The temperature sensor of my digital clock shot upto 34.7oC. Staying indoors was getting less and less bearable. And for once the kitchen was the last place I wanted to be!

In the late afternoon I had a sudden craving for a light summer dessert. However badly I wanted it I could not get myself to switch on my electric oven. A no-bake recipe it had to be. 

Creme caramel, chocolate mousse and other frozen goodies came to mind but I dismissed them because of their fat and egg content. Also I was running short of several ingredients and wanted to use what I had on hand. After a few Google searches and taking into stock my meagre supply of ingredients I finally put this together:

SUMMER CUSTARD PIE

Ingredients:

For the Crumb Crust

1 cup Digestive Biscuits, crumbed

1 cup whole almonds, finely ground

5 tbs butter, melted

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp all spice

 

For the Filling

500 ml milk

3 tbs Moir’s custard powder

Zest of 1 medium lemon

1 tbs apricot syrup

1 can apricot halves, 410g

10 candied cherries, halved

2-3 squares of dark chocolate, melted

 

Method:

  • Toast ground almonds lightly in oven preheated at 150oC. Cool.
  • Grind biscuits to a fine powder. I used 10 whole Royalty digestives.
  • Melt butter in microwave on high for 15-20 seconds.
  • Mix almonds and biscuit crumbs in a large bowl.
  • Add butter and combine till butter is well incorporated.
  • Add almond extract and all spice to crumb mixture.

  • Lightly grease a 9″ springform pan or a loose base pie pan.
  • Press crumb mixture into pan to fill bottom and line up sides. This is easily done using a greased flat bottomed glass. [Food for my Family has a detailed tutorial for this].
  • Freeze crumb crust while you preheat the oven to 175oC.
  • Pop crumb crust in oven and bake for 7-10 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 

 Pie Crust Recipe adapted from Eclectic (i-klek-tic) Desserts

For the filling, stir custard powder with apricot syrup [from can] and 50 ml milk.  Bring the remaining milk to the boil in a large saucepan.

  • Add the custard mixture and stir with a wire whisk to prevent lumps from forming. Add lemon zest and apricot syrup. Bring custard to boil, whisking to keep the consistency smooth. 

  • Remove from heat and cover with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming over custard.  Pour custard into crumb crust.
  • Leave to set in fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  • Top pie with fruits in season or of your choice.
  • I was out of fresh fruit so I had to do with a can of apricots and some Moir’s candied cherries. Wish it were peaches,  kiwis or strawberries instead*sigh*

  • The chocolate was for filling the empty space in the centre.
  • If you are not using canned fruit, you can always add 1-2 tbs caster sugar to the crumb mixture and the custard. 

I love the versatility of fruit pies. The crust can be as crunchy or as melt-in-the-mouth as u care to make it. The filling can be as light or as rich ‘ n’ creamy as u dare to make it. And the topping – my favourite part – can be just about anything u find sitting in ur fruit bowl!

If you’re still not convinced, then let me tell u that it took me longer to write this post than to whip up my light summer custard pie 🙂