Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Pie is the ultimate autumnal dessert. Find out how to make my vegan version below.
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Pumpkin spice everything
Pumpkins have become the ultimate symbol of autumn. Whether they are being carved for Halloween, used as flavouring for seasonal Starbucks coffees or as a pie filling, they are everywhere once summer ends. And, Pumpkin Pie is now synonymous with Thanksgiving celebrations across the US and Canada.
Pumpkin Pie is made by filling a sweet pastry crust with a custard made from pureed pumpkin and a mix of seasonal spices. But this is a vegan pumpkin pie so there’s no custard here. Instead, pumpkin puree, coconut milk, maple syrup and conrflour are combined with spices to make a thick set filling. If there is one shortcut I do take with this recipe it’s using a tin of pumpkin puree rather than making my own!
In the US you can buy jars of “pumpkin spice”. It will usually be a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, all spice and cloves. It’s not at all dissimilar to the jar of mixed spice you can buy in the supermarkets in the UK. I prefer to use individual ground spices than a pre-mixed blend. But, if you want to make things a little easier feel free to buy a jar.
For the crust you can buy store bought shortcrust pastry but I like to make mine from scratch. A little extra sugar in the dough makes it extra crisp and just a little bit sweet. I choose to make my tart long and thin but this recipe has enough pastry to line a circular tart tin too, so don’t worry if that’s all you’ve got.
You can decorate the pie any way you wish. I chose to use a plant based double cream substitute which I whipped together with vanilla and icing sugar. I then sprinkled over some flakes of dark chocolate. But you can make it as lavish as you wish.
But enough chat…this pumpkin pie isn’t going to make itself.
The recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Equipment
- 1 x 10 inch circular pie dish
- Baking beans
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 400 grams plain flour
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 100 grams vegetable shortening e.g. Trex
- 100 grams non-dairy butter e.g. Flora
- 150 millilitres cold water
For the filling
- 425 grams pumpkin puree
- 160 millilitres coconut cream
- 100 grams caster sugar
- 50 millilitres maple syrup
- 25 grams cornflour
- 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1.5 tsp ground ginger
- 0.5 tsp all spice
- 1 pinch ground cloves
To decorate
- 150 millilitres non-dairy cream e.g. Elmlea plant based
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- dark chocolate
Instructions
To make the pastry
- Add the flour, sugar, vegetable shortening and non-dairy butter into a mixing bowl.
- Rub the shortening and non-dairy butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. (You can also do this by pulsing the mix in a food processor but be careful not to over mix!)
- Slowly add the water and bring the mixture together until it forms a ball. (You may not need it all).
- Cover the dough with clingfilm and place it in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours to rest.
- Just before the dough has finished resting, pre-heat your oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
- When the dough has finished resting take it out of the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface.
- Carefully line your pie dish with the pastry and press it gently into all of the corners and grooves then gently prick the base all over with a fork.
- Lay a piece of baking paper over the pie crust and then fill it with baking beans.
- Place the pie crust into the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until it is lightly golden and partly cooked.
To assemble the pie
- While the pie crust is blind baking, add the pumpkin puree, coconut cream, caster sugar, maple syrup, cornflour and spices to a bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Remove the baking beans and baking paper from the pie crust and pour in the pumpkin pie filling.
- Place the pie back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes until the filling has set.
- Leave the pie to cool completely before decorating.
To decorate
- Add the non-dairy cream, icing sugar and vanilla paste to a bowl and whisk on high until it is firm enough to pipe.
- Fill an icing bag with the whipped non-dairy cream and pipe on top of the pie.
- Finish by grating over dark chocolate.