Friday 5 August 2011

Key Lime Pie with Meringue





The Key Lime Pie recipe I promised a while ago, sorry for the wait. You’ll be glad to hear my driving has slightly improved and I am no longer terrified/a huge danger on the road. Enjoy.
Key Lime Pie
375g gingernut biscuits, crushed
150g unsalted butter
grated zest and juice of 8 large limes
570ml double cream
397g sweetened condensed milk
1. Crush the gingernut biscuits. I recommended putting them in a bag, covering with a tea towel and crush with a rolling pin (or wine bottle!). Crush them as small as you can be bothered to as the smaller the better.
2. Melt the butter in a pan on the hob and stir in the crushed biscuits. Lightly press this mixture in to a medium sized tin. Put in the fridge to chill and harden (about 30mins to an hour)
3. Zest and juice the 8 limes.
4. Put the lime juice into a large bowl and add the cream and condensed milk. Whisk for 1-2 minutes.
5. Fold in the lime zest.
6. Check your base has hardened and it is not flaky then pour the creamy mixture on to the biscuit base.
7. Chill in the fridge for one to two hours
NB If you are having a dinner party it is okay to make this the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight. Cover with foil just to stop the fridge smell penetrating it. You can then top with the meringue and bake just before guests arrive.
Meringue topping 
eggs whites from 4 large eggs
150g caster sugar
30g icing sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1. Preheat the oven to 190C.
2. Put the egg whites in to a very clean bowl (no oil or egg yolk - this is important as the meringue won't get enough air in it). Whisk until, when you draw out the whisk, the egg whites form a stiff peak.
3. Gentle whisk in the caster sugar.
4. Stir in the icing sugar, vanilla and salt.
5. Whisk gentle until the mixture turns glossy.
6. Spread the meringue on top of your key lime pie. You can swirl it around with a palette knife or fork to create patterns and peaks. Put the fork in to the meringue  twist and pull up.
7. Bake in the oven for 10 mins. The peaks should turn browny golden and the troughs should be white.
8. Wait until it cools to serve, although this isn’t a rule.
Devourer with friends and loved ones x

Monday 1 August 2011

Rocky Road Cake



I love Rocky road bars so thought I would try and make a cake version. The best thing about rocky road is the different textures.
I used gingernut biscuits, marshmallows, maltesers and chocolate pieces. I filled the cake with them and covered it in them too. I also made a chocolate buttercream, with real chocolate melted in it, just to make it even more decadent and rich.
Note: I’ve just discovered vanilla bean paste as an alternative to vanilla essence. You get the lovely vanilla bean specks and a much stronger vanilla flavour.

Rocky Road Cake
240g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
225g butter
200g caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
A selection of chocolate pieces/chips,  marshmallows, ginger biscuits, maltesers.
Glace cherries (optional – I don’t like these myself but you might!)
1. Preheat oven to 175C and grease  a loaf tin or 8 inch tin.
2. Cream butter and sugar together.
3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
4. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Fold in the selection of fillings. Have fun with this add whatever you fancy!
6. Bake for 50 mins until golden and a toothpick pierced in comes out clean.

Chocolate ganache icing
100g  milk/dark chocolate
40g  unsalted butter (room temp)
2 tbsp water
75g icing sugar

1. Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a pyrex bowl balanced over a pan of water (make sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl)
2. Cream together the butter, icing sugar and water.
3. Beat in the melted chocolate. Smother all over the cake!
4. Top the cake with more goodies. I used gingernut biscuits, mini marshmallows, maltesers and chocolate pieces.