Yes, this post is about cake. Nope, this has nothing to do with travelling. Well, unless you consider searching for the best (cake) recipes a journey of its own. Which it kinda is.
So, new little fact about me: I’m a bit of a foodie. That’s right, I love me some food and I also love making that food. I blame my parents who are quite the self-made chefs, which pretty much has led to a family of foodies. Cooking and eating together is a big part of family life for me. I think the fact that we grew up in Brabant – you know, the bon vivant part of Holland – has definitely helped to enhance our appreciation for food. The last few years I have also grown into a bit of a health freak (I blame hipster Amsterdam), experimenting with various superfoods and limiting meat, carbs, sugar and fat.
That said, I love cake. Yes, I honestly love cake. And not those pretentious cakes with little roses, marzipan, fake colors and ribbons, but delicious rustic and homemade cakes. If you have been to our house in the last year or so, chances are you have tasted either one of my now “go-to” cakes: the organic and gluten-free Best Chocolate Cake Ever or the Easy Peasy Lime Pie. I have had many many request for the recipes so I thought why not post them on the blog. And maybe other food-related posts will follow, we’ll see. So, first up is the…
I made this cake over Easter weekend and we ate the whole d*mn thing by ourselves. Yes, that means this entire cake for the two of us. With our California trip coming up in a few weeks! But hey, this cake is totally worth the extra workouts. “Eat cake for breakfast (and lunch and dinner too)” therefore seemed like the appropriate title for this post. Anyone can make this cake, it is super easy and quick and a great addition to a spring picnic or summer BBQ. I derived the recipe from the blog Snippet & Ink and tweaked it a bit. I replaced lemons with limes since I was looking for a lime pie recipe for our anniversary last year (we shared a slice of key lime pie on our first date – Newport RI, summer of 2010). But I’ve made the lemon version as well which is even quicker and just as good.
Ingredients
2 cups of Digestive cookie crumbs
50-100 grams of melted butter
2 cans of sweetened condensed milk (Friesche Vlag)
1 cup of lime juice (about 10-12 juicy organic limes)
6 egg yolks
zest from 1 lime to sprinkle on top
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Crumble the cookies in a food processor (or smash them in a plastic bag or towel) and throw them in the cake dish. Melt the butter in the microwave and mix it with the crumbs. It depends on the size of the cake dish if you need more or less crumbs and/or butter. Just make sure you can make a pretty decent crust with the mixture. Press the crust firmly to the bottom and sides of the cake pan. Pop it in the oven for 8 minutes.
Combine the 2 cans of condensed milk with the 6 egg yolks and the lime juice, either by hand or with a mixer. If the filling is smooth you can pour it onto the baked crust. Bake the lime pie for 15 minutes. Okay, now comes the hard part: waiting for it to cool. If the cake is cool sprinkle the lime zest on top. You’re done! Honestly, it is even better when it has been in the fridge for a few hours but I totally understand if you can’t wait that long…
If you want, you can top the cake with whipped cream and sprinkle the lime zest over the cream. Or, you could make a meringue (don’t throw out the egg whites) and put the cake with the meringue on top under the grill for a few minutes. Either way: ENJOY!
HAPPY BAKING! HAPPY EATING!
