I love making pies, and make them often, especially in the summer. However, someone — I won’t say who — is trying to watch their cholesterol so today I tried making a vegan version of this pie and substituted half of the white flour in the pie crust with whole wheat flour. Substituting the butter in the pie crust proved not to be as much of an issue as I had feared it might. The wheat flour on the other hand was. I usually prefer wheat — I think it has a more robust flavor. I guess that’s just the thing though: you don’t want your pastries to be “robust” — you want them to be light, and flaky, and decadent. Don’t get me wrong — the crust was still quite good, but it wasn’t nearly as indulgent and delicious as a white flour crust… This pie filling is to-die-for though — just the right balance of sweet and tart — but you can use this basic recipe for a pie with any summer fruit (berries, peaches, etc.) My philosophy with fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables is to do as little to them as possible: simpler is always better with quality ingredients!
Stone Fruit Pie
Ingredients:
– 1 Pie Crust (See my preceding blog entry — “Perfect Pie Crust”)
– 2 cups pitted quartered cherries
– 2 cups pitted sliced plums
– 2 cups pitted sliced apricots (fresh, not dried)
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 3 Tbsp. cornstarch (this is what will bind the sugars from your fruits so that your pie isn’t runny and your crust doesn’t get soggy)
– 1 egg (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Make pie dough
3. While dough is chilling, remove pits from fruits and slice. Put fruit pieces in a large bowl
4. Add sugar and cornstarch to fruit and mix well
5. Let fruit sit
6. Roll out one half of your pie crust and fit into a 9” pie pan
7. Make the lattice top for your pie (See preceding blog “How to Make a Lattice Top for a Pie Crust” for detailed instructions)
8. Your fruit should now look a bit syrupy — in other words, it should look like pie filling 🙂
9. Pour filling into pie crust
10. Place lattice on top of pie
11. Tear excess ends from lattice
12. Fold overhanging pieces of bottom crust over lattice ends
13. If you’d like to use an egg wash (I did not since I was making vegan pie today) simply beat an egg with a little bit of milk or water and coat lattice using a pastry brush. This will add a little bit of shine to your crust but is purely aesthetic and does not affect the taste.
14. Bake in oven at 400F for 50 minutes. Check after 35-40 minutes — if crust looks too dark cover with aluminum foil and continue baking
15. Remove from oven
16. Let cool for at least 20 minutes.
17. Slice, top with ice cream of whipped cream if you desire, and enjoy
And about 30 seconds later….
theindiehomemaker 