Aussie Key Lime Pie
"Aussies love meringues and these combine perfectly with an American Key Lime Pie! Am I selling ice to Eskimos here??? This lovely, creamy Key Lime Pie is adapted from a Delia Smith recipe and I've added an optional meringue topping made from the left-over egg whites. The secret to this pie's velvety texture is not to overcook it. Otherwise it's simple to make and you can, of course, omit the meringue topping if time is an issue. Another benefit of this pie is that it can be made well ahead - or even frozen - so it's a great dinner party or picnic recipe. Try it!"
- Ready In:
- 1hr 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
-
Crust
- 1 9-inch graham cracker crusts (or similar) or (200 g) packet digestive biscuits (in Australia I use Nice Biscuits)
- 120 g butter, melted
-
Filling
- 1 large lime rind, of finely grated
- 3 large limes, juice of
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 (395 g) can sweetened condensed milk
-
Meringue Topping
- 3 large egg whites (optional)
- 175 g white sugar (caster sugar if available) (optional)
- whipped cream (optional)
directions
- If not using a prepared crust: Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
- Process biscuits in a food processor then add melted butter.
- Pulse several times until butter is well mixed with biscuit crumbs. (Alternatively, place biscuits into a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Tip biscuit crumbs into a mixing bowl, then stir in melted butter.)
- Place a loose based 23cm (9") flan dish on an oven tray.
- Tip crumb mixture into the flan tin.
- Using your hands, press crumbs firmly into the base and sides of the tin.
- Place flan tin (on its oven tray) onto the centre shelf of the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
- Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat together the egg yolks and the lime zest until the yolks thicken and the beaters leave a 'trail' in the mixture (about 2 minutes).
- Now add the condensed milk.
- Beat until mixture thickens and beaters leave a 'trail' in the mixture (about 4-5 minutes).
- Add the lime juice and mix briefly to combine.
- When the crust is ready, remove it from the oven and pour in the filling.
- Reduce the oven temperature slightly to about 170C (325F).
- Place the pie on the centre shelf of the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes being careful not to overcook it.
- Remove pie (on its tray) from oven when the centre is JUST set.(This gives a smoother textured pie.)
- Allow the pie to cool, then cover and chill in the refrigerator. (Note: If topping with meringue, simply cover the pie with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill. However, the plastic wrap tends to stick and ruin the smooth surface so, if not hiding this with a topping, cover it with an upturned dinner plate.)
- Meringue Topping (optional): Reset (or preheat) oven to 150C (300F).
- Grease two baking sheets/oven trays/cookie trays.
- In a small mixing bowl beat egg whites until soft peaks form (make sure your beaters are scrupulously clean and dry).
- Gradually add sugar, beating between each addition.
- Beat until mixture is thick and glossy.
- Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium sized fluted piping tube.
- Pipe small meringues, about 5cm (2") high onto greased trays.(Alternatively, drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the trays).
- Place trays on centre shelves of oven and immediately reduce temperature to 140C (275F).
- Cook for one hour (1 1/4 hours if you prefer a completely dry center), but do not remove meringues from oven.
- Turn off heat and leave overnight (or at least until the oven is completely cool).
- If not serving the pie immediately, store meringues at room temperature in an airtight jar or tin. They will keep well for several days.
- When ready to serve the pie, spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the top and decorate with meringues.
- (Serve extra meringues separately or store for later use).
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Reviews
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I'm lucky enough to be another one who has enjoyed this delicious pie at Kooka's own table -- and a beautifully set one, too. I tried hard to steal the leftovers, but she kept a watchful eye on me and the pie, and then kicked me out before I could grab it. Guess I'll just have to make one myself. She has a photo of this pie now, so I hope she posts it soon. Thanks Kooka and Mother Kooka for a great afternoon. -
FANTASTIC! Thank you Kooka for inviting us to Mother Kooka's birthday party at Avalon. We were lucky enough to have this yummy pie made for us by Kooka herself. This one was Daves favourite and he is still raving about it. -
Wonderful creamy pie, and I love the addition of the lime zest!! It gives the filling a great zing. The sweet crunchy meringues are the perfect yin to the yang of the smooth tart filling. Excellent directings, woderful recipe.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>Above: Slideshow of our garden at Avalon Slideshow of our recent holiday at Woodgate Beach, South-East Queensland, Australia. Hi! I'm Kookaburra, from Australia. First, a promise. I will only post recipes on this site which I've made myself and to which I would personally give a 5 star rating - what you give them is up to you ;-) I look forward to receiving your feedback. If you look at my reviews, they're all 5 stars. That doesn't mean I give 5 stars to every recipe I try. I'm just not interested in giving poor ratings to anyone else's recipe because I accept that different people have different tastes. So, I've decided that I'll only review those recipes which I really love and which I'd make again and recommend to friends. If a recipe meets that criteria - even if it needs a bit of 'tweaking' to match my tastes, I'll give it 5 stars. If not, I'll just delete it from my recipe book and no hard feelings. I'm not advocating this as the 'right' approach. I just decided I needed a consistent strategy for rating and this is mine. I'm passionate about cooking - and eating! What I look for in food is something that 'zings' in the mouth. I like lots of taste - I'm not a big fan of subtlety. I don't often cook recipes exactly as written. I like to experiment and adapt things to my own taste. A retired marketing executive and academic, I live with my elderly (but thoroughly modern) mother in a tiny mountain village at the edge of the rainforest. I'm female, happily single, in my mid-40s and boast the Rubenesque figure of a passionate cook! Avalon, our 'story-book' cottage, overlooks a small lake. As I sit at my computer or work in the kitchen, I'm serenaded by a cacophany of native birds - including a very fat family of kookaburras! We have quite a large property and are lucky to have vegetable gardens and a variety of fruit and nut trees. I look forward to sharing recipes on Recipezaar with family, friends and friends I've yet to meet. last minute flight</p>