killer key lime pie.

Those of you who follow me on twitter will know I'm battling to make a vegan version of this. I'm getting there but it's taking a long time so today, after a Julie and Julia preview (which by the way, is sososo good and made me want to go to cookery school), I felt like whipping up something creamy and pie-y.

I don't much like using tofu cream cheese to make desserts when it's avoidable because I really love the process of mixing and slowly warming a thickening liquid until it's just right. Chucking some flavouring in some tofu doesn't feel much like cooking to me.

I used crushed shop-bought vegan ginger biscuits for the base, but you could use a plain version if you didn't like ginger.

This amount makes enough for a 9" pie dish, or two small ones with a little bowl left over for sneaky fingers to dip into.

You'll need:

a packet of biscuits, enough to cover the base of your dish (and the sides if that's how you roll)

1/4-1/2 cup of vegan margarine

1/4 cup lime juice

2 1/2 cups soy milk

5 tbsp cornstarch

2 tsps lime zest

1 cup sugar

some non dairy whipped topping (optional)

Crush all the biscuits and put them into a pan with 1/4 cup of the margarine. Put the pan over a low-medium heat until all the margarine is melted. If the crumbs still aren't sticking to each other when you press them together, add the rest of the margarine.

Once it's all combined, scoop the crumbs out and press them into your dish. If you're putting them around the edge too, press them all around firmly and put the dish into the fridge while you make the rest.

Put the rest of the ingredients into a pan and whisk until they're combined. Put on some relaxing music and start stirring over a low heat. It'll take a while but soon what was a watery mix will turn into a creamy limey dreamy pudding.

It's thick enough when if you drag a wooden spoon down the middle of the pan, you see a glimpse of the bottom before the pudding spreads back out again.

Pour it on top of the biscuit base and chill for at least 3-4 hours.

If you want to be even more gluttonous, you could put some non-dairy whip on top. I just discovered this stuff:

which is pretty bloody good.