No harm, No foul: animal-free (vegan) key lime pie with homemade coconut whipped cream

Don’t even try to come at me with a one note dessert that is just sugar packets and some chocolate. 'Gooey' and 'fudgey' are sickening if you don't have any water and you eat more than 10 fork fulls... at least for me.

What I need, is a multi-layered flavored explosion. Creamy, crunchy, a zinggg of tart, and eventually some creamy sweetness that has a mild amount of fats to balance and hold all other flavors. That’s my kind of dessert.

It was years into being vegan that I finally tried to recreate my favorite dessert - to be honest I was just too worried I couldn't make my dream of St. Edwards KLP happen without animal products or byproducts.

With some inspiration from a VERY talented baker I found on the web, I built off her quick and minimal 7-ingredient KLP 'bites' to make the MOST decadent pie to date.

Here it is:

INGREDIENTS FOR KEY LIME PIE

Crust

9 full size honey-free graham crackers

1/4 cup roasted, salted macadamia nuts

1/4 cup roasted, salted walnut pieces

½ cup melted vegan butter OR coconut oil

1 tbsp brown sugar

Filling

1 14 oz (425 g) can full-fat coconut milk

1 can sweetened condensed coconut milk

½ cup key lime juice (which is pretentious for some, so just use lime juice, it won't kill ya)

2 tbsp lime zest, 1 tbsp more to garnish if you need to be impressing people

1 tbsp lemon juice

5 tbsp corn starch

Whipped Cream

1 14-ounce can of either coconut cream or full fat coconut milk

1/4 – 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a food processor, add graham crackers and sugar and process to a fine crumb. Add nuts and pulse enough times until you have achieved a coarse crumb texture. Add the butter or oil alternative and pulse until just incorporated.

Dump mixture to a greased 9” pie pan. Use your hands and shape mixture into a crust. When shaping the sides with your fingers, compact the crumbs together tightly so the crust holds its shape. Bake for 10 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Put a sauce pan over stove on medium heat. Add the coconut milk, condensed milk, (key) lime juice, lemon juice and zest. Whisk to combine. Add the corn starch, whisking until even. Bring the entire mixture to a boil, then reduce heat until achieving a strong simmer, keeping this for 5 minutes. Stir often to prevent lumps.

Pour the filling into the crust. Place in the fridge to cool and set overnight. Also, chill your coconut cream or coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight as well. Try to move the can as little as possible (not tipping or shaking) to avoid separation and fragmentation of contents inside.

In the morning, take pie out. Put in a empty bowl to chill for 10 minutes. Afterwards, remove the coconut can from the fridge. Scrape out the top, thickened cream and leave the liquid behind.

Beat for 30 seconds with a mixer until creamy. Then add vanilla and powdered sugar and mix until achieved a creamy and smooth texture – about 1 minute.

Use immediately or place back into fridge with pie to save. To serve immediately, top dollops post slicing or spread on like an icing pre-slicing. Top with garnish.