Frozen Lime Meringue Pie

I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself over this one because, to be honest, it looked like a pain in the backside to make. It really wasn't, especially when you make it over several nights (one day buy ingredients, next 2 days think 'I really should make that pie'...). Unfortunately, due to new job exhaustion, I still didn't finish my post in time for the round-up that our fearless Alpha Baker leader Marie writes every week (although I did get an honourable mention).

This Frozen Lime Meringue Pie (which sounds a bit like a cocktail) is another of Rose's unusual concoctions which turns out to be delicious. The pile of meringue topping makes it look like it'll be overly sweet, like lemon meringue pie, but, eaten cold, it's actually refreshing and creamy.

It was almost a frozen ... meringue pie since I wasn't organised enough to buy local limes at the weekend markets. Instead I had to pay an outrageous price of $1.70 PER lime at the supermarket. In fact I stood there at the fruit display considering my options for a while. In the end (options were no pie or expensive lime pie) I only bought 4 limes so I had to make do with minimal zest.

I had to ask my Alpha Baker friends about the wafer biscuits specified for the biscuit base. Apparently it refers to biscuits called Nilla wafers. Faithy suggested Marie biscuits as a substitute but when I spotted Scotch Fingers on the supermarket shelf I knew I had to have them. I spent quite a while calculating how many I could eat out of the packet. Quite a few as it turned out. The base also had toasted almonds in it which made it nutty and sweet and buttery. Is it wrong to want to just eat the base?

The filling is lime curd mixed with whipped cream. I must have been feeling usually zen because it seemed pretty easy. This is when the pie becomes out of the ordinary as you put it into the freezer to, um well, freeze. 

Then we're back on track to make, what turns out to be, a not particularly sweet meringue. I had the two egg whites left over from the curd and I didn't feel like breaking any more eggs, so my meringue 'pile' is half-size. 

The meringue is put back into the freezer after browning under the griller. Fitting it in the freezer was the most challenging part of that step. I would never have thought of putting barely cooked meringue in the freezer but it seems I'm lacking in imagination and daring.

I wasn't sure how a semi-fredo* pie would be but it turns out to be light, cloudy and creamy all at once. It was really a surprising and delightful texture. Well it was when I took the time to let my piece defrost. Otherwise straight from the freezer it was just a little bit frozen and icy :)

*spell-check kept changing it to freddo so now I'm thinking about chocolate Freddo Frog pie (which is not really a thing. Yet.).

Since this post is so late next week is actually this week and we're making Coconut Crisps.

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