Key Lime Pie. Key West Vacation - via your Dessert!

I love this cool, creamy, zesty, beachy Key Lime Pie vegan dessert. The essential ingredient: sweet, tangy, bold key lime juice. A hint of coconut, a sandy graham crust and fresh lime zest on top.

Pie-Fait. I make a lot of these "Pie-fait" desserts. The base ingredients: silken tofu and vegan pudding mix. They are relatively healthy - rich in soy protein, lower in fat than the average "pie" - plus I can whip up a pie-fait in ten minutes and have it chilled for dessert in a few hours. Get this refreshing dessert recipe...
Key West Vacation - at home. I casually made and photographed this recipe about a month ago when the bold summer heat was just starting to creep into the hot NYC cityscape. I was craving a cool tropical breeze, a blue-water view, a soft sandy beach and the sound of waves crashing - as I lay melted into my pink beach chair...

However, that was all a fuzzy daydream. My reality: my stiff-backed black office chair and glaring wide computer screen - which makes me sometimes want to wear sunglasses at my desk. Beachy, yes. Glamourous, no. What's a girl to do? Make Key Lime Pie! And stir in a heaping dose of Key West vacation imagination...

Key Lime Juice. If you've never worked with key lime juice I suggest you try it! I never really knew the difference in flavor and even texture of key lime juice compared to traditional lime juice until making this pie for the first time.

I bought a bottle of Nellie and Joe's key lime juice and did a taste test...

Key lime juice is silky, almost milky. It is a rich opaque yellow/green color and has a round, soft tangy flavor - a bit less acidic and tart tasting than conventional lime juice.

Key limes in their whole form are tiny. About ⅓ to ½ the size of a traditional lime. I imagine this dessert would be just as fantastic if you use fresh-squeezed key limes - if you can find them!

Pie-Fait. This is a soft-serve pie. Spoon it out into dessert cups directly from the pie pan. If you want a thicker, firmer pie you will need to make a few ingredient adjustments. Like adding agar agar or even baking the pie in the oven. Personally, I love this pie-fait soft-serve style. So luscious, light and zingy!

Soft-Serve Style..

Other Pie-Fait-style recipes I have posted:

Lemon Custard Bars
Peaches and Banana Cream Pie-fait
Chocolate Cherry Dessert Pie-fait
Choco Pom Raspberry Pudding Parfait

Spots and Silk. You might notice the holes and lines on the surface of my Key Lime Pie. Those are from a light sprinkle of key lime juice I did over top the poured pie - as well as a stream of maple syrup I drizzled over-top. It roughs up the surface - but the texture when you eat this pie is still super soft and silky! And yes, some natural "crimping" will also occur due to the tart limes mixing with the creamy soy.

Ingredient Note: can't find key lime juice? That's OK - sub conventional lime juice.

Coconut Key Lime Pie
no bake, vegan, makes one pie plus an extra cup

1 package silken tofu
1 box vanilla vegan pudding
*DrOetker's is my fave
½ cup key lime juice
1 small conventional lime, juiced and zested
zest from lime above
¼ cup sugar
1 graham cracker crust
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ cup light coconut milk (or more soy milk)
¼ cup soy milk

drizzle: agave or maple syrup - a few drops of lime juice
garnish: raw coconut shreds and/or key lime zest
optional: ¼ cup coconut shreds added to base mixture

Juice Note: *You'll notice I added in one conventional lime - I did this basically for the lime zest - and to not waste the juice - I simply added it to the recipe as well. So total lime juice is ½ cup key lime plus the juice of 1 conventional lime.

Directions:

1. Add drained silken tofu, pudding mix, salt, sugar, all lime juice, a pinch of lime zest (reserve some for garnish) coconut and or soy milk to a soup pot on the stove top. Add in optional coconut flakes as well. Turn heat to high. Start stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

2. Continue stirring until the mixture begins to smooth out a bit - once the mixture begins to bubble, wait for about 90 seconds then turn the heat off.

3. When mixture has cooled a bit - add it to a glass blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and lump-free. Be very careful when blending warm liquids.

4. Transfer your mixture to a pre-made graham pie crust (or crushed graham crackers in a pie dish). You can even use vanilla cookies as a pie crust base if you'd like.

5. Pour any extra mixture into parfait glasses as an extra dessert treat. Top desserts with fresh lime zest and optional coconut flakes. I add a ribbon drizzle of agave or maple syrup and a spritz of pure key lime juice over the surface of the poured pie as well.