I made several dishes for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner I attended, including a pumpkin pie with assorted goodies. Having decided that coconut milk would be just right, I was going to improvise my own recipe when someone posted one from The Savvy Vegetarian that was just like what I had in mind, so I went ahead and used that one. Then I roasted the pumpkin seeds (sweetly this time) with the idea that they might make a good topping. The next day, having chilled the pie sufficiently, I considered how nice a whipped topping would be, so I used the leftover tofu and coconut milk to attempt one, but while it would have likely been perfect out of a whip-it (and was quite delicious), it was too thin on its own. I thickened it a bit with some tapioca before deciding to just call it a sauce. It worked wonderfully on the pie as well as on the apple crisp I’d also made.

Yay for experimentation! Click through for the many recipes.

Pumpkin Pie

• 1 3/4 cups fresh pumpkin puree (see below)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup silken tofu
• 2 Tblsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 pie crust (see below)

1. Blend all ingredients except the flour (and the pie crust, duh) in a blender until smooth.
2. Lightly coat the pie crust with flour and pour in filling.
3. Bake in a preheated oven at 425° for 10 minutes, reduce to 350° and bake an additional 30 minutes.
4. Allow to cool completely (ideally, chill) before serving along with vanilla sauce and sweet pumpkin seeds (see below).

Pie Crust (for one two-crust or two one-crust pies)

I’ve been making this pie crust for years. It’s a pretty standard recipe and it just works, but I’m sure your favorite recipe will work just fine, too. I find it pretty straightforward, but I know a lot of people have trouble with pie crust, so let me know if you have specific questions, since I know I’m being brief here. I’ve taught a number of people, so if you’re local and need help, drop me a line.

• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 7-8 Tbsp ice water

1. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour and salt until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Tossing gently with a fork, add the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough will hold together. If you want to be fancy, you can also use a water sprayer for this part.
3. Gather the dough into two equal balls and refrigerate while you’re not working with it.
4. Carefully roll one of the balls into a circle about 1″ large around than your pie plate. A flexible cutting board makes a great surface for this step, or use a piece of wax paper, parchment paper, or plastic wrap. Why? Because the easiest way to get it into the plate is to flip the plate onto the crust, flip the whole thing, and peel away the board/paper/plastic.
5. Carefully press the dough into the plate, taking care not to stretch it, and crimp or shape the edge as you desire. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Five-Minute Maple-Vanilla Sauce

• 12oz silken tofu, minus 1/2 cup
• 1 can coconut milk, minus 1/2 cup
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp tapioca (optional)

1. Blend everything except the tapioca, adjusting sweetener and vanilla to taste.
2. If you want to thicken the sauce a bit, pour off about 2/3 cup of the sauce, mix in the tapioca, and microwave to boiling, then mix back in with the sauce.

Mashed Pumpkin

Cut a pumpkin in half, remove the stem, scoop out the guts, and place cut side down in a baking dish with about 1/4″ water. Bake at 350° for 1 hour (until tender), allow to cool, and mash or mill the pumpkin (sans skin, of course). If the pumpkin is very moist, let it sit in a cheesecloth-lined strainer.

Maple Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

• pumpkin guts
• 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil (like canola or safflower)
• 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (ie, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves)

1. Separate the pumpkin seeds from the guts&stuff as best you can (no need to rinse or get anal about it).
2. (Optional step, but I think the results are better this way.) Spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet and leave to dry for a few hours or overnight. (The oven (turned off) is a good place for this.)
3. In a bowl, mix the seeds with the oil, maple syrup, salt, and spices. Spread on a cookie sheet and put in a 300° oven for 45 minutes or until done. Use a spatula to toss the seeds every 10 minutes or so and keep tasting.
4. Cool on parchment or wax paper to prevent sticking.

I have no doubt one of the keys in these in particular being so yummy is the really good Dutch process cocoa that my roomie acquired at Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport during a layover. While I’m sure you could get yummy results with regular cocoa, it would throw off the acid balance and who knows what might happen.

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp flax seed meal (or 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp whole flax seeds)
• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2cups sugar (or less, even)
  
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips

In a small blender (I like to use the little container-chopper attachment on my hand blender for this), grind the flax into powder, then add soymilk and blend. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream the oil and sugar. Add the flax/soymilk mixture and mix well, then mix in the vanilla. (I usually use electric beaters for this part.)

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. Go ahead and use your hands when the dough gets too stiff for a spatula. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into ~1 1/2 discs an inch apart on an ungreased (optionally parchment-lined) baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350°. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

The final steps are more important than they look! First, the cookies will not seem done after 10 minutes, but trust me (and Isa), and take them out. Similarly, do not try to remove them from the baking sheet immediately. They are still quite soft at that point and will fall apart. While still yummy, they won’t be as pretty. (Ask me how I know this.)

One of the flavors I made after the crowds were gone was this maple praline pecan. I found the praline recipe as part of another ice cream recipe and just winged it for the base. Don’t be fooled by how embarrassingly easy it is! Even cow’s milk folks loved this stuff and many assumed it was dairy even knowing I’d made it.

In addition to the recipe, I’ve also included a (very) brief run-down of various ways to freeze ice cream.

Maple Praline Pecan Ice Cream

Ingredients

Base

• One can coconut milk (unsweetened — just the regular kind)
• One pint plain soy creamer (I used Silk)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (plus or minus)

Blend or mix until smooth. Taste and adjust maple syrup as needed: you should be able to taste it and the blend should be a just a little sweeter than you’d prefer, since it will feel less sweet when frozen. Different maples will have different levels of flavor and sweetness. I always use Grade B.

Pralines

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp. oil
• pinch salt
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Boil everything except the pecans together for 2-3 minutes in a small saucepan until the mixture visibly thickens. Add the pecans and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid is almost all gone and just coats the pecans in gooey goodness. Spread out in a thin layer on parchment or wax paper to cool completely. Break up with your hands.

Using your preferred method*, freeze the base. When it is almost done, but still soft enough to mix, mix in the pralines and finish freezing. I also added a ribbon of maple syrup with final stirs.

Scoop and eat. So yummy.
*Freezing Methods (in brief)

1. Liquid nitrogen is, in my opinion, the most fun way to freeze. Put the mix in a large metal bowl or plastic bucket and, wearing work or winter gloves to protect your hands, pour in some LN2 and mix using a large, sturdy metal spoon. Keep adding more LN2 as needed.
2. Use an ice cream maker if you have one. I shouldn’t need to explain this one — follow the directions it came with.
3. The ice & rock salt method can be done even without special equipment beyond plastic bags. Put the ice cream mix in a double later of quart-sized zip-top bags, then put that inside a gallon bag. Add a mix of ice and salt to the outer bag, seal, and shake around until frozen. Google around for more details.
4. As a las resort, just pour your mix into a 9×13 baking pan and put that in the freezer. Every 20-30 minutes, take it out and mix the mix well to reduce ice crystals.

I’d made a delicious (backyard) blackberry cobbler a couple of weeks prior with a recipe I found online, so I modified it a bit for the peaches. It turned out delicious. I’ve made many many pies in my time, but I’ve also become quite a fan of cobblers (and crisps) for their fruity yumminess with much less effort. Watching the batter rise up through the fruit is a lot of fun, too. The result is a very light cake-like concoction spread through with peachy yumminess.

Peach Cobbler (based on Tamara’s Grammie’s berry cobbler)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unrefined sugar
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp margarine (plus more for greasing)
• 3/4 cup soymilk
• 4-5 cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches*
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9″x13″ baking dish.
For the batter, mix together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the margarine until the mixture is course and fairly uniform, then mix in soymilk. Plop the batter into the greased pan in a relatively even manner. Neatness is not particularly important.

Mix the peaches with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt, then spread over the batter. You can do this very carefully and neatly, but I was feeling impatient at the time, so I just cobbled it together. (*giggle*)

Pour the cup of boiling water over the top and immediately place in the oven. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned.

* Peaches can be peeled using the same trick that works for tomatoes: score an X on the bottom, then dunk them in boiling water for 30-45 seconds. Cool in cold/ice water. The peel should come off easily.

Even though I’d recently acquired Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I didn’t have it handy when I started baking so the body of these is standard “Wacky Cake”. By the time they were in the oven, I was able to ponder my frosting option and chose Peanut Buttercream, but I’d made a double batch of cupcakes and only a single of frosting so I didn’t have enough to pipe. I added the streaks of chocolate syrup and the peanuts for visual interest, since the frosting was a fairly bland color, and I also like when a garnish reflects what’s inside.

The cupcakes were delicious, and the peanut butter and chocolate definitely worked well together (to nobody’s surprise). Next time, I’ll do a lot more frosting and use it to fill the cakes.

Wacky Cake (traditional recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup cold water

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then together. Pour into lined muffin tins 2/3-3/4 full and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Peanut Buttercream (from VCTOTW)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c maragarine, softened
• 2 tbsp shortening (EB sticks are the best for this)
• 1/3 c creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 c confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1 to 2 tbsp rice milk, soy milk/creamer, or water

With electric handheld mixer, cream together margarine and shortening at medium speed til smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla, and beat until very smooth, 2 to 3 minute. Beat in sugar; mixture will be very stiff. Dribble in liquid a little at a time, beating continuously til frosting is pale tan and very fluffy.

Adjust the thickness of the frosting by adding liquid or more confectioner’s sugar in small increments if necessary. –

I highly recommend Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Not only are the recipes great and the authors wonderful people, but it’s a beautiful book with fabulous pictures, so even those who don’t actually cook can enjoy it.