Someone else's Pie

In honor of 3.14 day I made a pie.  I used a recipe from one of my favorite blogs that you can find here:

http://www.addictedtoveggies.com/2012/02/meyer-lemon-cream-pie-or-ice-cream-pie.html

Since that part is done let em just tell you some of the problems I had with the recipe, while keeping in mind it still came out delicious!

First:  I like thicker crusts, I would suggest increasing the pie crust to 1.5 C of almonds with the other ingredients similarly increased.  This crust is really good! you wont regret having a bit extra, and if you have some left over I bet you will find something to eat it with .. . like a spoon!

Second:  My cream filling came out just great!  My food processor is not very high end ( got it at a thrift store for 5 bucks) so blending the ingredients to be nice and smooth took a while and was still not as silky as I wish it were.  Some day I will have the money for a better blender (and will be confronted with the vitamix vs blendtech debate once again!) but until then my friends and I will have to tolerate pies with a more. . .rustic texture.

Third: After being in the fridge overnight the pie still did not set and was too runny to cut.  I blame myself for over soaking the dates which made my date paste a bit more runny than I think it was suppose to be.  Freezing it did the trick but after the second day the pie got that ice crystal feel to it (kinda like a popsicle).  Really I like most things at room temp so next time I make this I will experiment with  thickeners.  My current idea is to use some heated coconut oil, it will pour into the blender and just the heat from spinning will keep it melted . . .then as it cools to room temp it should firm up. . . how much coconut oil is yet to be determined.

Finally: I got lazy with the zest and juice. DONT DO IT.  My pie was tasty and had a lovely feel with that gentle cashew taste but when I have a lemon pie (or a lime pie which I think I will make next time) i like to have flavor that nearly slaps me in the face! so cutting that corner was definitely a mistake. I am tempted to say the amount of zest should be increased but seeing as I didnt do it right it seems like an unfair assessment.

Even with the learning curve of never really making raw deserts this thing came out delicious!  you can look at my four comments and think what ever you like, I would still be happy if the pie came out exactly the same way again.