I am fortunate enough to have some wonderful friends who not only recognise my passion for cooking but also foster it in many ways. Their generosity is, at times, somewhat overwhelming although sincerely appreciated. I am often lucky enough to be given ingredients, especially home grown items such as fruit and vegetables, and who could say no to that. My dear friend, Alex, provided me with some slightly over-ripe limes recently. They were juicier, a little sweeter than normal and had a yellowish skin rather than the typical green that one would expect of a lime. Because of this I knew they wouldn’t have the sourness that they normally do and that I would need to consider that when choosing a recipe to use them in.
I have made a lime tart previously so wanted to do something similar but simpler, that would be easy for G to take to work and share around because if it is in the house I will eat it :).
Continuing my commitment to try and find recipes in my vast collection of cookbooks before searching the internet I began my research. It didn’t take long for me to discover something that I could whip up. If you have excess limes you might like to give this a try.
lime slice (from “bills food” by Bill Granger)
makes 12 large slices or 36 small pieces
Ingredients
base
200g (7ozs) unsalted butter, softened and chopped
250g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
30g (1/4 cup) icing (confectioners’) sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
filling
6 eggs
375g (1 1/2 cups) caster (superfine) sugar
60g (1/2 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
125ml (1/2 cup) lime juice
finely grated zest from 4 limes
icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting
Preparation
Grease and line the base and sides of a 23cm (9inch) square tin with baking paper. To make the base, mix the butter, flour, icing sugar and egg together in a food processor until a dough forms. Press the dough into the tin. Refrigerate the dough in the tin for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4), then bake the base for 20 to 25 minutes, until pale golden.
While the base is cooking, make the filling. Whisk the eggs in a bowl, then add the sugar, flour, lime juice and zest, and whisk until well combined.
Pour the filling onto the cooked base and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the filling is set and lightly golden on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.
Cut into pieces and dust with icing sugar.
My tips/alterations: *I used a fan-force oven and found that the top began to brown quite quickly so I covered it loosely with foil halfway through cooking which prevented it from being over cooked. I also found that the slice took 25 minutes to cook to ensure the filling was set in the middle.
ease: 8/10. This is an easy base and filling slice method.
prep time: 15mins + 30 mins chilling
cooking time: 45mins.
total: 1 hour + 30 mins chilling
taste: 8/10. G loved the tanginess of the lime in the filling and the base had just enough crunch and a sweetness that balanced well with the filling. We both liked it best when it was slightly chilled. The remainder went to work this morning with G so we will see what his colleagues think of it :).
I would rate this a 7/10 because I found that the filling tasted a little bit too much like egg for me, kind of like when a custard is not quite cooked. G said it was fine so it might be just me. If you find it the same I think cooking the slice for an additional 5 minutes would solve this issue but it would also make the filling firmer.
It evidently went down very well with G’s workmates with several people wanting the recipe and some requests for more slice in the future.
would I make it again: Yes – whenever I have some excess limes and want something to share.
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