Easy Key Lime and Chocolate Pie
The first time I made this dessert was when I invited my American friend and her family over for a 4th July barbecue and was looking for a very American but also very easy dessert to eat after our meat fest. I found Nigella’s Key Lime Pie recipe in How to be a Domestic Goddess and considering making it, then I turned the page and saw that she had an even easier version, with very few ingredients and I chose that. It was enjoyed by all and I’ve made it fairly regularly for occasions since. most recently for a a get together where we were having Indian takeaway and any other dessert would have felt too heavy.
It is like a cheesecake without the cheese, lighter and while it’s sweet it’s still tangy. Hope you like it.
Easy Key Lime and Chocolate Pie Recipe
300ml cream
4 limes (and another to decorate)
1 397g tin of condensed milk (Evaporated milk won’t do it must be condensed)
200g digestive biscuits
50g butter (room temp or put in the microwave to soften a little)
1 tsp cocoa (optional)
Decorate: another lime, a bit of whipped cream, a flake or chocolate sprinkles.
First make the base. Lightly grease your tin- I used a 23cm springform tin, but you can use a quiche or flan dish either. If what you’re using isn’t non stick then lightly grease with butter. If you have a food processor you just need to lob the biscuits and butter in, and blitz. If not put the biscuits into a ziploc bag and bash it with a rolling pin til they are fine crumbs, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the crumbs off the heat and mix well. Put in the fridge to cool while you get on with the next bit.
If you have children “helping ” you beware. Before I turned on the food processor I looked away and as I reached for the switch I noticed that my not yet two year old had added a banana to the mixture. Luckily I noticed it !
Then, grate the skin of the limes, then cut them in half and juice them. Put the zest and juice into bowl of mixer with the unwhipped cream and condensed milk and whisk until the mixture is thick and creamy. It will set more in the fridge though. If you overbeat you get something the consistency of cottage cheese, I learned this the hard way.
When it’s done take the base from the fridge and pour the limey-creamy mixture on top and smooth it out, then put back in the fridge for at least an hour but possible overnight.
If it’s in a springform tin you’ll need to release it before serving, I usually serve from the bottom of the springform tin on top of a plate. Then decorate, you could be retro and sprinkle a flake on top but I like to put a blob of whipped cream in the middle, then a wedge of lime on top of it and then sprinkle a bit of chocolate. If you’re handy with a piping bag some piped whipped cream would be gorgeous.
Serve chilled, so if you’re not going to eat it straight away put it back into the fridge.
