Mmmmm Florida…
Soft, sandy beaches.
Cool ocean breezes.
Sunshine. Sunshine. Sunshine…
And key lime pie.
I often think I should move to Florida. Some of my happiest childhood memories are from visiting my grandparents’ home in West Palm Beach. On those vacations, we did everything you’d typically associate with Florida living: splashed in the pool, drank freshly-squeezed orange juice (from freshly-picked oranges!), played in the sand and baked in the sun, chased after the lizards that crawled up Grandma and Grandpa’s porch screen…
And ate key lime pie.
Actually, I never ate key lime pie in Florida. (Even as a little kid, I had zero interest in the non-chocolate desserts!) But any mention of key lime pie reminds me of a particular restaurant at which we often dined during our Floridian visits. The restaurant was famous for this pie, and therefore someone at our table almost always ordered it. (Me? I went for the chocolate mousse. Every time.)
I figured it’d be fun to create a key-lime-pie—themed dessert for St. Patrick’s Day this year, since my blog is lacking in the lemon & lime department. (There’s a reason it’s not called Citrus-Covered Katie…) I was originally going for a pudding; however the results were a bit thinner than traditional pudding, so I’m calling it Key Lime Cream:
Key Lime Pie Cream
(Good for St. Patrick’s Day!)
Categorized here: Pudding and Dip Recipes.
- 2 cups milk of choice (for a richer result, try using canned coconut milk as some or all of your milk)
- 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (Anyone want to try a gf flour and tell me how it goes?)
- 3 tablespoons evaporated cane juice (or regular sugar)
- 2 nunatural stevia packets (or 2 more tablespoons sugar)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup Mori-Nu silk-firm tofu (If you don’t like tofu, don’t worry… this is such a small amount that I promise you can’t taste it!)
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 to 2 tsp pure lemon extract
- 1/3 cup lime juice (key lime or regular lime)
- for the green: I was brave and used a few handfuls of spinach… and it paid off! I couldn’t taste the spinach at all!! But if you’re not brave, you can use a few drops food coloring instead.
Blend the tofu with 1 T of the milk. (If you don’t have a blender, you can try soft tofu… but I haven’t personally tried it in this recipe. I used a Magic Bullet short cup as my blender.) In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients except extracts and optional spinach, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat and continue to cook until desired thickness is reached. Then remove from heat and add the vanilla and lemon extracts. Chill in the fridge. When it’s cold, blend everything with the spinach. (Once again, you can skip this blending step if you must… but the texture is better if you don’t. And if you want a thicker pudding, maybe add more tofu? Let me know how it goes if you do!)
See the following for: Calories + Nutrition Facts.
I know people will ask about substitutions: I can only vouch for the results if you follow the recipe, and I can’t tell you if a substitution will work, because I’ve only tried it as written. But please feel free to experiment with substitutions, and be sure to report back so others can read about your results!
If desired, serve in mini glasses with: S’mores Graham Crackers.
And pretend that you are in Florida.
Unless you’re lucky enough to actually be there!
Question of the Day:
Have you ever been to Florida?
I went at least once a year when my grandparents lived in the sunshine state. We even decorated a palm tree one year with Christmas lights. I really miss those days…
Final note: winner of the $100 Shopping Spree Giveaway.















This looks delicious! My husband is from Florida and (unlike me) he is not a big chocolate eater. His favorite dessert? Key Lime Pie of course. I will definitely have to try this one. Thanks!
I’m from Florida and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!!
I love key line pie and these have such a beautiful color! I love how you did it naturally from the spinach 🙂
Looks amazing! I gotta try it!
I’m from Florida actually 🙂
I am one of the lucky ones to live in Florida and I LOVE key lime pie! I CANNOT WAIT TO MAKE THIS!
Katie
While I love chocolate, I really love citrus too. I will defiantly try this. I also like to make your cheesecake sauce into a lemon “pudding” by adding lemon juice (esp good with Meyer lemon), lemon drop stevia, no milk, and orange or lemon extract. Then I make it like you do with toppings.
Another great flavor combo is chocolate with orange (can make the same base, or use coconut cream), using cacao/cocoa powder, orange extract and zest.
One of my fav treats was always my moms orange rolls–cinnamon roll base but sub orange zest with sugar for cinnamon sugar in filling and frost with powder sugar/oj glaze. Now that I have to bake gf and vegan, I can only imagine eating these treats, but maybe, Katie, you could use this flavor combo to come up with some delish goodie. I’ve made it into an oven pancake but haven’t taken the time to be creative–in your hands I’m sure something fabulous would emerge…
And I have been to florida, but I have only had the good fortune of drinking freshly picked orange juice when I went to visit my great aunt in az once as a kid when we visited them in their snowbird home.
Thanks
Ann
I think I’ve finally gotten my cinnamon roll recipe perfected, so I’ll have to try your orange idea!
I have not been to Florida…maybe someday! This looks delish..great for St. Patty’s day!!
My husband went on a military training exercise from Alberta to Key West and the only thing I wanted was anything key lime and he found a ton of goodies at Kermit’s…the pie he had air shipped home to me was worth every penny!!!
That is so beautiful Katie, I can only imagine how good it tastes! I am headed to Miami in a few weeks to see my best friend who relocated there. I love Florida, the hotter the better
You should come down to florida!!!! Awwwwww so much fun!!! Hit the beach, Katie!!!!