Lemon Meringue Pie

I am so glad to be able to get back to blogging. Its been such a busy few months. Its sad that when work is hectic my poor blog has to take a back seat. There are so many times I've thought- 'Oh I must post about this wine/dinner/restaurant/recipe". So now I am going to try and play catch up.

Seen as Cape Town is finally seeing a bit of summer I thought I'd share my favourite summer dessert - Lemon Meringue Pie. Its SO easy, my little nearly-4-year old cousin Grace could make it. She's a wizz in the kitchen by the way. I think I'll ask her to guest post sometime.

Anyway back to the recipe...

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

1 packet of tennis biscuits, crushed to crumbs with a wooden spoon

4 tablespoons of butter

1 tin of condensed milk

Juice and zest of one big lemon (must be about a third of a cup of juice)

3 eggs at room temperature.

3 tablespoons of castor sugar.

For the crust:

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Grease a 25cm pie dish well with butter. Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter carefully on a medium heat in the microwave. Add the crush tennis biscuit crumbs and mix together. The crumbs should stick together. Press the mixture into the pie dish and bake for about 10 mins. Keep an eye on it and take it out as it starts going slightly brown. Put it to the side to cool.

In a bowl mix the lemon juice, zest, tin of condensed milk and 3 egg yolks. Put this mixture to the side.

Get a clean bowl to make your meringue. Put the egg whites in a large bowl. Whisk to soft peaks, then add the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking between each addition without overbeating.  

Now its time to put it all together. Make sure your biscuit base is relatively cool- it will still be warm to the touch but as long as its not HOT. Fill the crust with the lemon filling and top with the meringue. Return to the oven for 18-20 mins until the meringue is crisp and slightly coloured. Let the pie sit for 15 mins to cool and then place in the Fridge for at least 2 hours to cool it down. Serve cold! 

Read More

My Favourite Fudge Recipe

Hello fellow foodies!

Apologies for my lack of posts for the last few weeks but there has just been a whole lot of crazy going on. I am almost disappointed in myself for having not shared this recipe yet... I have been making fudge since I was about 5 years old. In fact, it was the very first thing I ever made in the kitchen on my own! Below is the very best recipe for Fudge. You can get creative and add all sorts- chocolate, nuts, m&m's, maldon salt- but I prefer it straight up and traditional. Enjoy and don't burn your fingers! 

BEST fudge recipe in the universe...

3 cups sugar

1 cup milk

1 tin of condensed milk (397g)

1 tablespoon of butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

• In a heavy based pot heat milk and sugar on a medium heat, stirring continuously, until all the sugar is completely dissolved- this requires some patience! Don't be tempted to turn up the heat to speed up the process.
•  Add the condensed milk and bring the mixture to a rolling boil- again stirring continuously. After about 25 minutes the mixture will have reduced and become golden in colour. You want to get the mixture to the 'balling' stage- to test this, drop a small amount of the mixture into a cup of freezing cold water- then try and make it into a ball- this is the sign that the mixture is ready.
• Add the vanilla essence and butter and beat the mixture with an electric beater for about 5 minutes. 
• Transfer into a very well greased baking dish and allow to cool. Cut into squares and enjoy!!

Voila!

Read More