Hello from Germany! This is yet another voice from your past. Except you’re reading it in your present, so it’s kind of like that “When will then be now?!” scene from “Spaceballs.” 

Anyways. Today my friend Becca of Ladyface Blog is kindly filling in for me with a VERY yummy treat that would be just perfect for Cinco de Mayo in a couple weeks: mini vegan key lime pies! I’m always excited to see how omnivores feel about vegan food—it’s the ultimate test. Read on to see how she fared!

Hi everyone! My name is Becca and I normally blog over at Ladyface Blog where I talk about my life, and share my style, recipes, and DIY projects. I absolutely adore Marlene’s blog, so when she asked if I could do a guest post for Jade and Fern I was thrilled to do so!

Since I know Marlene is vegan, I thought it would be fun to share a vegan (and gluten free!) recipe today! Lately I’ve been hearing all about the wonders of cashew-based vegan desserts, and to be honest, have been a bit skeptical. I just keep thinking, how could CASHEWS, of all things, replace the certainly-not-very-good-for-me, high-fat dairy products that are near and dear to my heart? Well, The Minimalist Baker recently posted this recipe for cashew based mini Vegan Key Lime Pies that looked too good for words, so I had to try it out.

Let’s be real: key lime pie is usually all about the heavy whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk, so I was really curious to see how these would come out. Well, my dairy-loving heart is happy to report that these mini key lime pies are really damn tasty. So good, in fact, that out of the batch of 12, only 6 survived the weekend. It’s true.

Let’s get on to making them, shall we?

 

Vegan Key Lime Pie: Makes 12 mini-pies or 1 large one

Recipe by The Minimalist Baker

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (About 1 sleeve of graham crackers. I used gluten free)
• 1/4 cup (4 tbps) vegan butter, melted (such as Earth Balance)

For the filling:

• 1 cup raw cashews soaked for 4-6 hours (or overnight), then drained
• 3/4 cup light or full fat coconut milk, well shaken (I used full fat since it’s what I had on hand)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tbsp lime zest and 1/2 cup lime juice from 2-4 large limes or 6-7 key limes (if you can find them)
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup agave nectar (depending on preferred sweetness)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

2. Add graham crackers to a food processor and process until you achieve a fine meal. Then add the melted butter and pulse to combine.

3. Distribute evenly among muffin tins and press down with a glass or spoon to flatten. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool.

4. Add all filling ingredients to a blender and blend on high (or liquify) until creamy and smooth. (Just to note, I tried this out in a food processor, and I just couldn’t get the cashews to break down as much as I needed them to. My stand blender is garbage, so I switched to my stick/immersion blender and that did the trick.) Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more lime zest/juice for more tart, or more agave for added sweetness.

5. Pour filling into the muffin tins and tap on counter to release air bubbles. Top with a bit more lime zest and loosely cover.

6. Freeze for 2-4 hours, or until firm. Remove from the freezer for 10-15 minutes to thaw before serving. They will keep, covered, in the freezer for up to 2 weeks, though are best when fresh.

Just to note, these do, in fact, need to be stored in the freezer. If kept in the refrigerator they will have more of a pudding-like texture, so they’d be a bit tough to eat in their mini-pie form!

These mini Key Lime Pies are seriously tasty: sweet, tart, creamy, and delicious. If you’re looking for a delicious dessert, vegan or not, I would highly recommend this dreamy little guys. I hope you can try them out soon!

Thanks to Marlene for hosting me on Jade and Fern today! I hope to see some of you over at Ladyface Blog soon!

XOXO

Becca | Ladyface Blog

Thank you, Becca, for braving vegan baking for us, and for these beautiful photos! Readers, please be sure to visit Ladyface Blog and show Becca some love!

Don’t these pies just put you in the mood for SUMMER?? Have any of you omnivores tried vegan baking before? And who’s planning a Cinco de Mayo party?