Key Lime Pie

A little while ago, Brother and Sister took me out to Garden Grille (an amazing vegetarian restaurant in Providence) for an early birthday dinner. They have vegan desserts that will knock your socks off. Without realizing that darling Sister had sneaked away to ask the waiter for a slice of their Key Lime Pie and a candle, I took charge and ordered a slice for the table. The pie was so good it was well worth inadvertently ruining all Sister's sneaky birthday efforts.

Anecdote aside, ever since then I've been wanting to recreate Garden Grille's key lime pie at home. So here's what I tried this morning... I asked Brother if he could tell there was tofu in the Key Lime Pie and he said, "Not at all. It was excellent!" I didn't even pay him to say that. I just bribed him with PIE!

For the crust:
2 packets of cinnamon gram crackers (2/3 of box)
6 tablespoons melted coconut oil

For the filling:
1 small container (8 oz) non-dairy cream cheese
1 pound silken tofu
zest of 4 limes
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the crust...
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Use a food processor to grind the gram crackers into crumbs.
3. In a small pan or in the microwave, melt the coconut oil. (You could also use butter or even canola oil here.)
4. With the food processor running, slowly pour the coconut oil down the feed tube.
5. Turn off the machine and dump the crust mixture into a pie pan. Use your hands or the bottom side of a measuring cup to form the bottom and sides of the crust.
6. Bake the crust until it begins to brown. Remove from the oven and set to cool.

While the crust is baking...
1. Zest the limes and juice as many as you need to produce a full 1/2 cup of juice.
2. Put the lime zest, juice, cream cheese, tofu, sugar, vanilla extract, and arrowroot into the food processor and blend until completely smooth.
3. When the crust is cool, pour the filling mixture into the crust and let it set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight) until the filling has set completely.