Sweet-Tooth Friday: Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie

By: Christine F

Hi everybody!  It’s Christine here for Sweet-Tooth Friday, and I can’t believe how quickly December is flying by!  While enjoying this last week before Christmas, give this Vegan Chocolate Cream pie a whirl. It’s so festive with its peppermint and marshmallows, no one will guess it’s made from avocados!

A little look back

Not only has December flown by, but so has the entire year!  In fact, this week’s post marks a mini anniversary for me- six months of Sweet-Tooth Fridays.  So much has happened since the day I introduced myself to you as the NMA’s little sister.  I’ve definitely made some healthier changes to my lifestyle, from cutting meat out from my home cooking to joining a Camogie team!

I’ve also learned much more about animal- and soy-free baking, alternative sweeteners and flours, and the environmental and even legal issues surrounding the food industry.  Believe me, these past six months have been full of trial and error!

The inspiration for today’s recipe came from my very first Sweet-Tooth Friday when I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse from avocados.  At the end of that post I wrote:

I was particularly stoked about how well it firmed up in the fridge overnight- I’m thinking with a few alterations it has potential for delicious (and healthy) icebox pie filling!  But that’s for another post…

Well, better late than never!  I’m finally giving  that icebox pie its chance.  I think originally in the back of my mind I was envisioning a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Pie with lots of fresh sliced bananas between the filling and a graham cracker crust.  But with the holidays quickly approaching, I took the flavors in a different (merrier) direction.

I swapped the peanut butter with almond butter to give a more neutral background that wouldn’t compete with the peppermint.  The almond butter unfortunately did not completely wash out the taste of avocados, so I threw in some dashes of mint liqueur to seal the deal.

At Whole Foods I picked up some organic natural candy canes and vegan marshmallows.  Although pricey, I was thoroughly impressed with both products.  The Pure Fun candy canes are swirled red with fruit juice.  They had a nice refreshing taste without any sticky mouth-coating aftertaste.  And the Dandies vegan marshmallows are amazing!  They were squishy without that mystery gumminess- much better than regular marshmallows in my opinion.

Finally, I picked up a vegan chocolate pie crust at Whole Foods as well.  I know, I know, I should be making my own, but I am in the middle of another of this year’s big changes- I’m moving!  So my excuse this week is that currently all my pie plates are packed away.

So without further ado, here is the six-month-in-the-making avocado pie.

Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie

Ingredients:

1 prebaked vegan chocolate pie crust

4 small avocados, about 2 cups mashed

1 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp agave nectar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup almond butter

2 tbsp creme de menthe or peppermint schnapps

10 oz vegan marshmallows

12 natural candy canes

Optional garnish: chocolate syrup, cherry on top

Mash the avocados and then beat as smooth as possible with a whisk.  Stir together the chocolate chips and canola oil, then melt in the microwave, about 1 minute, until smooth.  Stir the chocolate into the avocados, as well as the agave nectar, salt, and mint liqueur.  Press mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove any lumps.  Stir in almond butter.

Chop most of the marshmallows into pieces, leaving some whole to make a decorative border.  Fold into batter.

Unwrap the candy canes and put in a large ziplock bag.  Beat with a heavy mallet or rolling pin until broken into very small pieces.  Reserve a handful to garnish the top of the pie, then fold the rest in the batter.

Spread the mixture into the pie crust.  Line the border with reserved marshmallows and sprinkle candy cane crumble in the center.  Drizzle with chocolate syrup and top with a cherry if desired.  Refrigerate until firm enough to slice.

This pie is delicious!  It has really fun rocky road type texture.  The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was my store-bought pie crust.  Next time I’ll smash my own vegan ‘oreo’ style cookies.  I hope you have a Merry Christmas, especially when you see the look on your family’s faces when you tell them this week’s secret ingredient!

Here’s to another great six months!  Thanks for all of your comments and support!

xoxo Christine