When you want a delicious dessert that is easy to make, a key lime pie is ideal. Limes are always refreshing and this recipe is fun to make with children.

🥘  1 baking tin  🍽 Serves 8 ⏱ 40 mins + chilling time  🛒 8 ingredients   €4 (V)

Utensils and ingredients:

You will need a 23cm diameter loose bottomed baking tin, a mixing bowl and an electric mixer. We used a round tin, but you can use a rectangular tin if you prefer smaller square portions. If you are going to decorate the pie as we have done, you will need a piping bag too.

A rectangular tin will likely be less deep and make a thinner pie, so you will need smaller quantities of ingredients – see the note at the bottom of the page.

Ingredients:

• 150g digestive biscuits
• 65g butter
• 25g demerara sugar
• 115g full-fat cream cheese
• 1 x 397g tin full fat condensed milk
• Finely grated zest and juice of 4 limes
• 450ml pouring double cream
• Mint sprigs (small leaves only)

Step by step

First make the biscuit base:

Place the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a medium sized pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the biscuit crumbs and sugar. When they are nicely mixed together spoon the biscuit mixture into the baking tin. Press over the base and half way up the side of the tin. Leave it set in the refrigerator for an hour or so.

Now make the cream filling:

Put the lime juice, condensed milk and 300ml of the double cream into a mixing bowl and beat until well blended. 

Pour the cream into the baking tin with the prepared crumb crust and gently level the surface. Chill in the fridge for several hours, until set, then remove from the tin.

To decorate the top, whip the remaining cream until it forms soft peaks and spread it gently over the pie. Decorate with the grated lime zest. We had some whipped cream left over so we decorated the pie using a piping bag. The small mint leaves are a nice extra decoration and flavour.

Notes: If you are using a shallow rectangular tin, use this quantity of ingredients.

• 115g digestive biscuits
• 55g butter
• 1 tsp demerara sugar
• 115g full-fat cream cheese
• 1 x 397g tin full fat condensed milk
• Finely grated zest and juice of 4 limes
• 200ml pouring double cream

• The easiest way to remove the pie from the tin is to sit it on a can or ramekin and slide the side down leaving the base easy to pick up and place on a serving plate.
• If you have any cream left over, it makes a lovely limey topping for a mince pie or a scone.

This is easy to make using a thermomix