Peppermint Crisp Pie

Think banoffee pie .... minus the bananas .... with crispy, chocolatey, minty goodness.

This recipe calls for a couple of bars of Nestle Peppermint Crisp bars, I haven't managed to find anywhere that sells these bad boys apart from Cyber Candy.  Mint Aero would be a good replacement though.

The recipe comes from one of my favorite cook books Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros.

Serves 10-12

200g Digestive Biscuits

100g Butter, melted

600g condensed milk

400ml Whipping cream

100g Peppermint Crisp bars, chopped

To make the caramel, put the cans of condensed milk into a saucepan & fill with enough water to cover the cans.  Bring the saucepan up to a boil & cook for 2 hours, make sure the water is kept topped up, otherwise the cans could explode!  Leave to cool.

Crush the biscuits & put them into a bowl with the butter:  Mix together well & then press firmly onto the base & a little way up the sides of a 26cm (10 1/2 inch) pie dish.  Put into the fridge to set.

Beat the caramel in a bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Carefully spread over the biscuit base, trying not to lift any of the biscuit crumbs.

Whip the cream until it holds it's shape well, but take care not to overwhip it.  Spoon it over the caramel to cover the whole surface & scatter the peppermint chocolate over the top.

Keep in the fridge before serving.

Sour Cherry & Pistachio Fudge

You can't go wrong with some proper homemade fudge ..... unless you get the cooking wrong, which is quite easy.  Your best bet it to use a sugar thermometer, so you can get the fudge to the correct 'softball stage' of 118oC.

I found this recipe on the back of a condensed milk can, but it is also available on the Nestle Carnation Milk website . You can add whatever you like to the fudge, fruit, nuts, chocolate chips or even a good glug of whisky!