When it came to deciding on the dreamiest of Christmas desserts, radio host Georgia Burt went for a pie.
The ZM Jam Packed Workdays host was given the tricky task of choosing her ultimate Christmas baking recipe, part of a tasty on-air campaign with Westgold to celebrate the festive season. Her winning creation? A Raspberry Key Lime Pie with a Mexican twist.
ZM listeners will know that Georgia has been busy sharing buttery Christmas recipes from Westgold each day, inviting home bakers to text in to win the ultimate baking kit, (everything from ingredients to cookware, utensils to serving dishes), with one lucky winner awarded daily.
This traditional American dessert, made with lime juice, sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks, was invented in Key West, Florida in the late 19th century.
However, this version has been elevated by using Westgold Butter in the base and adding a dollop of Tequila cream on top.
It's surprisingly quick and easy to make, with just 20 minutes of prep time, and only 30-40 minutes in the oven. It's also versatile – simply forgo the Tequila cream from the top for younger eaters or smother it completely and save it all for the grown-ups!
So, what's the key to a great Key Lime Pie? It starts in the base, which must be made from good quality butter. Professional bakers swear by Westgold Butter, crafted on the West Coast of the South Island, starting with grass-fed and free-range cows. It is rich and full-flavoured and will elevate your baking and cooking to that next level! In fact, for recipes where butter is your hero ingredient, such as this buttery-based dish, the flavour just won't be the same if you use any other butter.
This delicious dessert serves 8-10 people so is the ideal sweetener after Christmas lunch (plus the tartness of the lime will lift your taste buds once you've made your way through all that ham, turkey and potato salad.) But it also makes a wonderful gift for that special someone you'll want to butter up!
Raspberry Key Lime Pie with Tequila Cream
Ingredients
Base:
| 200g | digestive biscuits |
| 100g | Westgold Unsalted Butter, soft |
Filling:
| 1 ½ tins | condensed milk (395g tin) |
| 6 | egg yolks |
| ¾ cup | fresh lime juice |
| Zest | of 4 limes |
| 2 tbsp | raspberry jam, sieved |
Topping:
| 1 cup | cream |
| 2 tbsp | tequila |
| 2 tsp | icing sugar |
Method
To make the base:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Place the biscuits into a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs.
- Add the soft butter and pulse until well mixed and starting to clump together.
- Press the crumb up the sides and cover the bottom of a 23-24cm spring form pie tin.
- Bake for 8 minutes until lightly brown and crisp.
To make the filling:
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius.
- Mix together the condensed milk, zest (finely chopped) and lime juice.
- Stir in the egg yolks until smooth. Pour filling into the baked biscuit base.
- Drop little dots of raspberry jam around the top of the filling and use a skewer to spread them out to make a swirly pattern.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes. The pie is cooked when it wobbles when gently shaken.
- Leave to cool and refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.
To serve:
- Remove the pie from the tin onto a serving plate.
- Whip the cream and icing sugar together until thick. Fold in the tequila.
- Spoon some cream onto the middle of the pie and serve the rest in a bowl to the side.
- Decorate with extra zest and fresh raspberries. Serve.
Listen to Georgia on ZM's Jam Packed Workday to be in to win the ultimate Westgold Butter #giftbaking kit
