Spring is finally here! And around here along with the spring come berries. Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are available for an all too short period of time. Gotta get my berry on while I can. So I decided to do a little twist on the traditional and make these raspberry-lemon aquafaba meringue mini pies. Yep, they’re vegan.
How are they vegan, you’re asking? Isn’t meringue made with egg whites? Not these babies. My meringue is made from aquafaba, i.e. bean juice. Simply take a can of garbanzo beans, drain off the liquid and whip it into fluffy meringue heaven. It’s a technique I learned from the Facebook group Vegan Meringue – Hits and Misses! Lots of people over there have experimented with lemon meringue pies and thanks to their hard work and experimentation, I’ve come up with these raspberry-lemon aquafaba meringue mini pies.
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so the thought of making an entire pie and being stuck eating it for the rest of the week didn’t appeal to me. So I made these mini pies in a muffin tin and they’re the perfect portion size for when you want just a little hit of sugar. I recommend cutting strips of parchment paper to line the bottom of your muffin cups and make it easy to get the pies out once they’ve been assembled and baked.
I looked around a bit for ideas on how to do a vegan lemon filling. Most recipes I came across used agar agar or silken tofu to thicken. I wanted something more simple and accessible for most people and was happy when I came across this recipe. Oh man, is it ever tasty! And so easy to make. I reduced the recipe by half and added raspberries to have the perfect quantity for 12 delicious raspberry-lemon aquafaba meringue mini pies. A fun twist on a vegan lemon meringue pie! Filling adapted from http://csmaccath.com/content/vegan-lemon-meringue-pie#.Vv-c2HonKNo As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Raspberry-Lemon Aquafaba Meringue Mini Pies
Ingredients
For the filling
For the meringue
Instructions
Notes
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12
Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 138Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 88mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 1g
Notes: This is my recipe for coconut oil vodka pie crust. If you keep your mini pies in the fridge, you might notice the oil in the crust hardens a bit from the cold. Allow your pies to warm to room temperature before serving.
Keith says
Why the apple cider vinegar in meringue? I've never seen that.
Melissa says
A couple of reasons. Personally, I find that it helps to reduce the bean-y taste and then I don't need to add as much sugar as other recipes do. Also, others say that it helps the meringue whip faster and prevent it from deflating, although I've never had a problem with that.
Keith says
Interesting! Thx!
Keith says
p.s. So the apple cider vinegar is INSTEAD of cream of tartar?
Melissa says
That's right, I use vinegar instead of cream of tartar and I've never had a problem with whipping it or it deflating after. Although aquafaba can be finicky so for some people cream of tartar works better.
Keith says
Cool. Thx so much! Now if only you can figure out how to adapt the aquafaba meringue for rice krispie treats....
Melissa says
That´s an interesting one. I´m not sure how to make it so sticky. Something to think about.
Milton Bixler says
You bake the crust with rice or beans first? I have never heard of that. What's the deal with that? I'm assuming we are talking DRY rice or beans.
Melissa says
Yes, dry rice or beans. It's called bind baking and it holds the crust in place in the mould so that it doesn't puff up or shrink while allowing the bottom to bake before adding the filling.
Romano says
I'm always surprised about how being vegan not necessarily means being healthy. Like damaging your pancreas and spiking insulin by eating sugar, or by eating processed food from packages and cans.
Or by not knowing that agar agar is related with all kinds of autoimmune disorders, and chronic fatigue.
I wonder why people sacrifice their health when not sacrificing animals as if animals are more important than them. Is this some kind of martyrdom?
I'm not vegan, but I eat real clean food straight from the plant to the mouth, without any intermediaries. I think vegans can do the same.
Bonnie Hines says
Do you think instead of a small pie crust, i could bake these in ramekins? I am a messy presentation kind of person when it comes to pie crust and want to make something pretty for my boyfriends birthday next week, he loves strawberries, do you think id be able to swap these also? Sorry for the many questions, thank you, great looking recipe and hope I can try 🙂 Thanks x
Melissa says
Yes, I think it would work fine with strawberries. Also, yes, you could put the filling directly into a ramekin and eat it with a spoon but you might find it's really sweet without the crust to balance out the flavours.
D says
Was this supposed to be baked after adding the filling? Mine ended up as pure liquid with merengue on top??? Did you forget a step?
Melissa says
That's strange. The tarts go in the oven for just a minute to brown the top, the filling should already be extremely thick after cooking in the pot, like jelly. Perhaps your cornstarch failed to thicken the filling correctly. Once it's cooled it's thickens up completely like a regular lemon meringue pie.
Carol says
I made this tonight and the filling was very tasty but had a very elastic consistency. Any ideas why?
Melissa says
Not sure. I can understand if it's too thin and doesn't set, but I can't imagine why it would be too thick. Maybe it was on the heat too long? Mine sets like sliceable jelly, but definitely not elastic. Try googling "thick lemon meringue pie filling" and see if anyone else has the same problem.
Carol says
I used arrowroot as I had no cornstarch...could that be why? I googled and found this to be a good substitute. Next time cornstarch.
Melissa says
That could be it. I image with small amounts of a couple tablespoons it wouldn't make much of a difference, but with such a large amount as in this recipe, substituting could be unpredictable.
Megan says
Can these be made a day or two in advance? And if so, should they be stored in the fridge or room temperature? I have heard about aquafaba mixtures separating in the fridge and needing to be re-whipped if made in advance but I wonder if going in the oven for a bit to brown prevents this. I don't want to end up with separated meringue on my treats!
Melissa says
I have also heard that about aquafaba but I kept these in the fridge and they were fine for a day or two.
Stephanie says
Could these made more as a traditional lemon meringue pie? What might be subbed for the raspberry puree? I'm trying to make a dessert that my egg-allergic son can have with his lemon-meringue-pie loving brother.
Stephanie says
Oops, I see you derived this recipe from another vegan lemon merigue pie recipe. Still, thanks for the raspberry lemon version; I'm going to make that for myself next!!