AMAZING vegan Pear Plum (mini)Pie (filling) 

I hadn't intended the pie filling to turn out vegan but because i am trying to eat healthier, i left out the butter because i forgot and it turns out..its super tasty without it :p. I searched for a good, home made pie crust recipe. You can always go with frozen pie crust (there are vegan options) but really..its soo cheap and easy to make it at home that really..its a no brainer :) 

First the Pie filling recipe 

I started off by cutting the fruit up and placing it in a large bowl, then I added the fresh lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and sugar to the bowl and mixed it all in. 

I transferred it all into a pot and let it cook for 20min stirring it occasionally 

at around 15min add the soy milk and flour (soy milk because there is lemon in the recipe and also i chose it because i cant eat dairy at all :(. The flour thickens it without being starchy so i prefer it). Stir it until its all well incorporated into the mix.

Meanwhile 

(If i would have make the crust, btw I took the images from a website which reminds me..i need a good camera or a new phone lol) 

I substituted real butter for Smart Balance, you can use any vegan butter really.

  1. You start off by adding the flour, salt and sugar in to a food processor and pulsing then mixing it for a few seconds. Then add the Earth balance (if you want it vegan) and pulse it until the mixture is well mixed (the butter looks like little pea size pieces) and looks like coarse meal. Add the ice water, about 1 Tbsp at a time and pulse until mixture begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together that means it ready to be rolled, if not then add a bit more water and pulse, testing along the way. Don't add too much water because it could make the dough tough or too soft. 

   

     

Then you remove the dough from the machine and place it on a clean (if possible, cold) surface.

                             

   

Gently work the dough into tow round balls (of equal size). 

  2.  Flatten the balls into 2 round disks, Not too much because you don't want the butter getting all mushed and mixing in too well, the butter clumps are what will allow the crust to become flakey. Sprinkle a little flour on the disks, wrap in plastic wrap and place in your refrigerator. Refrigerate for about an hour or up to 2 days. I made mini pies so i formed about 5 balls the size of lemons, wrapped them and refrigerated for an hour.  

3. After an hour or so take the discs out and let them set in room temperature for about 10 min

Sprinkle a bit of flour down on the surface you are using to roll the dough out and then using a rolling pin (If you don't have a rolling pin you can use a large glass jar that has no ridges or anything that might leave a pattern unless that's what you want) to flatten the discs to a 12 inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. 

            

Then Place the rolled out dough into your pie plate, gently pressing in down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the plate. Using kitchen scissors, trip the dough to fit your pie plate with bit too much overhang. Because I made mini pies i used a large cupcake pan, rolled out the balls to fit the cupcake pans and cut the dough to the very edge of each cupcake hole. 

   

then fill the pie (or cupcake) pan(s).

     Take the second flattened disc (or discs) and lets your mind go crazy..either place it on top and make a few holes to let the filling cook and not rip through the dough as it cooks 

or cut the dough using a cookie cutter of any shape (i have seen heart shape cut outs and circle shapes..you name it) and place them overlapping each other until the top is covered with few gaps (its good to leave some gaps though). 

here are some ideas for crust decorating :) 

 

 

If you want a sweet crust, when the pie is ABOUT HALF WAY DONE and is turning gold on top,

you can melt 1/4 of butter/Smart Balance, let it sit for a minute until it cools off  and then add raw sugar. Mix it well and using a basting brush, brush the butter sugar mix on top of the pie. Make sure the pie is starting to golden when you do this so it doesn't stay cooking for much longer (the sugar can BURN if you do it towards the beginning of the cooking process so you don't want to do that)