'E' Lime Pie

I am of course talking about Key-lime Pie if you didn't get the gist of the post title! This recipe for Key Lime pie is my Dads favourite and I usually make it for him every year on his birthday, I call it E-Lime Pie as my Dads nickname is E (a tenuous abbreviation of Ian if ever there was one!).
Its such a lovely zesty summer recipe and never fails to remind me of being on holiday in Florida and trying it for the first time, way before coeliac's was even a twinkle in my belly!
Key-Lime Pie originated in the Florida keys and a traditional K-L-P uses Key limes found only in the Keys and has a meringue topping like a lemon meringue pie. Its more or less a cheesecake and has a biscuit base and a filling made from condensed milk like a normal cheesecake would have. If you haven't tried it before give it a go because its really quite yummy and really nice after a B-B-Q and the recipe I'm posting here is big enough for a good 10-12 slices, you will also find that the longer its kept in the fridge the better the texture and taste gets. I dare any non gluten-freer to taste the difference between this GF version and a regular Key-Lime Pie.

'E'-Lime, Key-Lime Pie

Ingredients

• 8 Egg yolks
• 2 397g Tins of condensed milk
• 450ml Of whipping cream
• Zest and juice of 5 limes
• 500g Digestive or any other plain GF biscuit such as shortbread biscuits
• 200g Butter

You will also need a nice big pie dish greased, say 23cm sort of size or similar, remember if you use a smaller pie dish than the crust will be thicker and the pie higher, larger and the crust will be thinner and the pie flatter.

Method

• Pop the oven on to Gas mark 3 (170c)
• To make the crust whizz your biscuits up in a food blender until they are ground down to a course powder, if you don't have a food blender pop your biscuits into a couple of sandwich bags (do this in batches or you will split your bags!) and bash they're brains out with a rolling pin (always therapeutic!).
• Pour your melted butter into the food processor with your biscuits and mix, or if you are using the 'plastic bag' method pop your biccies in a bowl and pour over the butter and mix through with a wooden spoon.
  
• Next press your mixture into your pie dish and up the sides so all of the inside of the dish is covered in the butter/biscuit mixture, even out with the back of a spoon or your own (clean) mitts.
• Pop in the oven for around 20 minutes. I've said it once and I'll say it again, don't expect the mixture to darken that much, don't rely on the mixture darkening to guess if it is ready, do the touch test and press the base to see if it is firm. When it is firm remove it from the oven and set it to one side to cool down.
• Now turn your oven down to Gas 2 (150c)
• Pop your eggs yolks, lime juice and zest and condensed milk into a nice big bowl and give it a gentle whisk with a fork or a whisk if you own one, until all the ingredients are well mixed. Don't worry at this stage if the mixture looks a bit watery and pathetic, it will get thicker naturally.
• Pour your lime/egg/milk mix into your now cold crust mix and pop back in the oven for another 25-30minutes, if like me your working with a temperamental oven which ignores your commands and cooks things how it wants instead of how you want then make sure you keep checking the pie so it is undercooked or gets overcooked. When its ready the mixture should be firm with some movement still in the centre but not wobbly. Take it out the oven and leave to cool down before you pop it in the fridge (covered with clingfilm) and leave for an hour at the least, overnight if you can as I said above the texture and tastes improves the longer its left.
• When its time for some tucker tucker whip up the whipping cream and spread it over your pie, serve in big man-sized slices.