Vegan Lime Tarts with Meringue

Yes, these are vegan! Tart, tangy, and creamy lime filling with a sweet vegan chickpea meringue topping. You're going to love these!

My happy vegan life just got a whole lot better, and when you taste these tart and tangy vegan lime tarts with meringue you’re going to pucker up and lay a big one on me. Okay, maybe not, that would be weird, but you will be thanking me for sharing this recipe with you, especially on the heels of Cinco de Mayo.

Key lime pie has always been a favorite of mine and my son Griffin. We've never met one we didn’t like. Ever. Then I went vegan, and I had to watch him gobble up those slices of yum without so much as sticking a fork in it. Bummer!

Until today that is, because I just made a mouthwatering lime pie filling that’s every bit as good as the kind made with egg yolks and condensed milk. And mine is healthier.

To top it off I made a vegan meringue! Oh yes, I threw it down in my kitchen today. My juicer, my Best Blendtec Blenders(affiliate), and mixer got a work out. But you don’t care about that, you just want to know how I managed to make a vegan lime pie filling – I couldn’t find key limes so I’m taking the key out of the title – and meringue that taste as good as they look. Am I right?

Let’s start with the filling. T.O.F.U.

Terrific

Organic

Fluffy

Underappreciated

Tofu.

People just don’t give the white block of fermented beans enough cred. You can transform it into almost anything, like I did right here.

Put a fourteen ounce block of tofu in your blender, along with three quarters of a cup of fresh squeezed lime juice – your kitchen will smell like summer – some water, tapioca starch, lime zest, sugar, and a pinch of salt and start blending. Dip your finger in and taste to make sure it’s sweet enough for you. I like a tart, make your mouth pucker filling, so I only put one-third of a cup of sugar, you might want more. You can also add a drop or two of green food coloring to give it a color boost.

Once it’s blended and you approve of the flavor, pour the mixture into a pan and cook on a low heat until it becomes thick and creamy. Then set aside to cool.

You have two choices with this filling, you can make it into one big pie, or you can make individual tarts. I was feeling like making bite size tarts, so I spooned the filling into cute little phyllo shells.

Now comes the super fun part, making the meringue.

When I first saw this recipe on One Green Planet I almost jumped up and did a cartwheel, until I remembered that I don’t do cartwheels, so I just pumped my fist in the air and yelled, “YES!” My poor dogs, I scare them way too often with my outbursts.

If you think that this sounds crazy, and a little gross (like my husband did, until I asked him to tell me what seemed grosser, plant brine or a chicken’s period?), I feel you. I have to admit that I wasn’t completely sold on this concoction when I first started to make it.

The brine smells funky, there’s no getting around that, but after you add the sugar and vanilla and it starts frothing, the smell disappears. Crazy right?

When you add the vanilla you’re going to wonder why my meringue looks white in the pictures and yours looks tan. The same thing happened to me, but like magic, after several minutes of whipping, the meringue turns as white as it does stiff.

You should whip the brine on a high speed for around ten minutes, maybe more depending on your blender. Just don’t give up, it will turn into what you see below, just be patient.

I’ll confess, I was a little nervous to taste it, because I so wanted to love it. No worries my friends, it tastes just like the meringues of my pre-vegan days. Yippy Skippy!

You can fill the phyllo shells with the vegan lime pie filling while the vegan chickpea brine meringue is whipping. When it’s ready, put a little dollop of meringue on each tart and put them on a cookie sheet,  and then under the broiler for a few seconds. Just be sure to watch them carefully so they don’t burn.

Refrigerate them for at least eight hours so the filling firms up, and you’ll have delicious vegan lime tarts with meringue for your Cinco de Mayo dessert.

As I said before, you can make a whole pie if you want. I made a lemon meringue pie a few days ago, but I was impatient and wanted to photograph it before the filling set so the pictures didn’t turn out well. See.

I’ll be making another pie soon and I’ll share the recipe, and better pics, with you then.

In the meantime, get your lime on with these gorgeous and delicious tarts!

 

Affiliate

[mpprecipe-recipe:130]