VEGAN BANANA CREAM PIE W/ A HAZELNUT DATE CRUST

VEGAN BANANA CREAM PIE

w/ a hazelnut date crust

I woke up this morning with such an itch to bake so I was instantly excited when my boyfriend said it was national banana cream pie day. Random yes but an excellent opportunity to try something new. I also had a serious craving for hazelnut so I went out and bought some pura hazelnut agave syrup which is the kind I used in this recipe and it is SOOO GOOD. I mostly drink it in my coffee usually but it was an awesome addition for my pie crust. It gave it just the extra pizzaz it needed. Although I didn't make my own custard for the middle I was really pleased with the gobio vegan custard packet that I bought at one of the local pharmacies here with an awesome vegan food section there. It was my first time trying the custard and although it needs quite a bit of sweetener to be delicious its an excellent base for a cream pie. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to pull off a vegan cream pie for the first time. So here it is. In the name of national banana cream pie day, my vegan banana cream pie. I hope you enjoy! Happy baking. 

*I attached a link to the Pura linkedin below if you want to check them out. They are an awesome local company from Vancouver, BC

Pie crust recipe

1 cup everland organic pitted dates (soaked in warm water for 20 minutes)
1/2 cup bob's red mill organic graham flour
1/2 cup everland organic unbleached white flour
1/4 cup lets do it organic shredded coconut
1/4 cup earth balance melted
2 tablespoons Pura hazelnut agave syrup (link attached here)

*I also left links to the other products I used if you wanted to check out these awesome vegan companies!

Steps

Combine flours in a medium sized bowl with your shredded coconut.  Mix together well with a fork. Next drain your dates and add to your food processor or blender. Add 2 tablespoons of agave syrup and 2 tablespoons spoons of melted earth balance. Blend together for 4 minutes. Add blended dates to the flours and begin to mix together well, pressing down while mixing to pack everything in tight. Once your pie crust has formed into a ball, press your pie crust into a pie  pan. Refrigerate for 5 minutes then bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Once your crust is ready you can make your custard because you'll want your custard to cool before adding it to your pie.

Pie filling recipe

2 cups vanilla almond breeze milk
1 packet goBio organic custard
2 tablespoons cane sugar
2-3 bananas sliced

Steps
Measure 2 cup of almond milk. In a bowl add the contents of the custard packet and 1/4 cup of your milk. In a pot bring your remaining 1 3/4 cup of milk to a boil then slowly add your mixture to the pot once its boiling. Turn down to a low bowl and whisk together until desired consistency. For me it was around 10 minutes. Afterwards pour your custard into a bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Next its time to make your pie! You'll need 2 to 3 bananas depending on how much banana you like. Slice them thinly then place slices in your crust. Cover the whole bottom of your crust.
Add your custard to the pie crust and spread evenly. Place one more layer of banana slices on top. Top it all off with your choice of whip cream if your heart so desires. Its delicious on its own. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES

VEGAN CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES

These were amazing. I love using fresh fruit vs extracts. It gives it some real flavour. I mean vanilla is fine, buying pure vanilla bean is insanely expensive but oranges are pretty cheap so go big and get organic. :) I've had a major sweet tooth lately and have been baking tons so be prepared to see most dessert post! I hope everyone is enjoying big hearty autumn meals like we are. Happy cruelty free cooking:)

Recipe

MAKES 12

1 1/2 cups white unbleached flour

2/3 cup of turbinado sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dash of cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup of coconut oil

1 1/4 cup almond milk

1 organic navel orange (1/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice)

Steps
Preheat oven to 350 F and oil a cupcake/muffin pan.
In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and stir them together with a fork well.
Create a well in the middle and begin to add wet ingredients. While stirring, start with the oil then milk and fresh squeezed orange juice last. I cut my orange in half and squeezed a 1/4 cup of juice out of it. Mix your vanilla in with that and add to mixture. Everything should be pretty well mixed by now. Make sure all the lumps are out! It should be a little runny so if its not, add some more almond milk 1 tablespoon at a time. Grate some of your orange skin over the top of the mix and stir one last time. Using a large spoon, scoop out enough cupcake mix to fill your cupcake pan about 2/3 of the way full.

Use the other half of your orange and shave off some skin (using a grater) for the top of the cupcakes. Then squeeze whatever remaining juice you can get out of it over your cupcakes. Pop in the oven! Bake for 15-20 mins.

These are so soft and fluffy. Squeezing the orange juice over top really boosts the

 flavour and also makes the tops look neat! I hope everyone enjoys :)

Happy baking!