Girdlebuster Pie

I am a big fan of Nigella Lawson and have all of her books. So when her new Christmas book was released last year I just had to get a copy. It is full of seasonal recipes and along with the traditional Christmas dinner there are many other wonderful recipes. There are lots of little details like Black Bean soup hangover cures and chicken soup flu remedies. There is a great selection of twists on the tradional stuff like chilli jam to give as a gift and pomegranate vodka.

There are many recipes in this book that I am looking forward to trying. I don't think this book is just for Christmas and I certainly won't be putting it away just yet.

There is a recipe in this book called Girdlebuster Pie and I just had to try it. As I read the description I was drooling and who could resist it with a name like that.

In the book Nigella suggests coffee ice cream for the filling. I substituted this with vanilla as my little nephew was joining us and I thought this would be better for him. Last summer my husband and I were having lunch in a country pub near Wimborne in Dorset and on the way home we drove past a farm that makes their own ice cream We had to stop and buy one and I went back just before Christmas to get some for over the festive period. If you are ever near Wimborne then call into Barford Farm and try some of their ice cream. My favourite is the Baileys one but they are all scrmptios. I used some of their vanilla flavour to make this pie.

This pie was pretty easy to make and totally delicious. The caramel topping is heavenly and we all loved it. I used the same pie dish that Nigella uses in the book and I did find it a little tricky removing the pie from the dish in order to serve it. I think when I make this next time I might try doing it in a springform cake tin.

This is definately a winning recipe in our household.

For the base:
375g digestive biscuits
75g soft butter
50g dark chocolate chips
50g milk chocolate chips

For the ice cream filling:
1 litre vanilla or coffee icecream

For the topping:
300g golden syrup
100g light muscovado sugar
75 butter
a quarter of a teaspoon of maldon salt or a pinch of table salt
30ml bourbon
125ml double cream

• Process the biscuits with the butter and chocolate chips until it forms a damp crumb like clump.
• Press into a 23cm pie plate or flan dish. Form a lip of biscuit a little higher than the dish if you can. As Nigella says in the book this take patience as you need to form a smooth even layer.
• Freeze the biscuit lined layer for about an hour so it sets really hard. In the meantime let your ice cream soften in the fridge.
• Spread the ice cream into the biscuit layer then cover in cling film and place in the freezer.
• Put the syrup, sugar and butter into a saucepan and let it melt over a low heat before turning it up and boiling for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and add the bourbon letting it hiss in the pan.
• Add the cream and stir into a sauce then leave to cool. Once cool but not set pour over the pie to cover the icecream layer and then put back in the freezer.
• When ready to serve remove from the freezer, take the whole pie out of its dish and cut into slices. Should you have any left over put it back in the dish, return to the freezer and enjoy another day.