Chocolate Peanut Butter S'mores Fudge

I made this in mid December for some friends who were in need of cheering up! I added these photos to my blog and planned to write it up at some point to tell you all what a great little sweet treat Christmas prezzie this fudge would make...but here we are on January 3rd and Christmas has been and gone, whoops! It would still make a great gift...just not a Christmas one obviously or you can bookmark it for next December! 

My favourite part of making this fudge, aside from eating it, was when my husband asked me what I was making when he came home to find the ingredients on the table one day.  I replied fudge, and he turned to me with a totally shocked look on his face and said 'are we fudge people?' it was hilarious! I cracked up laughing!! but he was right to question my judgement - we are not fudge people! I can probably count the number of times we've eaten fudge on one hand.  It is not something I am ever too bothered about.  So I told him it wasn't for us...but also that it was chocolate and peanut butter s'mores fudge and not just any old fudge!! 

We both agreed that the addition of the graham cracker crust made this better than any other fudge we have had.  Often fudge is just way too sickly and you don't want to eat more than one piece but the crust definitely broke up the sweetness and added another good texture.  The peanut butter gave a subtle undertone to the creamy chocolate and the marshmallow swirl with added marshmallows on top gave it some extra chew! 

I was also surprised at how easy it was to make! The only other time I've attempted fudge was this candy cane fudge last Christmas but since it was only made with condensed milk it was the cheats kind of fudge...making real fudge has always scared me but by using the microwave in this recipe it is a no fail recipe! 

Give it a try! Your tastebuds will thank you...even if you're not fudge people!

Chocolate Peanut Butter S'mores Fudge:

Makes 24

From Like Mother Like Daughter

for the crust:

8 Graham Crackers (digestives or hobnobs would work fine too)

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup caster sugar

for the fudge:

1 7oz jar Marshmallow Fluff

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

1 5oz can evaporated milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

1/2 cup milk chocolate chunks

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

for the marshmallow swirl:

1/2 cup mini marshmallows

to decorate:

1/4 cup micro mini marshmallows

1 Graham Cracker, broken up

4 milk chocolate chunks, broken up

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees C.

Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with tin foil - leave extra so it hangs over the edge.

Crush your graham crackers into a fine powder and mix them with the butter and sugar to form the crust.

Press the crust into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes until the edges and golden brown.  Set aside.

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the Marshmallow Fluff with the sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt.  Bring to a boil stirring occasionally.  

Meanwhile, chop your chocolate into chunks and have your peanut butter and vanilla measured out and ready.  Measure out your mini marshmallows and have them ready too.  It is important to have everything already prepared because once you remove your pan of ingredients, everything needs to be stirred in immediately. 

Once your pan is boiling, set a timer for 5 minutes and stir constantly.  

Remove from heat and separate 1/2 cup of mixture and mix it with the mini marshmallows til smooth - do this immediately otherwise the mini marshmallows won't melt.  

Add your chocolate chunks, peanut butter and vanilla in with the rest of the cooked mixture and stir until mixture is smooth.

Pour fudge over your graham cracker crust.  

Spoon marshmallow mixture over and swirl in with a knife.

Top with broken Graham Crackers and chocolate chunks and teeny tiny marshmallows.

Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Eat and enjoy!

Nutella S'mores Fudge Pie

Sometimes I feel like I have a disorder...that is going to prevent me from ever baking anything without nutella again!! Like my hand literally has to reach for the jar of Nutella anytime I whip something up! I'm sorry to some degree, variety is the spice of life and all that, but in my opinion Nutella adds a new dimension of tastiness to every bake so for that I'm not sorry! 

To be fair, I also had one of those monster size bigger than your head jars of Nutella from Costco that I needed to use up before we moved...so now we have, and the jar is empty, and so with the exception of my next blog post there will be a Nutella lull for a while and regular varied blogging will resume :)

 

Have I told you before there are 27,345 reasons why I need to move to North America? Well...there are! and S'MORES are definitely in the top 10 of all the reasons!  So when our good friends invited us over for a farewell meal I knew I wanted to bake something s'more-licious, since they are marshmallow lovers, and I came across this pie! and as I was whipping it up I thought 'hey I know I'll sub out half the chocolate and add in Nutella instead'...

so the Nutella S'mores Fudge Pie was born!

and after toasting up the marshmallows under the grill, of course there was really only one thing to finish it off with - and that was more Nutella! because nothing makes my heart happy like drizzled Nutella...and sitting around a fire making s'mores - so I felt like this sort of combined the two!

Bake this up today...it will cure your North American blues for about a day until you wake up and realise you need to live somewhere where root beer, graham crackers, and marshmallows as big as your fist are freely available at your local supermarket!!

 Nutella S'mores Fudge Pie:

Serves 12

Adapted from Pixelated Crumb

22 graham cracker squares (digestives/hobnobs can be subbed if you are in the UK)

165g unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup semi-skimmed milk

3/4 cup double cream

100g milk chocolate

40g dark chocolate

140g Nutella

2 eggs

pinch of salt

15 marshmallows - cut in half
3 tbsp Nutella (for drizzling)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.

 In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until evenly coated.  Press mixture into a 10" tart dish (you may have some crumb mixture left over).  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just starting to brown.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cream and milk.  Warm over medium-low heat.  Add in both chocolates and Nutella and stir until mixture has melted and is smooth.  Slowly add the whisked eggs and mix until smooth.

Pour the chocolate filling into the baked pie crust.  Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until chocolate filling is set and does not move when pie is lightly shaken (if there is slight wobble still this is okay because the Nutella prevents it from setting up as much as if you only used the chocolate).  Remove from oven. 

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife cut the marshmallows in half.  Place halves in concentric circles until you completely cover the top of the pie.  (I left gaps in mine because I remembered how when you bake marshmallows they spread alot...however because you are only grilling them they don't expand at all so I had to go back and add in more marshmallows! so make sure the whole thing is covered first time around!)  Place the pie under the grill, watch it closely because the marshmallows toast quickly between 1-4 minutes, and they will turn to charcoal in about 2 seconds if you aren't watching them like a hawk!

Melt 3 tbsp Nutella in a bowl in the microwave for approximately 45 seconds.  Fill a piping bag, and drizzle across the top of the pie first in one direction and then in the opposite direction.

Chill the pie in the fridge to set for at least 2-3 hours. 

Whilst the pie can be eaten cold, it's best and at it's most s'more like when slightly warmed.  Heat the slices in the microwave, one at a time, for 20-40 seconds until the marshmallow is a warm gooey mess and the Nutella has melted into it.

Eat and enjoy!

Nutella & Peanut Butter S'moreos

Some recipes grab your attention more than others, when I saw these Peanut Butter Cup S'moreos over at Top With Cinnamon I knew I had to bake some up immediately! After all, only good can come of oreo's, peanut butter and toasted marshmallows! Clearly my immediately wasn't quite so quick...since I'm now here making them a month after I bookmarked them, but considering there's about 1672 recipes on my current 'to bake list' a month doesn't seem too long at all!

If you've never paid Izy's fantastically beautifully blog a visit, I urge you to do it immediately (and right now I'm referring to the same day immediately and not my one month later immediately!).  Not only have I adored her blog for a while, this week she got shout outs from Joy the baker and Call me Cupcake so when the creme de la creme of the baking world are shouting about a blog from the rooftops you know it's going to be good! She has incredible photography skills and awesome videos/gifs, but mostly I love the ingredients and originality of the treats Izy bakes up...plus we also share a love for Oreos, coconut and all things s'mores! oh yeah...and let's not forget - she's only 16!

So I decided to take Izy's treats one step further when I baked them up...and as I'm currently in a serious Nutella phase I swirled some of that in amongst my peanut butter layer! It turned out to be so delicious, I  kind of wished I'd skipped out the peanut butter altogether - I can see these are going to be dangerous because I'm already formulating so many future variations of them in my head! but going back to my Nutella phase...how is it that I managed to spend 25 years of my life without it? Yes, you heard me...after never having eaten it at any point in my whole life I suddenly decided 2 weeks ago I had to buy a jar.  Ever since it has been Nutella everything! Nutella on my pancakes...on my bagels (add some sliced bananas too and you're laughing!) in my ganache truffles, to dip pretzels into and even to dip Kinder sticks...yeah I dip chocolate in chocolate, I clearly don't know the meaning of the word moderation!

Since Valentine's is coming up, and since my sister sent me these awesome heart marshmallows in a package I got this week...I decided it would be super cute to use them for these s'moreos!

I topped one half with white marshmallows and the other half with pink ones...to tie them in even more with the season of love!

I'm also entering them into this months calendar cakes challenge by Dolly Bakes and Laura Loves Cakes, because the theme is love!

Nutella & Peanut Butter S'moreos:
Makes 9
Adapted from Top With Cinnamon

For the oreo base:

24 Oreos, crushed
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp milk

For the toppings:

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, warmed
1/2 cup Nutella, warmed
24 large marshmallows, halved
2 peanut butter cups, chopped
1/4 cup mixed peanut butter and milk chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.
Line a 9" square pan with foil or parchment paper.  I didn't use any oil or butter to grease the lining because the base mixture lets out quite a lot of liquid as it is, and mine pulled away perfectly.

Crush Oreos in a blender until they resemble crumbs, stir in the butter and milk until incorporated.
Scatter the mixture evenly into the pan and press down with the back of a spoon.  Bake for 6-8 minutes.

Whilst the base is baking, warm up the peanut butter in the microwave so it is at a spreadable consistency.  Do the same with the Nutella.

Once you take the base out of the oven, immediately spread the warmed peanut butter over the base.  I didn't warm my Nutella quite as much as the peanut butter so I could drop blobs of it over the peanut butter.  I then used a palette knife to swirl the two spreads together.

Completely cover with the halved marshmallows, placing them cut side down.

Place under the broiler/grill for around 1 minute to toast the marshmallows.  I set mine on low and they took around 3 minutes as I wanted to be safe! They toast super quick on high so watch them constantly and it probably won't take more than 30 seconds.

Immediately scatter the chopped up peanut butter cups and chocolate and peanut butter chips over the marshmallow layer so they melt into it slightly.  (I used peanut butter chips because I had some on hand and they tied in nicely with the pb theme...I know they're not easy to come by in the UK - you could chop up bits of peanut butter Kit Kat or Ferrero's if you wanted to go for an all out Nutella theme! or just stick with regular chocolate chips, I'm also imaging using a whole bar or 2 of Mint Aero in place of the peanut butter could make a tasty mint variety - like I said the possibilities are endless)

You can make more portions if you cut them up smaller, I just chose not to!

Eat and enjoy...and see if you can make your whole pan last for the photo shoot, I know I couldn't! 

Your Tastiest Treats of 2012!

So 2012 is nearly over, and when you read this I will be ringing in the New Year at Whistler! I can't wait! That place has become like our second home this past month, and I couldn't be happier about that because truly it's one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

For now, let's take a trip down memory lane and see the posts which were your favourite this year!

10. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Layer Cake

This was probably my favourite of 2012 (and hopefully Byron's too, since I made it for his birthday!) It's probably the most decadent layer cake I've ever made, and it definitely took the most time but it was SO worth it.  Chocolate chip studded cake, sandwiched with chocolate fudge and raw cookie dough, surrounded in cookie dough flavour frosting and finished off with more cookies - this time baked ones! If you have any cookie lovers birthday's coming up, this is worth the effort!

9. Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart

You just can't get enough of the South African treats! and despite me having a mishap when removing the base of my springform tin and the side of the biscuit crust caving in it's still a hit! How can it not be when you combine creamy layers of caramel whipped with cream with layers of coconut biscuits and those crystal shards of minty-ness that comprise my favourite chocolate bar - Peppermint Crisps! and the good news is on the bus the other day I saw a South African shop has just opened on West 4th so now I can get my Peppermint Crisp fix in Vancouver too! 

8. S'mores Cupcakes

I made these S'mores cupcakes for our New Year's eve party last year! Graham cracker flavour cupcakes, with marshmallow frosting and cubes of chocolate on top - they were devoured pretty quick! I haven't even had to bake a special treat for this New Year's since we have enough sweet treats left over from Christmas to see us through the next 2 weeks!!

7. Malteser Bunny Cupcakes

If you only make these cupcakes to check out this 'to-die-for' frosting then it will be worth it.  This chocolate-malt frosting turned out to be my most favourite frosting of 2012, I could eat it by the spoonful...and I did! The malt flavour cupcakes are pretty special too, and to top it all off you just have to complete it with mini Malteser Bunnies (if you live in the UK...I'm pretty sure you won't find them elsewhere which is not good news for me...how will I get my fix come Easter!)

6. Chocolate & Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcakes

This was the first time I ever thought about combining peanut butter frosting with crushed up Oreo crumbs - it was a GOOD decision! Combined with my favourite chocolate cupcake recipe, these two made a fantastic pairing!

5. Cadbury's Creme Egg Cupcakes

I made these for an Easter market stall I did.  I made several other flavours alongside these ones but I think these got the most 'oohs and aahs' from people passing by.  Not only does the frosting look like creme egg filling but it tastes exactly like it too!

4. Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry-Lime Frosting

These were a happy little accident that came about because I had loads of fresh pureed strawberry in the fridge just waiting to be used up! We took these to a summer BBQ at a friends house, it was pure blue skies with not a cloud in sight that day (a rarity in Wales!) and these tropical beauties fit right in! The addition of lime in the frosting gave these a totally tropical twist! 

3. Granadilla Fridge Tart

This was a recipe my South African Mom whipped up one weekend, apparently it had been a staple dessert for her growing up.  Why she had been holding out on us for so long I don't know! because this was so creamy and fruity and it's definitely going to be a staple for the Braithwaite's too!

2. Cookies and Cream Oreo Cupcakes

You just can't beat a good Oreo cupcake! Up until I made this, my favourite Oreo cupcake had been a chocolate version with chopped up bits of Oreo in the batter.  However after making this vanilla based Oreo cupcake I realised my chocolate version had been overpowering the Oreo bits...whereas this cupcake lets the Oreo flavour shine through! A new favourite! 

1. S'mores Cheesecake

It pains me that the number 1 most visited recipe on my site this year was the post with the worst pictures!! It was one of those nights where I was rushing, as our dinner guests were waiting for dessert, and I didn't want them to think I was too weird by taking a million pictures of it and making them wait to eat it!! Then I discovered the batteries on the flashgun had run out...and so I had to make do with dark and not so attractive pictures! but I'm glad that didn't put you off because this is one of the most delicious desserts I have ever made.  We all know I love anything s'mores, but this creamy chocolate filling was out of this world and paired with a graham cracker base and a toasted marshmallow topping it is totally dreamy! Of course I'm pretty sure the popularity of this post also had to do with the fact I was doing a cheesecake giveaway too! but if there's one thing you need to make this year it is this cheesecake! and don't forget the chocolate-malt frosting too! They're both going to make you very popular indeed! 

 Thanks to everyone for following along this year, I LOVE when a little email or comment pops up from one of you - it makes my day! and thanks to all you other bloggers for keeping my google reader overflowing with delicious recipes and inspiration! 

Wishing all of you an awesome New Year's and a totally tasty 2013!

Giant S'mores Stuffed Choc Chip Cookies for National S'mores Day!

Happy National S'mores Day!

We couldn't have asked for better timing here in the UK because after a few weeks of washout weather the sun has FINALLY remembered it's late to the party and has put in an appearance which means everyone should be BBQing it up tonight and in our house BBQ's = S'mores! So for all you first timers out there who have yet to enjoy the s'moreish goodness I'm urging you all to go out buy some marshmallows, buy a pack of biscuits, buy some super delish choc (Milka was my choc of choice this time) and join in the s'mores party, seen as how it's National S'mores Day it would be rude not to!!

My search continues to incorporate s'mores into every baked good possible! so when I stumbled upon Tara's amazing s'mores stuffed chocolate chip cookies I knew I had to bake some up!

Tara made her own graham crackers from scratch but after trying my hand at these a few months back I don't think they compare to regular graham crackers - there's not enough crunch to them! so I stuck with Nabisco's boxed ones to keep the cookies as authentic as possible!

I decided to incorporate both milk and white chocolate chunks into my cookies just to add to the fun! and yes that's about a fistful size of cookie dough you have to put either side of the ready made s'more! 

So I ended up baking my cookies on one baking tray at the time because by the time they spread out in the oven they were the size of small pizzas! 

Yes, they're over the top! but who could deny a giant warm and melted chocolate studded cookie complete with a gooey marshmallow s'more baked into the middle! Not me, that's for sure!

Go get some s'mores love, you won't be disappointed!

Giant S'mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Makes 4

From Smells Like Home

For the cookie dough:

2 cups plus 2 tbsp plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup soft brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk chocolate chunks

3/4 cup white chocolate chunks

For assembly:

1 cookie dough recipe, at room temperature

8 graham cracker squares, broken into halves

4 marshmallows, chopped in half lengthwise

2 rows of milk chocolate from an 100g bar of Milka (or your chocolate of choice)

Prepare 4 s'mores: Break each graham cracker square in half.  Place 2-3 squares of milk chocolate (depending on which size/brand you have used) on top of the graham cracker.  Cut marshmallows lengthwise, place one half on top of the chocolate.  Finish with the graham cracker half.  Set those 4 s'mores aside for later.

For the cookie dough: Whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined.  Beat in the egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.  Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined - the batter should look a little lumpy.  Stir in chocolate chips.  

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.  Line two baking trays with parchment paper.  

Get two large spoonfuls of cookie dough and shape them into a flat circle.  Put the cookie dough round onto the baking tray and place a pre prepared s'more on top.  Take two more spoonfuls of cookie dough and shape them into a round and place them on top of the graham cracker and then shape the dough around the s'more until it is completely covered - at this stage it will resemble a cookie dough mound!

Mine were so big that I had to use one tray per cookie, so I baked in two sessions.  Bake for 20-24 minutes or until the tops and edges are slightly browned and the edges just lift off the tray with a spatula.  The s'mores will most likely peek out of the cookies but it just adds to the charm so go with it! 

Leave them to cool on the trays for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool for a further 10 minutes.

If you have made something s'moreishly delicious then hop on over to Mandy's blog where you can add your blog post to her link party - go on...then we can have a giant collection of s'more related baked goods - it will be amazing! It doesn't just have to be something you've made today either!

Summer S'mores...Chocolate, Coconut & Eton Mess Varieties!

I have been more than vocal about my love of all things S'mores! and whilst I've featured S'mores brownies, S'mores cookie bars, S'mores milkshakes, S'mores pie, S'mores cupcakes, S'mores cheesecake and S'mores bars I've never showcased just plain old regular S'mores! 

So when the sun came out for long enough one evening this week we stoked up the BBQ and got toasting some marshmallows for some S'mores fun.

I had, I'm ashamed to admit, popped to the shop earlier in the day to pick up some Hobnobs because my supply of graham crackers had run dry.  So imagine my delight when I arrived home to find a lovely gift of some American goodies from American Soda...which included a box of Honey Graham Crackers...it was perfect timing! So the Hobnobs were shelved and the fun began...

It's been a while since I've had to make S'mores with UK marshmallows and I forgot how small they are!! so we decided two at a time was how we needed to do it.

So for all those Brits who may be coming across S'mores for the first time - let me break it down for you...

You take two Graham Crackers (if you want to make it authentic and if you want them to taste amazing!) and lay them out, with two squares of chocolate of your choice on top - I was using Dairy Milk.

Then once your marshmallows are sufficiently toasted, lay them over your squares of chocolate and use the other Graham Cracker to scrape them into place inside your little S'mores sandwich...

and there you have it, the hot marshmallow melts the chocolate inside and so you have a melted warm gooey chocolate-y filling sandwiched between two crisp crackers! 

Delish!!!

A few nights later, S'mores were still on my mind and after I received these birthday presents I knew what had to be done...

because you knew it was only a matter of time before I worked out how to get some coconut goodness involved! Yes, my in laws gifted me my fave Lindt Coconut chocolate and this bar of Eton Mess chocolate! 

I even decided to go all out and fancy up my Graham Crackers too, so the night before I dipped the ends in melted chocolate and sprinkled shredded coconut on the ones that would pair with the coconut chocolate, and pink sprinkles on the ones that would pair with the Eton Mess chocolate.

It also helped that my awesome husband bought me these FireForks as a birthday present, specifically to aid me in my S'mores making! They are super clever because they enable you to toast two marshmallows evenly at the same time!

Oh man, these coconut S'mores were amazing! 

I took a bite and you can see the coconut cream filling was still intact in the middle of the piece of chocolate but the chocolate had already started melting into that gooey marshmallow! 

and the Eton Mess S'more turned out pretty spectacular too - the chocolate even had freeze dried strawberries and meringue pieces in as well! 

So if you've never had a S'more before then what are you waiting for! One of my favourite things to do when people came to visit us in Turks and Caicos was to introduce them to S'mores for the first time! and if you have then why not try some variations on the regular ones and jazz yours up a little! You'll thank me for it.  

Happy S'mores making! Let's just hope the weather co operates for us so we can be making them all summer long! 

Disclosure: American Soda provided me with these complimentary products.  However my participation was voluntary, and all opinions and views expressed are my own.

United Bakes of America Round One... and a Key Lime Pie for the state of Florida!

So to kick off the United Bakes of America challenge...I baked the Key Lime Pie from Warren Brown's fantastic book.  

Let's start by talking about how this amazing little pie came to be.  One of my favourite parts of this book is hearing all the little back stories that go along with each dessert.  It obviously originated in Southern Florida and we all know that Florida gets pretty hot so back in the mid 1800s before refrigeration it was impossible to keep fresh milk.  So in stepped sweetened condensed milk - in fact Key Lime Pie is directly linked to the development of it, so we owe a lot to Key Lime Pie! 

Key limes themselves are actually native to Malaysia, they were brought over to the Caribbean in the 1500s by the Spanish and from there they made there way over to Florida.  They are smaller than Persian limes, usually the size of walnuts and they have green-yellow skins and so are definitely distinguishable from Persian limes.  

One thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to make it authentic, I'm talking real key limes! I was in contact with Whole Foods who told me they could get in key limes whenever I wanted but unfortunately it came to nothing in the end.  I scoured every American grocery website for Key Lime Juice but was coming up with nothing.  I even contacted a very famous cupcake company here in the UK who sells both Key Lime Pie and Key Lime Cupcakes to ask them where they get their Key Lime Juice from only to be told that they just use regular limes and it works just the same!

I was a little bit dismayed! I am fully aware that using regular limes would still produce something edible but then it would just be Lime Pie and not Key Lime Pie.  That would be like me making an apple pie with Granny Smith Apples and then calling it a Bramley apple pie - that just wouldn't make any sense! so why do people continue to use the title Key Lime when they have in fact used regular limes! So I took matters into my own hands and called on my amazing friend Kathi, remember I told you she helped me out a few posts back - well this Key Lime Juice arrived at my house no less than a week after I sent out a desperate plea of help for some! and I haven't stopped baking with it since!

I was SO excited to bake a REAL Key Lime Pie! so of course since I was going all out I had to make my own homemade graham crackers too so it could have an authentic graham cracker crust!

It was definitely worth all the effort involved! I made it for my mom's birthday last week as she is a huge Key Lime Pie lover and we all agreed that we could definitely taste a difference and that it was the best Key Lime Pie I've had while in the UK. Who could turn down a creamy tart filling on a crunchy graham cracker base topped with soft meringue?

Also, you may notice that my filling was yellow.  Authentic key lime filling is always creamy yellow and should never under any circumstance be tinted green - that's a direct order from Mr Brown and since he knows more than a thing or two I was more than happy to follow his orders!



Key Lime Pie:
Serves 16
From United Cakes of America

For the crust:
200g graham crackers

3 tbsp caster sugar

100g unsalted butter, melted
1/8 tsp salt

For the filling:
2 large eggs

2 egg yolks (save the whites too)

1 tin (396g) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup key lime juice

For the meringue:

2 egg whites

1 tbsp caster sugar

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
Grease a 9x3" round pan and line the bottom with parchment.
Crush crackers into crumbs in a blender, or with a rolling pin and a zip loc bag.  Toss them with the melted butter and sugar until combined and press the mixture firmly into the base and the sides of the pan.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Beat 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks lightly with a whisk (set aside your 2 whites for the meringue).  Add condensed milk and whisk until blended.  Whisk in Key Lime Juice slowly, as you add it the custard will thicken.  Pour the filling into the pre prepared crust.  Set the pan in a water bath with 1/3 warm water surrounding the pan (I didn't do this and my filling turned out fine).  Bake until filling is lightly browned on top and doesn't jiggle when gently shaken.  Let cool to room temperature.

Turn the oven up to 200 degrees C.
Beat the two reserved egg whites with a wire whisk in a free standing mixer until stiffened.
Drizzle in the sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.  Arrange meringue on top and place the pie in the oven to lightly brown the top, about 5 minutes.  

So there you have it a Key Lime Pie for Florida....

and what do you do with leftover homemade graham crackers - whip up some s'mores of course! yum!

now let's get on to checking out the other amazing American treats that were baked up this month by all the awesome bloggers who entered the United Bakes of America!

First up was Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker with these absolutely drool worthy Hershey's Cookies 'n' Cream Brownies.  She made a recent trip to Asda and was impressed by their array of baking goodies especially their American ones so she picked up a bar of this Cookies 'n' Cream chocolate and baked it into the middle of some moist, fudgy and delicious brownies - sounds like a winning combo to me! 

Next up were some awesome Oreo Surprise Cupcakes by Cakes from Kim, despite not being a biscuit person and preferring a digestive even when she does indulge in the odd biscuit (I know what a shocker!) Kim has developed an Oreo obsession (haven't we all!) So when the theme for her first Clandestine Cake Club was favourite things she whipped up an Oreo layer cake and made these Oreo cupcakes too, complete with a whole Oreo cookie waiting to surprise you at the bottom - now that is the kind of surprise I'm talking about! 

Charlotte from Lottie's World of Cakes and Bakes whipped up this very elegant Hershey's Kisses Chocolate Tray Bake.  Not only did she pipe row upon row of beautiful pink and brown ruffle frosting but she finished off her tray bake by strategically placing Hershey's Kisses all over it! which I thought was a rather inspired way to use those little Kisses! and these extra special Kisses actually came all the way from New York! now that's a well travelled Kiss! 

Kit at I-Lost in Austen baked up this stunner of a Rose Chiffon Cake.  The Chiffon cake was apparently invented by Harry Baker in my favourite place in the whole world - California - back in 1927.  I have never had a Chiffon Cake myself, but it is meant to be known for being light and fluffy with moist crumbs that just melt in your mouth - doesn't that just sound dreamy! 

Susie from Fold in the Flour made this very impressive Jubilee Royal Velvet Cake.  I know you may be thinking what's American about that! but actually if you took away the crown and the Union Jack flags it could very well be a Patriotic dessert for any American themed bash with it's red, white and blue layers of velvet cake! Not only that, but the recipe used came from Sprinkle Bakes - an amazing American blogger  from Tennessee who invents the most show stopping cakes! Susie made the blue sugar crown on top herself and I think it adds a definite flair to the overall finish! 

Cake Fairy baked up our 3rd Oreo offering which I was only too glad to see because in my book you can never have enough Oreo treats! This Chocolate Oreo Cake has ground up Oreo crumbs in the cake and is sandwiched with some Oreo cream cheese frosting, I love the colour of it - you can tell there's a bit of Oreo overload going on in there! 

The final bake was sneaked in by my sister Mara who blogs over at Creative Crafter.  She made Chanterelle Choc Chip Cookies, from a new recipe book she picked up by Kate Zuckerman, a New York pastry chef.  She said don't let their appearance deceive you, as they are super crispy and chewy and make your house smell heavenly whilst they are baking! 

I loved seeing all the American inspired bakes you came up with this month! and cannot wait to see what next month brings! 

I will be planning to bake Smith Island Cake which originates from Maryland next month.  

You have the whole month of June to join along with me with any American ingredients or American recipe or State inspired dish you can come up with.  Email it to me by June 30th to be included in the round up.  

If you're new to United Bakes of America, then there's a reminder of the rules here.