So I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. I was actually really nervous when making this recipe this year because every year when halloween rolls around I get really inspired to make a pumpkin pie, spend hours on it and don't end up liking the final result. This year however I finally got it right and I'm so happy to finally be sharing a BOMB vegan pumpkin pie recipe with you all! It's sweet, festive and absolutely perfect in texture as it features a crispy buttery pie crust, a smooth pumpkin filling with light and airy whipped cream. You couldn't possibly say no to a slice of this, could you?
Crust:
600g all purpose flour
300g dairy free unsalted butter
170g white granulated sugar
1.25 tsp fine table salt (reduce to 0.75tsp if using salted butter)
Approx 90-100g cold water
Filling: 150g full fat coconut milk (from the can)
500g pumpkin puree*
40g cornstarch
100g brown sugar
100g sugar
1/2tsp nutmeg
2tsp cinnamon
1tsp ginger
1/2tsp cloves
¼ tsp of fine table salt
20g coconut oil
*I made my own by steaming chunks of butternut squash and blending until completely smooth, for a result that is most similar to the pie I made I recommend doing the same. Different pumpkins have different flavours and textures!
Additional ingredients:
A few tbsp melted vegan butter and a few tbsp granulated sugar for brushing onto the pie.
Your favourite vegan whipped cream for decor.
Method:
To make the dough, start by adding the flour, sugar and salt to a bowl and giving it a good whisk. Add chunks of dairy free butter and either pinch them with your fingers or use a pastry cutter to slice it into small chunks through the flour. The chunks should be about pea sized and evenly distributed throughout the dry mixture. Then, gradually add your ice cold water while carefully kneading/stirring until it begins to come together. You may need to adjust the amount of water slightly, but you'll know it's done once it comes together as one shaggy dough that you can pat together into a disc. Do not kneed too much as you want to keep the chunks of butter intact. This will give you that flaky pie crust we're looking for! Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour in the fridge. Then, split the dough in half and put 1/2 back in the fridge while you roll out one half into a disc somewhere between 0.75-1cm thick - using lots of flour to prevent it from sticking. Transfer it to a pie tin that's about 27.5cm in diameter. You can use a smaller pie tin too but you'll just have a bit more excess dough and filling. Trim away some of the excess dough and fold the rest on top of the edge of the tin. Crimp your crust as you like. Place in the fridge cool for 30 minutes (this will prevent the dough from shrinking as you bake). Then, poke the crust slightly with a fork, add a sheet of tin foil and pie weights (or dried beans or peas will work too) on top to prevent it from puffing up in the oven. Blind bake the crust at 200C for 25 minutes. Once it's done baking, remove the pie weights/dried beans and tin foil and leave the crust to cool on the countertop as you make the filling.
To make the filling, simply mix your sugars, spices and cornstarch together before adding the pumpkin puree, coconut oil and coconut milk. Once everything is well combined, add it into the pie crust. Brush the pie crust with vegan butter and sprinkle with some sugar before placing it in the middle of the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes. If you find that the crust is getting too brown you can cover the crust with some tin foil about 40 minutes into the baking process (careful not to stick the tin foil into the pie itself). Once the centre is looking set and slightly jiggles you can turn the heat off and leave it in the oven for at least a few hours to cool. Cooling it slowly will prevent the pie from cracking. Once it has cooled for a while you can leave it in the fridge to set up completely overnight. To decorate, use the other half of the pie filling and roll it out onto a floured surface as you did with the previous half. Cut out any shapes you wish (I like to use leaves as they're easy to make and fit the theme). Place the pie dough cut-outs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and brush with vegan butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely. Whip up some of your favourite vegan whipping cream and pipe on top, decorate with the leaves and enjoy!
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