Pondering Pie: Part Four

Yesterday I wrote about the two main ways of looking

at fruit pies, cream and custard pies have very much

the same division. You can always look at pies as being

cooked or uncooked. Well, not really uncooked, but more

'precooked'. I'm not even touching on 'raw pie' here, but

I am thinking on doing a post for that...

So custard pies are those that are baked in the end.

Of course the crust may be prebaked briefly before to

ensure

it doesn't get soggy when you add the filling, but it is again

baked after the filling is added. You could call these double-

baked pies. These would be your average custard pies, pumpkin

pies, sweet potatoes pies (maybe), etc.

When I used to consume eggs- we had rescued chickens and

many were separated from the roosters, so we used the

eggs that were not fertilized or my dad sold them to friends...

But I've been off the liquid chicken for sometime now-

I used to make an apple custard pie every full moon.

Green apples line the bottom and a spicy custard is poured

on top and it is baked.

Custard primarily is an egg mixture plus milk, sugar, vanilla

and some spices. So how do we substitute and achieve that

perfect custard smoothness in a twice-baked pie?

I've had excellent luck with silken tofu as an egg sub.

I think it was the main substitute for Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's

sweet potato pie...

For Pumpkin pie, I may add a little tofu to thicken a bit,

but usually I'll just use soymilk and cut back on the liquid

requirements in the recipe. It is really nice to just let the pumpkin or

squash stand alone. The flavour is really amazing.

But I know we all love that creamy texture. Try out tofu-

Silken Firm is the best, it the pack that comes vacuum packaged

and is not refrigerated. It is what I use in one of my favourite

creations, my 'Lover's Accident Pie'. I cannot divulge my entire

recipe to you but I will give you a break down of the tofu custard

that is used.

The Mini Custard

The real sized pie

For a Basic Tofu Custard

1 12-oz package of silken firm tofu

1/2 cup soymilk

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

Blend all ingredients except the arrowroot,

once smooth and creamy add the powder and blend

again. Pour into a pre-baked crust and bake at 375F

for about 40 minutes or until golden brown on top

and it appears to be setting up. Don't worry if it is

a little giggly, it will set up as it cools down a little too.

Now you can add any variety of spices here or use this to

set up a batter for something else. It adapts well into a

cheesecake if you add something to sour it or add more vanilla

to use it as a vegan creme brulee recipe...

Baked and creamy

Topped with cranberry syrup...

The other type of cream pie, which I haven't touched on

get is that which is poured into an entirely pre-baked crust

and chilled to set. The would be like a banana cream pie

or a pudding pie. The crust is baked about 15 minutes or

less depending on what type it is. You can use a graham

cracker crust which is pretty popular for these types of pie.

I don't make these too often because I'm not a huge pudding

person. I do make a really good chocolate pudding, but very

very rarely am I in the mood for it.

I would have pictures because I made one a couple months ago

for my grandparents, but it wasn't worth photographing

because they cut it up before it was entirely set and I didn't

feel like taking a picture of a blob of pudding was worth it.

You get it though: pudding cooked in a pan on the stove and

put into a prebaked crust and chilled= yum.

But definitely try out that vegan custard, its the foundation

for any good custard pie.