5-Ingredient, No-Bake Vegan French Silk Pie
Just 5 ingredients stand between you and this rich, decadent, and cloud-like vegan french silk pie. If you make your own chocolate at home, the ingredient list actually drops to 4. To make it, you'll melt raw cacao butter in a bain marie or double boiler. As the cacao butter is melting, you'll whip chilled coconut cream until its fluffy and whipped-cream like. Once the cacao butter is melted, you'll whisk in raw cacao powder, pure maple syrup, and a dash of sea salt until smooth. Then, fold in the whipped coconut cream. Pour it all into a 5-inch springform pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight. Then, whip up a bit more coconut cream, spread or pipe it over top, and sprinkle with shaved chocolate. Perfection.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Chocolate Mousse Layer
- 1 (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk or unsweetened coconut cream, refrigerated overnight, divided (see note*)
- ⅓ cup roughly chopped raw cacao butter
- ¼ cup raw cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, at room temperature
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
Coconut Whipped Cream Layer
- ½ cup chilled full-fat coconut milk, watery liquid excluded*
- ½ tablespoon pure maple syrup, more or less to taste
Topping
- shaved dark chocolate**
Instructions
Chocolate Mousse Layer
- Line the bottom of a 5-inch springform pan with a circle of parchment paper, grease the sides, and place it on a small baking tray.
- In a double boiler or bain marie, melt the cacao butter over a low simmer until just melted, being careful not to scorch or burn. Remove from heat and whisk in raw cacao powder, maple syrup, and sea salt, and whisk until smooth.
- Meanwhile, remove the can of coconut milk from the refrigerator and, without shaking it, gently flip if over. Open it and dump out the watery liquid (or reserve for another use). Then, scoop 1 cup of the firm coconut cream into a large mixing bowl. Using a hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk the cream on high for 3 to 4 minutes or until thick and fluffy with stiff peaks. Then, use a spatula to gently fold the whipped coconut cream into the chocolate mixture until just combined. Pour the chocolate mousse into the springform pan and refrigerate, tray and all, for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight, to set. The tray is simply there to catch any chocolate liquid that escapes your springform pan. Messy refrigerator disaster averted.
Coconut Whipped Cream Layer
- Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, combine the remaining chilled coconut cream (it should be about ½ cup) and maple syrup. Using a hand or stand mixer with whisk attachments, whisk the cream on high for 3 to 4 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Scoop into an airtight jar or container and refrigerate until ready to assemble.
- To Assemble
- Once the chocolate mousse layer has set, carefully open the springform pan, leaving the bottom intact, and transfer the "pie" to a serving plate. Then, use a pastry bag to pipe the coconut whipped cream on top OR spoon it on top and use a metal spatula to gently smooth it out. Garnish with shaved dark chocolate, slice, and serve. Store in refrigerator.
Notes
*Since writing this recipe in 2015, many brands of coconut milk and coconut cream have modified their ingredients to include additives and stabilizers. Unfortunately, in many cases, this can cause the coconut milk to curdle or fail to whip up properly. Thai Kitchen was long one of my favorite brands; however, I've had terrible, terrible luck with their coconut milk as of late. It curdles when whipped. For a long while, Trader Joe's coconut cream was giving me the same troubles; however, they recently modified their organic canned coconut milk and organic coconut cream to simply contain coconut and filtered water. Fingers crossed, but thus far, I've had great success using their coconut cream to make whipped cream. Hope this helps and enjoy!
**Make your own dark chocolate by melting another ¼ cup cacao butter in a bain marie or double boiler. Then, whisk in ¼ cup cacao powder and 1 to 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup. Pour into a mold or cupcake liners and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.
***The total time does not include chill/set time for the chocolate mousse layer, so make sure you read through the instructions first and take that 4+ hour time period into account.