Key Lime Pie

With a tree bursting of Jamaican Limes I decided to make a Key Lime Pie. Florida's Key West is famous for it and every restaurant in the Florida Keys and Key West serves this wonderful pie. Recipe follows below xx

Base:

175g digestive biscuits
80g butter
50g caster sugar

Filling:

3 free range eggs, separated
2 limes, finely grated zest
125ml lime juice
210ml condensed milk
80 caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Serve:

Mascarpone
Lime Zest

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

For the pastry base, finely crush crumbs using a food processor and transfer to a mixing bowl.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then pour over the biscuit crumbs, Add the sugar, then mix well to combine. Evenly spread the biscuit mixture in a 23cm pie tin and make sure you cover the sides of the tin too. Level off any excess biscuit mixture.

Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime zest, lime juice and condensed milk until smooth and creamy, mix into the yolk mixture. Pour mixture into the pie tin.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually, fold in the sugar, vanilla extract, salt and cream of tartar, then whisk again until stiff peaks form. Spoon the meringue mixture over the filling in the pie case, using a fork to form the meringue into peaks.

Bake the pie in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.