Special Request: Vegan Pumpkin Pie

A friend, who works at one of the cool local bike shops here in Seattle, Recycled Cycles, contacted me via Twitter (Ian- @gyenyame) to help him make his delicious pumpkin pie vegan. Being that I'm a rookie baker at best, and my wife Jessica is far more experienced, I'm sourcing her wisdom. She used a blackberry pie crust found on a favorite blog of hers for this. I have eaten the product. It is superior to all. The recipe is 50% of the deal, the other half is one's technique.

Enjoy this perfect seasonal dessert, well deserving of your future potluck:

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Crust (via LunchBoxBrunch):

Ingredients (for 2 crusts)
-.5c of Earth Balance (2 sticks), chopped into small cubes
-1 tsp salt
-2.25 c white pastry flour (chilling optional)
-.25 to .5c well chilled water
-1 Tb sugar (opt'l)
-plus: extra flour for rolling out dough

Method
1. Start your crust process either the night before or at least 2 hours before you will need it to make your pie. And stick your buttery sticks (chopped into cubes) in the freezer for at least a half hour to chill before using. You can also chill your flour.

2. Start by pulsing the flour and salt in a food processor.

3. Add in the vegan buttery sticks and pulse until the flour/butter/salt turns into a clumpy dry mixture. You want all the butter to combine with the flour and become dry little beads.

4. Next, add in your chilled water a little bit at a time (you can also add in a splash of vanilla extract and pinch of sugar if you'd like). I usually use 1/3 - 1/2 cup ice water.

5. When your dough is now 'wet' you can transfer it onto a floured surface. It's OK if it feels 'sticky' at this point. Add more flour to properly work with the dough. Also, if there are a few clumps of buttery spread, that's OK too. The vegan butter clumps will melt nicely in the baking process anyways.

6. Separate your dough into two rounds. They will be incredibly soft and delicate right now. Satiny and fluffy. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in the freezer. Freeze these balls for at least an hour before working with the dough. You can freeze overnight if needed.

7. Pull your dough from the freezer - allow to soften slightly if too hard to roll out. Roll out dough and transfer into a pie tin. The crust doesn't have to be perfect when you transfer. You can always mold the dough in the tin with your fingers. Press it out through the sides as you like.

8. Sprinkle with sugar and bake 15 minutes at 400-425 degrees, then an additional 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Every oven is different, so check often to make sure you're crust is turning the desired colors. 

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Ingredients (for 1 pie)
-6c unsweetened fresh or canned pumpkin (strained well)  
-2.5c "heavy cream" (see recipe below)
[In a blender add 1.5c soy milk, 2T lemon juice. Blend on high for a minute. Mix the following together then stream into the blender while on high, 2c sun or safflower oil, .5tsp vanilla extract, 2T maple syrup. This will be more than enough. Boom.]
-2.25c packed brown sugar
-3T all-purpose flour
-3tsp vanilla extract
-1.5tsp sea salt 
-1.5tsp cinnamon
-.75tsp ground ginger
-.75tsp nutmeg
-.75tsp allspice
-1.5c applesauce ("2 eggs")

Method
Throw all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat the shit out of it until uniform. Pour into your wondrous pie crust and chill for a couple hours. 

I have given you a recipe for 2 crusts and 1 pie filling because all pie pans are different as are peoples pumpkin pie preferences. Use amounts at your own risk.