Vegan No-Bake Lime Pie

This recipe was born by accident after tasting a wonderfully delicious and well-balanced raw lime cheesecake. However, I believe there are no coincidences since I ended up creating my own version of the classical lime pie. It was a total experiment that turned out better than expected! And produced delicious results that lasted for no more than two days... Recipe follows!

The lime pie is:

• vegan;

• gluten-free;

• dairy-free.

Unlike the majority of vegan recipes using soaked cashew nuts to imitate the texture of creamy desserts, for the creation of this recipe I decided to take upon a different strategy. I was traveling at the time and did not have a blender by my side, so that presented me with the opportunity to test another cooking technique. The final result was super fresh with a slight kick from the lime juice.

Ingredients:

For base:

• 100 g dark chocolate

• 100 g almonds

For the filling:

• 100 ml condensed coconut milk (did you know you could prepare it at home?!*)

• 200 ml coconut milk

• 30 g maple syrup (or honey)

• 50 g almond flour

• juice of 2 limes

• zest of 1 lime

• 1 g agar-agar

Preparation:

For the base:

1. The base is pretty simple to prepare. First, melt the dark chocolate using a double boiler.

2. Chop up the almonds as finely as you like (I left some big chunks for extra crunchiness) and add them to the dark chocolate.

3. Mix well and pour in a container lined with parchment paper. Let it firm up completely.

For the filling:

1. The filling cannot be any simpler - in a saucepan, add all the ingredients together and place it on a stove at medium heat.

2. Stir occasionally to prevent lumps. When the mixture starts to boil, it will start to thicken up. Keep it on the stove for several more minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Then, remove from the stove and let it cool down. It will thicken up further as it cools down.

4. Once the filling has reached room temperature, pour it over the base, place it in the fridge, and wait for it to set. That takes about 2-3 hours. After that, cut it into squares and enjoy!

Serves 10 to 15 square slices (depending on their size, the number can vary).

Tips for preparing condensed coconut milk:

* To prepare100 ml condensed coconut milk, use 200 ml coconut milk and 50 g coconut sugar. Place both of them in a saucepan at low heat, stir until the sugar dissolves into the milk, and turn the heat to medium-low. Let the mixture simmer (not boil!) for about 40-50 minutes until it shrinks to half its volume. The milk will change slightly its color. Then, remove from the heat, let it cool down and place it in the fridge overnight. And the condensed coconut milk to ready to be used!