Thanksgiving Pies
We've got plant-based pumpkin and apple - with a twist!
Thanksgiving is, maybe unsurprisingly, my favorite holiday. A whole week dedicated to very involved cooking and baking projects!? Sign me up! Growing up, to my family’s annoyance, I would always commandeer the menu and delegate dishes to different people, reserving bread and dessert for myself, of course. I loved to experiment with new recipes each year, leafing through back issues of Bon Appétit and Gourmet magazine (RIP), identifying a common theme that would tie my menu together. My family, on the other hand, pushed for classics we adored year after year: my Dad’s sausage, sage, and pistachio stuffing (admittedly very good), my Mom’s potato gratin (that I’m pretty sure she stole from a neighbor), and my Aunt Mary’s apple pie (which always seemed to magically appear at the last minute - she is an apple pie whiz).
To this day, we usually end up with a mishmash of new and old. The two recipes I’m sharing today were on the menu last Thanksgiving. It was my first time trying out vegan pies, and I was feeling citrusy vibes to brighten up the usual warm spice suspects that linger around the table this time of year. I’ve got an orange-accented pumpkin pie for all subscribers, and a tropically twisted apple pie for paid subscribers. Let the Thanksgiving games begin!
I am a total pumpkin pie person. For me, it isn't Thanksgiving without one. But I almost never make a "normal" pumpkin pie. Since trying an orange-scented pumpkin cake many years ago, I have loved the combination of pumpkin and orange (my Pumpkin Streusel Muffins also pull from this inspiration). This pie has not one, not two, but three sources of orange flavor. First, orange zest is rubbed into the brown sugar of the pie filling until it is fragrant, then the blind-baked pie crust is brushed with orange marmalade, which not only imparts bittersweetness, but also keeps the crust crisp. Finally, the pie is topped with a pinwheel of jewel-like candied orange slices, one of my favorite fruity treats. Now, having said all of this, if you just want a normal pumpkin pie, I’ve included that recipe in Notes & Variations below :)
Candied Orange Pumpkin Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie
1 1/2 hours active time, 3 1/2 hours total time
Ingredients
1/2 recipe Vegan Flaky Pie Dough (1 disk)
Candied Orange Slices
2 Navel oranges
800 g (4 cups) granulated sugar
960 g (4 cups) water
Sweetened Condensed Oat Milk
300 g (1 1/4 cup) unsweetened, full-fat oat milk
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
29 g (2 tbsp) unsalted, margarine-style vegan butter (e.g. Violife)
2.5 g (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract
Pie Filling
40 g (2 tbsp) orange marmelade
110 g (1/2 cup, packed) light brown sugar
2.5 g (1 tsp, 1/2 orange) orange zest
14 g (2 tbsp) cornstarch
2.5 g (1 tsp) cinnamon
1.25 g (1/2 tsp) ginger
0.625 g (1/4 tsp) nutmeg
0.625 g (1/4 tsp) cloves
0.625 g (1/4 tsp) allspice
0.625 g (1/4 tsp) cardamom
57 g (1/4 cup) vegan sour cream (e.g. Tofutti)
425 g (1 15-oz can) canned pumpkin purée (Libby's recommended - see note below)
153 g (1/2 cup) Sweetened Condensed Oat Milk (recipe above, or store bought)
30 g (2 tbsp, 1/2 orange) orange juice
150 g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) liquid vegan egg substitute (JUST Egg recommended)
3 g (1 tsp) kosher salt (Diamond Crystal or see note below)
10 g (2 tsp) vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Candied Orange Slices
With a sharp knife, slice the oranges into 1/8 inch rounds
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanch the orange slices for 5 mins
Drain and repeat Step 2 two more times - this removes the bitterness from the orange rind, but if you don't mind the bitterness, you can skip directly to Step 4
Bring the 4 cups each of water and sugar to a boil in a large pot
Add the orange slices and simmer on medium low, flipping occasionally, until they are tender and translucent, 45 mins - 1 hr
Transfer the slices to a heatproof container, being careful not to tear them, then pour the hot syrup over
Cool the slices to room temperature
Candied Orange Slices can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 1 week
Make the Sweetened Condensed Oat Milk
Combine oat milk and sugar in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low; be vigilant, as the mixture will boil over if left unattended
Simmer the oat milk, whisking occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by 1/2; it should measure 200 g or 2/3 cup
Off the heat, whisk in the vegan butter until it is emulsified, then add the vanilla; cool to room temperature
Sweetened Condensed Oat Milk can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 1 week
Roll out and blind bake the pie crust
Preheat the oven to 425 F and place a rack at the bottom of the oven (see note below)
On a lightly floured surface, beat the disk with a rolling pin until it is about 1/2 inch thick
Roll out the dough into a 13-inch round, then transfer it to a 9-inch standard-depth pie plate
Trim the edges with scissors so that there is an even 1/2-inch overhang around the rim of the plate
Fold over the edges of the pie dough so that the crust is raised about 1/4 inch above the edge of the plate
Hold the thumb of your left hand (use opposite hands if you are a leftie) inside the rim of the crust and position the thumb and index finger of your right hand on the other side of the crust, straddling your left thumb
Press out with your left thumb while pressing in your right thumb and index finger. Continue around the rim of the pie until the entire crust is decoratively crimped
Freeze the crust for 15 mins, until solid
Place a sheet of parchment paper over the frozen crust and fill with beans or weights up to the rim of the pie plate
Bake the crust at 425 F until the edges are beginning to brown, about 25 mins
Remove the weights and parchment and reduce the oven temperature to 325 F
Brush the inside of the crust with the orange marmalade, then return the crust to the oven for another 5 mins, until the marmalade is just beginning to caramelize
Make the Pie Filling and bake the pie
Combine the brown sugar and orange zest in a large bowl and rub it together with your fingers until it is fragrant
To the bowl, add the spices and cornstarch and stir to combine
Add the vegan sour cream and mix until smooth
Add the pumpkin purée and mix until smooth
Add the Sweetened Condensed Oat Milk, egg substitute, orange juice, salt, and vanilla, and mix until fully combined
Pour the filling into the blind baked crust and place the pie in the oven
Create a crust protector with a piece of aluminum foil: fold it in half, then half again, then into progressively narrower triangles, keeping the center at the same point; trim the outer edge and cut out the inside of the triangle to fit the size of your pie plate; unfurl it and place is gently over the top of the crust in the oven
Bake the pie until the edges are set and bubbling but the center still wobbles slightly, 60 - 70 mins
Cool the pie for at least 1 hour
Remove 8 or 9 of the prettiest orange slices from the syrup; blot them dry then cut them in half with a sharp knife
Arrange the slices in an overlapping pinwheel around the edge of the pie
Serve the pie at room temperature; slice with a serrated knife to avoid crushing the orange slices
Notes & Variations
For Classic Pumpkin Pie
Omit the Candied Orange Slices, orange marmalade, orange zest, cardamom, and orange juice
Increase the Sweetened Condensed Oat Milk to 183 g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) and the kosher salt to 3.75 g (1 1/4 tsp)
Otherwise, proceed with the recipe as directed
Ingredient Notes
Kosher salt: I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which has larger crystals than other kinds of kosher salt, normal table salt or fine sea salt. As a result, when measured by volume (teaspoons/tablespoons) it will add less "saltiness" than an equal quantity of the other salts. If you are not using Diamond Crystal, I recommend measuring your salt by weight, in which case you won't run into this issue. Otherwise, use half the volume quantity of salt
Vegan butter: There are two main types of vegan butter: (1) margarine-style products that are basically butter-flavored vegetable shortening (e.g. Violife), and (2) cultured-style products made from cashew, coconut, or other kinds of fats (e.g. Miyoko's). I generally prefer the first type in cakes, muffins, and frostings, where the more obvious "butter" flavor and greater stability, and yellow color are beneficial. I prefer the second type in recipes where the fat will caramelize, such as cookies, pie or tart dough, and bread, as margarine-style butters can develop unpleasant burnt oil flavors when heated to high temperatures. Also, cultured-style butter can be browned similarly to dairy butter, while margarine-style butter cannot
Pumpkin: Libby's canned pumpkin is recommended for this recipe, as it has a firm consistency better suited to this application. Some other brands of canned pumpkin, such as Farmer's Market and Trader Joe's are wetter, which will result in a pie filling that is too loose and may not set properly. In a pinch, you can use paper towels to wring out the excess water from your pumpkin purée then proceed with the recipe as directly
Recipe Notes
Baking the pie at the bottom of the oven ensures that the bottom crust browns properly regardless of the kind of pie dish you are baking in. This is less of an issue with metal dishes, but if you are using a glass or ceramic pie dish, the bottom crust has a tendency to resist browning if baked in the center of the oven, resulting in a soggy bottom :(
Things I Used
As an Amazon Affiliate and Food52 Curator, I earn a small commission on anything purchased through these links
Ingredients
Nielsen-Massey pure vanilla extract
JUST Egg vegan liquid egg substitute
Equipment
To be honest, apple pie is not my favorite Thanksgiving dessert. I will almost always go for pumpkin and pecan before apple. But I really liked the idea of a rum raisin apple pie, and that got me thinking about my favorite rum drinks which got me thinking about the classic Dark & Stormy, and that's when I realized that that drink could be a fun riff on what is typically a plain pie (imo). Most apple pie recipes include citrus zest and/or juice, either orange or lemon, so why not lime? And what if instead of soaking raisins in rum, I soaked bits of crystallized ginger to amplify the ground ginger already present in apple pie spice. A final addition was to line the bottom crust with a blanket of gingersnap crumbs, which adds extra ginger flavor and serves as a moisture barrier to prevent a soggy bottom. The result is a bright, warming, slightly spicy pie, like a ray of tropical sunshine on a crisp autumn day.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Baking Daze to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.