Monthly Archive for November, 2008
I posted a recipe for a vegan pumpkin pie a while back. I have been looking forward to baking this for some time and was very excited this past weekend when I finally made time for it. I am a big fan of pies and cakes. Also, I am always intrigued by vegan food and the many things you can do with tofu. I have made tofu cheesecakes in the past (Blueberry tofu cheesecake and Blackberry vegan tofu cheesecake) and those turned out totally delightful. The ingredient tofu is a great substitute for milk and eggs. I imagined tofu pumpkin pie would just be as amazing!
I ended up making one 9 inch pumpkin pie and 6 mini ones. I used Keebler ReadyCrust graham cracker piecrust. I scaled up the ingredients a little. I only found 29 oz size cans of pumpkin puree and decided use it all up.
The tofu pumpkin pies came out amazing! The spices made the pie very flavorful. The tofu gave the pie filling a nice rich texture. The pie is not overwhelmingly sweet or too rich, and the pumpkin flavor was just right. I really enjoyed it.
Pumpkin pie can be served chilled or warm. I tried both! When served chilled, the pumpkin pie was tasty. When served warm the pumpkin pie was also very tasty! Overall, I think I like it warm more. However, when I warmed up the pie, the pie filling lost some of its density. Maybe it needs some kind of thickening agent.
There are probably many skeptics out there, who are uneasy about this combination of tofu and pumpkin and pie. The pumpkin and spices along with the natural blandness of the tofu balance out very well in the recipe. Actually, you can’t really tell that there was any tofu in this pumpkin pie.
Here is the recipe, once again:
Recipe makes one delectable 12 inch pumpkin pie!
Ingredients:
- 12 inch pie crust
- 1 lb firm tofu
- 16 oz pumpkin puree
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 12 tbsp of brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground all spice
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the piecrust and bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes.
- Pie can be served warm or chilled.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cup glutinous rice (also known as sticky rice or sweet rice)
- 1 14oz can of coconut milk
- 5 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- (plus side of sliced mangos!!)
Directions:
- Soak the rice in cold water for a few hours. (Alternatively, pour boiling water on the rice and let it soak for 15 minutes or so.) Drain the rice.
- Cook the rice. (Pick your method: steamer, rice cooker, or stove pot.) I chose the pot method. I cooked the rice with about 2 cups of water for about 15-20 minutes. When the rice starts to pump up and most of the water is gone, I turned off the heat and covered the rice for another 10 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, heat the coconut milk, sugar, and salt. Stir constantly and let it simmer. When it starts to boil, remove from heat.
- Pour the coconut milk over the rice.
- Stir gently as the rice absorbs the milk. Let it sit for about 20-30 minutes.
Ready to serve!
Place a scoop of rice onto a dish. Arrange sliced mangos on top or on the side of the rice. Drizzle some more coconut milk on top, if desired.
I didn’t have any mangos, so I served it with sliced peaches instead. The sticky rice came out well. The rice was nice and fluffy. It did not come out too sugary sweet. When served with fruit, the sweetness of the mangos complements the rice just perfectly. The peaches were all right, but mangos would have been perfect. The sliced peaches weren’t sweet enough in my opinion. I still have a lot of rice remaining. This recipe makes about 4-6 servings. Maybe I should go buy some mangos…
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