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.















I live in just south of West Palm Beach and a great place for key lime pie is The Old Key Lime House on Ocean Ave in Lantana. Not only is the key lime pie pretty dang good, but it’s Florida’s oldest waterfront restaurant and has a great atmosphere! (And killer brunch!)
I’m not a Florida native so I still live in Florida like a tourist… sun bathing, pool, drinks at ocean-front bars, weekend farmers markets and outlet shopping. 🙂
Ooooh and Awwwwww! Looks so refreshing and springlike! My son loves keylime pie. Our local health food store makes a vegan keylime pie a couple of times every year so that’s when my son gets to enjoy. This would make him very happy!
Looks wonderful for the springtime! I’ve been getting into experimenting with cool, brightly-colored treats myself 🙂
Your parfaits look great! My BFF is getting married in July on Captiva Island in Florida, so I’m super excited to go. We are also going to take the kids and do the Disney thing after the wedding. Can’t wait!
PS: I bought a Cuisinart 12 cup food processor yesterday (after the demise of my Cuisinart mini) and I’m absolutely in love with it!
I’m going to the Ft. Lauderdale sometime this year. Any good attractions you recommend seeing while there?
Sorry, I don’t know that I;ve ever been to that part.
What did you use for the Topping Katie?
Soyatoo extra-creamy.
Oh yummy! That completely looks like florida in a cup! I LOVE Florida! It’s so beautiful. Fabulous recipe and happy St. Patricks!
I LOVE this recipe… absolutely wonderful! Love love love it!
Yes I also have memories of visiting my Grandfather in Florida. He lived on the edge of the keys and the vines would grow so fast. We would mark them and come back later to see how much they had grown. It was amazing they would grow couple inches in a day.
I was wondering if you’ve ever used Irish Moss or carageenan. I’ve seen it in some raw food recipes and know it acts as a thickener in recipes like puddings! It might work in this one. I’m not sure exactly how to use it, but bet you would create something fantastic with it! (It also is supposedly quite healthy!)
I first heard about it a few days ago in the book “Practically Raw.” Now I’m definitely intrigued!
I LOVE this idea! And, speaking of thickeners, I was making vegan sour cream the other day and alas, discovered I was out of my silken tofu… so I used leftover steel-cut (Irish) oatmeal. It worked wonders! I have many vegan recipes that call for cooked millet, cornmeal, quinoa or oats as a base/thickener. Maybe one of these options would work for those who avoid soy or gluten? Another thing I like to do for creamy textures is use raw sunflower seeds… they are an amazing substitute for cream recipes that call for cashews.