni has been staying this week and when it comes to food and probably most other things we are soul mates. We were happily watching The Great British Bake Off (probably one of my favourite tv shows) and they were making some delicious meringue pies. We decided to make one ourselves and somewhere along, during our brainstorming, we came up with making a key lime meringue pie! We followed the recipe for a key lime pie and then I thought the best meringue to use was Italian meringue as it has become my favourite and is far superior to the french version. Its so light and fluffy as well as not being too sweet either. The key lime pie recipe we used was by Jamie Oliver and meant we didn't have to use any gelatin which is always better. The result was lovely and actually surprisingly easy. Lovely for a dessert, especially now we're having some nice summer weather.

Key Lime Pie

Filling:

4 egg yolks
400ml condensed milk
6 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 5 limes’ worth)
200ml double cream
Lime zest (optional), to serve

Crust:
12 digestive biscuits 

45g caster sugar
135g melted unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 175C/gas 3. For the pie crust, lightly grease a 22cm (across the top) metal or glass pie dish with a little of the melted butter. Blend digestive biscuits, caster sugar and remaining melted butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Transfer to pie dish and spread over the bottom and up the sides, firmly pressing the mixture down. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place dish on a wire rack to cool.
For the filling, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl. Gradually whisk in condensed milk until smooth. Mix in lime juice, then pour filling into pie crust and level over with the back of a spoon.
Return to the oven for 15 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Italian Meringue

200g caster sugar

75ml water

4 egg whites

You'll need a sugar thermometer too

Start by putting the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat. Leave to simmer while you whip up the egg whites in a big clean bowl. Whip until they make soft peaks and make sure you keep an eye on the syrup. When the syrup reaches 120°C or the soft ball stage, take off the heat and then with the electric whisk going, slowly pour in to the egg whites being careful not to hit the side or the whisk. Keep whisking until the side of the bowl is cool again and you have a nice thick and glossy meringue. That is all the cooking the meringue needs, leaving it nice a smooth and fluffy. 

We spread the meringue on to the pie and then put under the grill to get some nice colour and a bit of crunch on top. Delicious!