Raw Avocado Lemon Pie
Raw pieI loooooove raw pies. Although they’re just as packed with calories as the oven baked butter-flour cakes i grew up with, raw pies also carry an amazing taste and feeling of nutrient-rich freshness. Now, usually, i don’t let any opportunity pass to add copious amounts of raw cacao powder, but this time… i’m giving space to the taste of summer pleasures featuring fruits and flowers!
This pie holds fresh coconut*, slices of peach, avocado and lemon, and is kept in shape using coconut fat, which is solid at room temperature.
* not the super-young fresh green coconut but the type that we find in western stores, where you need to break the brown fibery shell open with a hammer or axe to find the 1-2 cm thick white coconut coating inside.
Boom FestivalLast week i found myself dancing, swimming and chilling out in Portugal, at the bi-annual Boom Festival. It was like a fairy tale, a soothing and hope inspiring experience of what life on earth will be like if we all just respect and love each other and find our space to play and relax into the wonder and abundance of nature’s gifts.
I felt so alive, brimming with energy and joyful jumpiness while all my senses were heightened – pure natural bliss induced by this environment that brings out the best in people.
It’s in this place that i first tasted the avocado lemon pie. It was so delicious. I got another piece and shared it with friends. Next day, i got yet another piece to share with friends again. Everybody must know how good this tastes.
Back homeYesterday i had a go at creating my own version of this tangy, creamy, crispy pie. It turned out blissfully tasty, especially if you’re like me and you like the combo of sweet, sour and a hint of salt combined with all kinds of fruity tones. I had kept the avocado-lemon filling quite zesty, so it could use some extra honey dripped on top just before serving or, as my brother-in-law with Indonesian blood suggested, some gula jawa (palm sugar) flakes – and indeed this goes perfectly with the coconut that is also inside!
Recipe for Raw (Vegan) Avocado Lemon PieDon’t worry if you don’t have a cake form; a soup bowl will work just as well. These measurements are for a cake of about 12 cm wide and 6 cm high and serve 8.
Crust
1 handful of coconut (semi-fresh is best, bust desiccated will also work)1 handful of unsalted cashews
2 tablespoons of coconut oil (liquid so gently heat to just above room temperature)
2 soft dates or figs, or use one tablespoon of marmelade
pinch of salt
pinch of vanilla or some drops of vanilla essence
Soak a handful of raw, unsalted cashews in water.
Open the coconut (here’s how – for Dutchies), take out some flesh and cut in small pieces until you have a handful. I left the brown skin on, it was fine like that but for a more delicate/pure taste you could peel the coconut pieces until purely white.
In a food processor, combine the cashews and coconut and chop until fine and crumbly. Now add coconut oil, vanilla, salt and dates or marmelade and combine into a dough.
Spread it out in the middle of a plate into a cake bottom layer. Make sure the soup bowl (if using) fits tightly around it. Put in fridge to cool and harden.
Fruit layer & filling
1 peach or other fruit1.5 large avocado
1.5-2 lemons, juice and rind (use grater to grate yellow lemon rind)
0.5 cup of coconut oil
0.5 cup honey or agave syrup
tiny pinch of salt
In a clean food processor or blender, combine the avocado, lemon juice and rind, honey or agave syrup, coconut oil and pinch of salt until smooth. Taste and adjust the ingredients to taste. Make it just a bit sweeter than you might feel like as cooling will make the sweetness less prominent.
Take crust from the fridge, add a single layer of fruit slices and spoon all the avocado mixture on top. Cover with the soup bowl again and put back in the fridge for an hour or two or longer if you want.
Decoration
Take the pie from the fridge, gently lift the soup bowl and top the pie and plate with fresh fruit slices, chocolate flakes or (as shown in picture) colorful dried and/or fresh flower buds. I used lavender and dried calendula (marigold). Drip with honey, agave syrup or gula jawa (palm sugar) flakes for added sweetness.
And… enjoy
