I always think of hot summer days with this dessert. It’s got the perfect combination of two ingredients which just scream “summer”! I saw John Whaite make the recipe on a show one afternoon and thought, yes that’s my type of dessert and the fact it’s gluten free is an added bonus.
Using lime curd with the cream cheese gives just the right balance of sweetness and tartness for the filling. Using melted marshmallows with the coconut for the base is a stroke of genius!
It will serve approx. 10 people and you need a 23cm / 9″ springform cake tin.
I used a 9” square loose bottom tin for this one
Grease and line the base and the sides of the tin and preheat oven to 180C / 160C fan / Gas 4.
Ingredients:
360g white mini marshmallows
300g desiccated coconut
300g good quality lime curd
450g full fat cream cheese like Philadelphia
Zest of 1 lime to decorate.
Method:
Make the coconut macaroon base by putting 180g of the marshmallows into a heatproof bowl with 1 tablespoon of water. Put a pan of gently simmering water on the hob and stir until the marshmallows melt into a thick goo. It won’t take as long as you think so keep stirring.
Keeping this over the heat, add the desiccated coconut and stir until everything is well coated in the melted marshmallow. It needs a little bit of muscle but don’t be tempted to remove it from the heat as you need the marshmallow to be pliable.
Spoon this into the cake tin and press it over the base and up the sides. If you grease your hands with a little oil, it makes this job much easier and cleaner!
Bake in the oven for 15/20 mins until the base is golden brown. Mine took 18 mins. It will puff up a bit so as soon you take it out of the oven, press it down gently to compact it. Leave it to cool.
For the filling: Repeat the same marshmallow melting process as above using the remainder 180g of marshmallows and a tablespoon of water. Once melted, you remove it from the heat and beat in the lime curd, then beat in the cream cheese. I found it easy enough to do this with a good whisk but you don’t want to whisk like you would with eggs or cream, you want to whisk to make it smooth so I held the handle of the whisk, kept it upright and used a good strong circular motion to get the mixture smooth.
Pour the filling into the cooled coconut base and leave in the fridge overnight. Just leave it alone and it will set perfectly. I made mine on a Friday afternoon and left it in the fridge till Saturday evening when it was needed. I removed it from the tin about an hour before, decorated it with the zest of a lime and edible flowers.
It’s a delicious dessert, rich and not too sweet with a winning combination of ingredients.
Enjoy! Soraya x