Key Lime Pie

I have really got the fat free baking bug now, and decided to have a go at another adaptation of the original half-syn roulade recipe, this time turning it into a key lime pie. Waitrose do the best version of this American dessert, but I needed something that fits in with the Slimming World plan. The name comes from the small key limes that are prevalent throughout Florida and the pie dates back to the 19^th century Key West – the original recipe used the chemical reaction between the lime juice and condensed milk to 'set' the pie. It is thought the local sponge fishermen created the recipe out of necessity – being at sea for days on end without a fridge or an oven, they took with them foods that weren't perishable or didn't need baking, such as canned milk, sugar, limes and eggs.

I am not sure if the same reaction would occur between fromage frais and lime juice, so I have used gelatine in my recipe. These days, because of the health scares of eating raw eggs, key traditional lime pie is usually baked anyway. Because the cheesecake I made became quite 'floppy' with just one packet of powdered gelatine, I played safe this time.

Serves 8

3 ¼ syns for the whole cake

generous ½ cup buckwheat

2 tbsp sweetener

¼ tub quark

2 eggs

½ tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sweetener

500g tub fat free fromage frais

1 ¾ tubs quark

1 cup sweetener

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 packets sugar free lime and lemon jelly

zest and juice of 3-4 limes

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 23cm spring form cake tin by spraying it with Fry Light. Heat a frying pan to medium-high heat and dry toast the buckwheat until they start to brown, 3-5 minutes. Switch off the pan, add 2 tbsp sweetener, the ginger and ca 1 tbsp water to mix it all in. Stir until all the water has evaporated. Quickly line the bottom of the cake tin with the buckwheat and leave to cool.

Separate the eggs. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. In another bowl whisk the egg yolks with a quarter of one of the tubs of quark, the baking powder and 2 tbsp sweetener. Carefully fold in to the egg whites. Pour mixture on top of the buckwheat in the tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin. Don't worry if the cake looks very high at this stage, it will settle down when it has cooled.

Using an electric whisk, beat together the fromage frais, the rest of the quark, 1 cup of sweetener, the lime zest and vanilla essence. Place the lime juice in a non- metallic container and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Dissolve the contents of the packets of jelly powder in the lime juice and beat well to ensure it is properly mixed. Allow to cool a little before gently mixing in to the fromage frais mixture. Spread the mixture over the cake and leave for at least two hours to set.