Daring Bakers: Crack Pie, Veganized.

Rachael from pizzarossa was our lovely June 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she had us whipping up delicious pies in our kitchens! Cream pies, fruit pies, chocolate pies, even crack pies! There’s nothing like pie! 

The development of this pie included an epic failure followed by an epic success. Determination and a couple of unusual store cupboard ingredients allowed for triumph over disaster.

The ingredient substitutions remained the same between the failed pie and the successful pie, however, the cooking temperature and duration is what made such an important difference to their outcome.

Success and failure

Having never made or tasted the famous Crack Pie of Momofuku Milk Bar in New York, of course I can’t draw a comparison between the original (non vegan) recipe and my veganized recipe. I can, however, compare based on image and description;

Original version Vs. My Vegan Version

A golden pie consisting of a nutty, oatmeal cookie crust filled with a thin layer of golden, rich, sweet, gooey, butterscotch, caramel filling. Mission accomplished.

I do now realise why it was named ‘Crack Pie’. It’s incredibly hard not to go back for more despite it’s sweet richness ordering your tummy, ‘no more’, the mind can’t resist. Thank God, I made a mini pie.

Ingredients: Serves 6.

Oat cookie:

• 1.5 tbsp refined coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 10g soft brown sugar
• 10g granulated unrefined sugar
• 1/4 of 1 egg replacer (1/4 of the amount required for one egg/ Orgran or Ener-G)
• 20g rolled oats
• 20g self raising flour
• pinch sea salt

To make the crust:

• 1 tbsp refined coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tsp brown sugar

Filling:

• 45g granulated unrefined sugar
• 25g soft brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp (2g) soya milk powder
• pinch salt
• 2 tbsp refined coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 25ml (1 tbsp+2tsp) soya milk (or other non dairy milk)
• 1.5 tbsp soy lecithin granules mixed with 2 tsp water
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Make the cookie:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a baking tray and grease a 6 inch pie dish or round cake tin.
2. Beat together the oil and both sugars until smooth. Mix in the egg replacer.
3. Stir through the oats, flour and salt until well blended.
4. Drop oat mixture onto prepared baking tray and press out to about an inch thick.
5. Bake for 10 minutes until light golden, the cookie will still be soft to touch but will harden on cooling. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the crust:

1. Finely crumble the cookie into a bowl and add the oil and brown sugar. Rub in with your fingertips until the mixture is moist and sticks together when pressed between your fingers.
2.  Transfer cookie crust mixture to pie dish or cake tin. Using your fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish (by at least 1.5 cm).
3. Place the tin on a baking tray to catch any spillage.

Make the filling:

1. Preheat the oven to moderate 160°C/320°F.
2. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
3. Add oil and whisk until blended.
4. Add soya milk, lecithin mixture and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
5. Pour filling into crust.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes until filling is brown on top and set around edges but center still jiggles slightly.
7. Cool pie completely in pie dish or tin on wire rack.
8. Chill uncovered overnight before serving dusted with icing sugar and with a scoop of ice cream.