Friday, June 16, 2006

Key Lime Pie

This is a raw food key lime pie we made inspired by some of the desserts we tried at Cafe Gratitude. I had never tried their key lime pie, but renowned baker Shuna from Eggbeater was amazed by the uncooked key lime creation, so I found an insider to hook us up with a recipe. We had a great time experimenting. I look forward to baking (I mean preparing) another raw pastry using Irish moss as a thickening agent instead of the soy lecithin that is used in this recipe.








The crust is made by grinding together pecans, macadamia nuts, and dates with a pinch of salt. The oil from the nuts and the stickiness of the dates binds the crust together. The slight sweetness of the dates and the salt create the beautiful salty sweet nut flavor that goes well with the lazy, "front porch swing" pecans and the chill tropical "hammock on the beach under a coconut tree" macadamian nuts.
The filling is made by processing key lime juice with agave nectar, thick coconut milk, avocado, spiralina, coconut oil, and vanilla. I would add rum but then it would not be truly "Raw" The avocado gives it body and creaminess and a subtle sweet nutty flavor while the agave nectar balances the hard core acidity of the key lime juice. Along with the avocado and the lime juice, the spiralina brightens the filling to a classic key lime green. The coconut milk also balances the bold lime flavor and the coconut oil enriches the mix with a tropical feel and helps the filling set when chilled. We also added lime zest.
The crust is formed in a pie or cake pan and then the smooth filling is poured into the crust after it has been blended well. When the filling starts to set, it is ready for the topping. The topping is a cashew "meringue" made with coconut milk and cashews.
After chilling for a few hours, the key lime pie is ready to slice. I personally loved this pie. It was nice and tart, a little sweet, and the texture was wonderful. Some of our tasters also loved the pie, asking for seconds and thirds. Some tasters didn't finish the first piece. But unanimously the crust was a big hit.





















MP3: A Message to ODB

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

hi there. this is a wierd request, but im a dj in washington dc and someone stole my "Message to ODB" 7" during one of my sets. im soooo bummed and would love to buy another. would you be interested in selling yours? or at least posting the mp3 of the other side "house party" track? but i play all vinyl. please lemme know. brian@toolboxdc.com. thanks!