A few years ago, I tried going on a raw food diet for a month. Tried because it only lasted a week—I love cooked food, y’all. I mean, I like raw food too, but after a while, I just wanted something warm and I didn’t even care what it was.
But I did get something good out of it: I learned that raw desserts are ridiculously delicious. Not even in a “meh, this is acceptable for something that’s vegan and uncooked,” but delicious as in “I’d totally choose to eat this even if there was a brownie sitting on the plate next to it.”
And raw desserts are full of healthy fats too. Bonus!
Raw Key Lime Pie
Many raw desserts rely on soaked and pureed cashews to achieve a rich, creamy texture, but this Raw Key Lime Pie uses a combination of coconut oil, ripe avocados, full-fat coconut milk, and fresh lime juice to make a luxurious, tart filling. Completely different and completely delicious!
While some raw desserts can be a little bit complicated, this one is a breeze to make. You just have to blitz the crust ingredients in your food processor, press them into a pie tin, then whip up the filling in your blender. Pour the filling into the crust, pop the pie in the freezer, and it’s done. Easy, and 100% entertaining-worthy!
This recipe is from The Blossom Cookbook by Ronen Seri and Pamela Elizabeth. Blossom is an iconic vegan restaurant known for its innovative food—and now you can make some of Blossom’s best recipes right in your own kitchen. I’ve bookmarked the Trumpet Mushroom Calamari, Sweet Potato Coconut Curry, and Pistachio-Crusted Tofu to put on my dinner meal plan soon, but there are a few incredible dessert recipes too.
Uhm, Vegan German Chocolate Cake? Yes please!
Purchase The Blossom Cookbook: Classic Favorites from the Restaurant That Pioneered a New Vegan Cuisine by Ronen Seri and Pamela Elizabeth on Amazon
Raw Key Lime Pie
Equipment
- Springform pan
- Food processor
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1¼ cups macadamia nuts
- 1¼ cups pecans
- ½ cup dried pitted dates, soaked in water for 1 hour
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Filling
- 1½ cups fresh lime juice from about 12 limes
- 1 cup agave syrup
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 2 ripe avocados halved, pitted, and peeled
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1¼ cups coconut oil
Instructions
Make the crust:
- Lightly grease a 9-inch springform baking pan with coconut oil.
- Put the macadamia nuts, pecans, dates, salt, and vanilla in a food processor and process until the mixture is soft and easily workable. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Make the filling:
- Put the lime juice, agave, coconut milk, avocados, vanilla, salt, and coconut oil in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour the filling over the crust, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze overnight. Thaw before serving.
Help…..!!
My first attempt at this went a bit wrong. Crust was great, but the filling was not set enough and was very very limey. I stuck to the quantities (I think) and followed the instructions to freeze overnight and defrost. Any ideas on the best way to thicken the filling?
Can it be made with lemons ?? I have lemon , not lime , tree in my yard ….and I’d love to use lemons ?
Hi Mira, I’m sure it would work just fine with lemons.
The pie looks lovely and I’m sure it tastes great, but why call it a key lime pie when there are no key limes in it? Limes are wonderful, of course, but key limes have a flavor treat all their own.
I lived in South Florida with a key lime tree in my yard and it was glorious: key lime tea cakes, grilled shrimp with key lime butter, key lime bread, and of course, key lime pie. Even a glass of ice water is enlivened with a slice of key lime. I make a broccoli slaw with key lime juice in the dressing and it’s fabulous.
They may be difficult to find in a grocery store outside of South Florida, but if you do happen upon them (or bottled key lime juice), by all means give them a try!
FYI, key lime pie is never green because ripe key limes are a beautiful, sunny yellow.
@Pat Curry- I was wondering the same thing! It sounds so good, but where are the key limes? Unless it’s a typo and the ingredients are supposed to read: 1 1/2 cups KEY Lime juice. (Although 1 1/2 cups juice seems as though it would be more than 12 key limes, as they’re so small.) Who would we ask, I wonder…..the poster of this entry or the writers of the cookbook?
*sigh*
I need a good vegan key lime pie in my life right about now!
I’ve made this tart and I did use key lime juice, but luckily I was able to find them. Sometimes it’s harder to find them, so my guess is that the authors of the cookbook wanted to make the recipe accessible to everyone by just saying “lime juice” rather than specifying “key lime juice.” Honestly, I’ve made key lime tarts numerous times and I’ve used both key limes and Persian limes and the taste difference is negligible. So use key lime juice if you’ve got it, and if not, use regular lime juice. When I made this tart, I used close to 2 dozen (maybe more) fresh key limes. And those are key limes decorating the tart and the green color comes from the avocado. It’s not the exact same as a (true) key lime tart/pie, but it sure tastes good. If you’re looking for a key lime alternative, you could probably create one using coconut sweetened condensed milk and substituting arrowroot or cornstarch for the eggs to make a sort of key lime curd and use vegan graham crackers and coconut oil for the crust.