Vegan Mofo Day 14 - Apple Pie I

Food conjures up memories in ways that few other things can for me. The smells, textures, and tastes all have their own background, unique to each person. Apple pie brings me back to my grandmother's kitchen when I was small enough to have to stand on my tip toes and hang on the edge of the countertop to watch her roll out the dough.

My grandmother has always been wonderful about nurturing a child's need to feel helpful and grown up and would let me roll out a little section of dough with a mini rolling pin for my own little tart or scrap to go in the oven with sugar and cinnamon. After accomplishing enough to feel satisfied that I pitched in, I would sit on a little foot stool and chew on pieces of peel and talk about things that only children can find wonder in. I must have bored her to tears talking about a fuzzy caterpillar I saw crawling on the driveway and wondering how he felt crawling around on the ground with so many things soaring tall above him, but she never let it show.

This recipe reminded me of my friend, Bitt, because I know she loves apples and we both have an affinity for desserts that are not overly sweet. The spices are strong and the crust is flaky - just as it should be.

Apple Pie Filling
10 Medjool dates soaked for a minimum of 45 minutes
3/4 c date soak water
2 Tb Tapioca Flour
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Cloves (ground)
1/2 tsp Ginger
1 Tb Spectrum Shortening (Palm Oil)
1/2 lemon, juiced
6 peeled and sliced Apples

Peel, core, and slice the apples into thin slices, no more than 1/4 inch thick. After you are done slicing them, pour and mix them with the lemon juice to prevent too much browning.

I used a combination of Gala and Braeburn apples. Gala can be a bit sweet and mealy for me, so I like to pair them with an apple that is a bit more tart. The ideal apple is Gravenstein, but I only find these on my grandparents' trees. They are old world apples and not common, but if you find them, I really recommend giving them a try in a baking project.

Combine the dates, soak water, spices, palm oil, and tapioca flour in a high speed blender and blend until you get a thick, caramel consistency. Use a spatula to empty the blend and combine with the apples.



Pie Crust
makes enough for two 10" crusts (or the top and bottom crusts for one apple pie)
1/2 c. Potato Starch
1 3/4 c. Amaranth Flour
2/3 c. White Rice Flour
1/2 c. Spectrum Shortening (Palm Oil)
1/4 c. + 2 Tb Ice Water
1/2 tsp Salt

Combine the dry ingredients with a fork and then use a pastry cutter to cut in the shortening until you get clumps between the size of small gravel and peas. Add 1/4 cup of very cold water to the mixture and combine with a fork. Slowly add more water until the dough binds together without feeling too gooey and wet to work with on a rolling surface.

Gluten free pie crust is a bit tricky. I rolled this out on baking paper and then put the pie dish upside down over the crust. I slid my hand under the crust and the pan and carefully inverted them so the crust was sitting neatly in the pan.


I didn't trust the dough enough to go the old fashioned route and roll it over the rolling pin and lift over the pan. Because there is no gluten, the dough will crack easier and separate if you aren't careful (but you can patch it back together easily.

Once the bottom crust is in the pan, pour in the apple filling.


Repeat rolling out the crust for the top. I tried lattice, but it just didn't hold up to a lot of bending and manipulation. Make a few slits in the top as a vent so steam can escape as it cooks.


The crust held up very well as a whole and was very tender and flaky once out of the oven.

Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crust

Have I mentioned how much I like the flavors of fall yet? I'm sure I have, but let me reiterate - the earthy tones of fall just agree with me. There's nothing really dainty about apple and pumpkin, and you can combine them with some really strong spices. I don't have to worry about being heavy handed - except when it comes to cloves I suppose. I really am sensitive to cloves and prefer they be used sparingly, if at all.

Prepping the Pumpkin

Lance picked out a very nice sugar pumpkin at PCC for me. There are several types of pumpkin that lend well to baking, but the big pumpkins that are cheap and used for jack-o-lanterns are not a variety that will work. They are too fibrous and dull. The smaller pumpkins can have some really full, buttery flavors. Here is a great link with everything you could want to know (really) about pumpkin varieties:
http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/varieties.html

We used the Baby Pam, I'm pretty sure. Lance hacked it in half for me, we de-seeded and took the slimy fibers out, then Lance cut it into several good sized chunks. I laid the pieces, flesh side up, on a baking pan and covered it with tin foil to keep some of the moisture in. In retrospect, a bit of water would have been a very good thing (2 cups at least). Set the oven at 400 degrees and cook for 45 minutes or until the flesh can be pierced with a fork. I've put butter and sugar on the pumpkin as it roasts in the past, but it's really not necessary especially considering none of it is going to be eaten as is.

Because I didn't use water when I roasted the pumpkin, the food processor had a time cutting up the tougher, dry edges, and I had to add a decent amount of water to get the food to turn in the food processor. It all worked out though and I ended up with about 4 cups of pureed pumpkin (enough for 2 pies or 1 pie and a baking project, muaahaaha).


Pecan Pie Crust
makes one standard pie crust, bottom only
3/4 cup ground pecans
1 1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup plus 2 Tb palm oil shortening
1/4 cup agave

Combine the pecan and sorghum flours and salt. I just pulsed pecans in a food processor until they were fine enough for a flour - nothing fancy. Add in the palm shortening and agave and use a pastry cutter to combine the flour. When you pinch some dough and it clings together, it's ready to sit in the fridge for 1/2 an hour to an hour to rest.

Pie crust is a difficult thing to approach without a gluten binder, especially if it's vegan and you can't rely on eggs. It's important to handle it very little so the fats don't get too warm. This crust holds up quite well and keeps its form. Like all gluten free vegan crusts I've worked with thus far, it does not roll out. I pressed it into the pie pan.

Quick baking tip - cover the edges of crust that are exposed during baking with aluminum foil to prevent burning. The rest of the pie has moisture from the filling it can collect, but the edges are exposed and will burn.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Date Syrup
20 deglet dates, soaked in water for at least 45 minutes
1/3 cup soak water
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped

Combine the date syrup ingredients in a high speed blender. It should have a caramel taste almost. Deglet dates are lower in sugar and higher in fiber than most varieties, so it shouldn't be overwhelmingly sweet. If you use Medjool dates, only use about 10. They are much higher in sugar content. Honey dates are supposed to be good as well, but I haven't seen any in Washington - Deglet and Medjool seem to be the two varieties.

Pour the date syrup into a food processor along with the remainder of the ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin puree
2 TB tapioca flour (in just enough water to make the mixture smooth - 2 TB water)
1 1/3 tsp cinnamon
1/3 tsp ginger
1/8-1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
pinch cloves
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt

Once all of the ingredients are combined, poke holes in the bottom and sides of the pie crust with a fork. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. The filling will firm up nicely and should not ripple when you move the pan to check on it.
Serve warm with Vanilla coconut ice cream.

Peach Rasberry Pie

This pie is delicious and can be made in about 20 minutes. I do recommend you make the crust a bit ahead of time and put it in the fridge to firm up a bit. The pie was one of my first raw vegan creations. My sister in law literally licked her plate clean the first time she had this dish. The great thing about this desert is it isn't too terribly heavy with nuts and it leaves you feeling light and satisfied.

Peach Raspberry Pie

3 peaches cut into segments
2 cups of raspberries
3 TB agave
10 medjool dates
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/4 tsp salt
2 TB water

To make the crust, put the cashews, vanilla, salt, and coconut in the food processor and pulse with an S-blade until the cashew pieces are mostly broken up:

Add 8 pitted dates, one at a time. Once the dates are combined, add the 2 TB of water and mix until the "dough" forms a ball:

Sprinkle shredded coconut on the bottom of the pie pan and press in the pie crust. I recommend letting the crust set in the fridge for a good 30 minutes.

Peel and cut the peaches into nice sized wedges and arrange on the pie crust.

Put the raspberries in the food processor with an S-blade and combine with 2 dates and 3 TB of agave nectar. Alternatively, you can just combine the raspberries with 4 dates and have a thicker raspberry sauce. Pour the sauce over the peaches before serving.