Blueberry Marzipan Cream Pie

This gorgeous Blueberry Marzipan Cream Pie is incredibly rich and creamy. It's mildly sweet, "almondy" and effortless to prepare. Soaked raw cashews and silken tofu are essential ingredients to create a fantastic smooth texture for this recipe. Originated in Germany, marzipan is a sweet almond paste, often eaten as candy or used in cakes or cookies. Traditionally it's made of almonds, confectioners' sugar, and water. For this recipe, I wanted to create a healthy, simple alternative for the true marzipan lovers. It only contains plant-based ingredients and has a very rich almond flavour. You can enjoy this Blueberry Marzipan Cream Pie all year round, but it's particularly seasonal for Christmas, Easter, or Valentines' Day.

Crust:
1 cup dates, chopped, pits removed (about 14-16 dates)
1¼ cup almonds, roasted, unsalted
2 Tbsp. light maple syrup
1½ tsp. pure almond extract
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

Cream Marzipan Filling:
1 cup raw cashews
1 (14 oz) silk tofu block,
1 cup refined coconut oil, not melted, solid
½ cup pure maple syrup
2 tsp. pure almond extract
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ tsp. pure orange extract
1 Tbsp. butterfly pea powder
¼ cup fresh blueberries

Topping:
1/3 cup fresh blueberries

For the Crust:
Line a round 6" springform pan with parchment paper.

In a food processor, add dates and almonds. Pulse into fine crumbs. Add maple syrup, almond and vanilla extracts and pulse again to obtain a sticky mixture. The crust should clump together and hold its shape.

Spread the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan and set aside in the refrigerator.

For the Cream Marzipan Filling:
Add cashews to a medium-sized bowl and fill with temperature water, just enough to cover them. Soak overnight or for at least 5 hours. Drain the water from cashews.

Place tofu and cashews in the food processor or high-powered blender and process until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and process again until creamy, scraping down the sides if necessary.

Pour the marzipan mixture to a pan over the crust, spreading evenly.

Cover the pie with plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for 3 hours to firm up.

To serve, allow pie to stay at the room temperature for about 10-12 minutes before slicing and serving. Top the pie with fresh blueberries before serving.

Cook's Notes: I used butterfly pea powder as a natural food colouring to obtain this beautiful purple colour. Alternatively, you can use just a drop of artificial blue food colouring or leave the cream pie white.