Vegan Key Lime Pie Milk Punch

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I’ve been making milk punch for quite some time now and have never ventured into vegan milk punch ... until recently. I knew that there had to be a way to make a vegan version of clarified milk punch. Coconut milk seemed like the optimal candidate, the most obvious choice, because it’s essentially the same make up: water, fat and protein, just like in cow’s milk. This is a recipe for a key lime pie vegan milk punch.

It’s hits all the makers of what makes a key lime pie delicious down to the graham cracker crust.

You’ll need the following equipment:

Ingredients:

For this vegan milk punch, I am using lite coconut milk which I made by adding a cup and a half of water to regular full fat canned coconut milk. I have never really found any use in buying lite coconut milk, it usually costs the same as full fat, and you get double the amount by making it on your own by just adding water. I found full fat coconut milk to overwhelm the other flavors of the punch. For the graham cracker crust element, I will be making a cereal milk with the graham crackers by breaking them up into smaller pieces and letting them soak for about a half hour to 45 minutes. I use about 2 and a half cups of coconut milk and a half a sleeve of vegan graham crackers.

I noticed when testing this out with full fat coconut milk, that the fat of the coconut milk encapsulated the graham crackers and there wasn’t much flavor after 40 minutes of soaking, but when I thinned it out, a lot more of the graham character came through.

I was able to get ahold of some key limes, though you could use regular limes for this recipe, and it will taste great too. Key limes have a bit of a sweeter taste and have a much more of a floral aroma than the typical lime.

I use both key lime zest and juice for this vegan milk punch. The zest is where all that beautiful aroma lives and it’s going to totally elevate the punch.

Since these key limes are so tiny, I’m going to need between 10 and 12 key limes. Zesting the key limes is definitely time consuming, but it’s almost kind of relaxing too, before I knew it, I had zested all 10 of them.

After zesting the key limes, it’s time to juice them. You will need a 1/4 cup of key lime juice for this vegan milk punch recipe.

Pineapple, though not typically used in key lime pie, is one of the main ingredients of a key lime pie martini. I think its tropical flavor compliments the key lime and coconut components of this vegan milk punch. It also adds a touch of sweetness to balance out the acidity.

Since I don’t have a juicer, I will just be cutting the pineapple in half, then cutting the half into quarters, removing the core, then slicing it into more manageable pieces. Once my pineapple is prepped, I’ll add it to my blender with a splash of coconut water to help the blender get started, then just blend until it’s been completely pulverized. Which took about 45 seconds to a minute in my Vitamix blender on medium speed. If you have a juicer, I’d utilize it for this step.

To extract the juice from the pulp, I just pour the pineapple purée through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl or measuring glass to catch the pineapple juice.

I found some vanilla and coconut black tea at the grocery store and thought it would be perfect for this milk punch. I am going to be adding one tablespoon of the tea to my French press and steeping it in about two cups of hot water for five minutes. Milk punch will nearly always include a tea component to add some structure to the punch.

While the tea steeps, it’s time to strain the graham cracker cereal milk.

To avoid extra dirty dishes, I just going to strain the graham cracker cereal milk directly into the pot I will be heating it in through a fine mesh strainer. I’ll just gently tilt the strainer to get out as much coconut milk as possible without pressing the graham crackers since I don’t want any large pieces of the graham crackers to get into the pot, which could cause a blockage in the curd filter when

I go to clarify the vegan milk punch.

You’ll see that the coconut milk has taken on a tan hue and smells very much like graham cracker.

To curdle the coconut milk, you want to heat it till it’s just about to simmer. Then turn off the heat, add a quarter cup of key lime juice and whisk it all together. Next, pour in a half cup of pineapple juice followed by two cups of the coconut and vanilla tea and finally, add the lime zest.

The most important trick to making vegan milk punch is to let the punch rest. I let it cool down completely then transfer it into the refrigerator to rest for at least an hour and a half. If you can, its best to let it rest for 24 hours before filtering. If you don’t let the punch rest, it will be very difficult to clarify.

After the punch has rested and all those flavors have melded, it’s time to clarify the punch. I like to pour the punch into a measuring glass with a spout for more control when pouring it. I use a nut milk bag to strain the punch.

To dial up that graham cracker flavor and add a bit more depth to this vegan key lime pie milk punch, I am adding my homemade falernum to the punch while its filtering. I added 3 ounces, if I were using store bought falernum, I’d probably add 5 ounces, since the flavors aren’t as strong.

As soon as I see the punch beginning to run clear, I swap out the bowl for a fresh one and cycle the punch through once more. I repeated this step around six or seven times until it started dripping completely clear. I believe this is due to the high oil content from the lime zest and also from not giving the punch ample time to rest. I was impatient and only let it rest for 1.5 hours with this batch of vegan milk punch.

In another version I let the punch sit for 24 hours and was able to have it running clear after only 2 or 3 passes. Aside from giving the punch ample time to rest, another important tip to clarifying vegan milk punch, and all milk punch in general is to very slowly stream in the punch. If you pour it in too fast, the curds will get jostled around and could push through more milk solids leading to a cloudy milk punch.

As I mentioned in my milk punch post, I like to add the base spirit per cocktail, and not to the whole batch. For preservation purposes, you could add around 3 to 4 ounces of vodka to stabilize the milk punch - which will stop it from fermenting without changing the flavor profile.

For my key lime pie milk punch, I’m going to using pisco. I love the way pisco makes citrus flavors pop which will work great for this citrus forward milk punch.

To my mixing glass I’m adding just a touch of simple syrup- a quarter ounce.
Next ill add an ounce and a half of the vegan key lime pie milk punch,
And an ounce and a quarter of pisco.
Now ill stir this for 10 seconds in a mixing glass.
Then simply strain the milk punch into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.

It tastes just like key lime pie, and the rich texture from the coconut milk gives it such a creamy mouthfeel. It’s an absolutely stunning cocktail and totally worth the effort. However, no key lime pie is complete without meringue! Check out my vegan meringue recipe for the perfect garnish to this punch.

Vegan Key Lime Pie Milk Punch Base:

Zest and juice of 10- 12 key limes
2 cups of vanilla coconut black tea
2.5 cups of lite coconut milk
.5 cup pineapple juice
1 sleeve of vegan graham crackers (I used Nabisco)
3 oz Falernum, 5oz if using store bought

Method:

Soak the graham crackers in the coconut milk for 40 mins.
Zest and juice key limes- 1/4 cup of lime juice.
Brew 1 tbs of tea to 2 cups hot water for 5 minutes.
Strain the graham crackers from the milk and heat milk in a saucepan until it’s just begins to simmer. Turn off the heat and add the key lime juice, tea, pineapple juice, lime zest. Let the punch cool and rest it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Pour the punch through a nut milk bag, or ultra bag along with the falernum. Continue to cycle the punch through the nut milk bag until it runs clear. To extend the shelf like, add 4 oz of vodka and store in the refrigerator.