Pi Day!!!! (well, to me, everyday should be pie day, but PIE-nally, it’s REAL pie day 😉 ). At the end of a long week (or even the start of one. Some weeks, Garfield really knew what he was talking about. Also, possibly your desire for murder may have even increased if any one said this to you on Monday:
I have the solution that will possibly save you from a lifetime of jail and being someone’s bitch where you might possibly get no pie at all (although apparently prison cake is a thing? Seriously, check out this article, it’s amazing and kind of makes me want to commit a crime, so I can go to jail and make this…or…you know, maybe NOT commit a crime but still make it – scandalous I know (although it sounds delicious enough to be a crime all on it’s own 😉 ). Phew, talk about your segues Amber!! Where was I? Right, at the end of a long week (or maybe the start of…Oh right, I did that part already 😉 ) you just want to kick back with a mind-altering beverage of choice, but, as I have most definitely mentioned in previous posts, sometimes, it may not be appropriate for wherever (or whenever) you are (what do you mean I can’t toss back a shot of whisky every hour on the hour for the whole day while I’m at wrk…er…worke..uh…*glug, glug*…what’s happening? *black out for 2 hours* “Oh no, I misthhhhed my 4pm shot, now I have to drink, 4, no 2, no…uh…rest of bottle going in face. *head shake of sadness*
As a public service, and to help you avoid what is quite clearly becoming a problem for you, I recommend weaning yourself off the sauce with this rum soaked raisin and oatmeal pie instead. No one will be the wiser! In fact, you’ll be eating oatmeal and raisins at you desk now! So virtuous! You’re practically the poster child for work appropriate behaviour. Plus, if you do like I did and make a bit of extra pie dough so that you can have some fun cinnamon sugar coated pie crust cookies on top in whimsical shapes, it appears even more innocent.
But worry not fair teetotalers (or children (both literally and at heart) – and if you are a child – thanks for learning to read using my blog, I’m touched really 😉 ), this pie can appease your desire for oatmeal and raisins as well. Simply soak said raisins in some equally delicious apple cider and maple syrup instead and you’ve got a pie that would satisfy even the pickiest of pie eaters (which is definitely not me. My criteria for whether or not I’ll eat a pie is pretty lax. Is it pie? Yes. Will it kill you? We don’t think so. Hmm….good enough for me! If I die eating pie, seems like a fair trade 😉 ).
So…my pie slicing abilities are definitely not up to Martha Stewart standards (speaking of which, I wonder if she was the inventor of that prison cake? If so, she definitely used her time in the slammer wisely). I’d like to just straight up lie to you and say I didn’t have a knife in the house or something, and that I actually just cut this piece using the edge of my hand (c’mon, if that were actually true, you’d suddenly be impressed with how great and clean a slice that actually is considering), but alas, I’m just not good at cutting the inaugural slice from a full pie. #Skillsfail. I think I need an engineering degree to accomplish it effectively. Possibly it’s also because my usual form of pie consumption goes something like this:
…and thus I am just not used to using anything but my hands? (yeah, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). If I’d been super smart and committed, I would’ve gotten really into pi day and made my pie in the shape of the pie symbol. That would’ve been really bad ass (although frankly, my pie slicing being what it was, I probably could’ve just arranged that hot mess into the pie symbol and then pretended like I had done it on purpose. Damn it Amber! Where was that genius coverup when it would’ve actually been useful?!!! 🙁
Kevin, enjoying the hot off the presses slice of pie. He was very kind and made no reference whatsoever to it’s level of hideousness. When I asked him how come he wasn’t making fun of how ugly it looked, he told me, “I didn’t notice, I only have pies for you.”
Yield: 1 9″ pie
Ingredients
- 1 cup rum and maple syrup soaked raisins
- 1 pie crust (you can find my favourite pie recipe to use here. I made 1.5 of this recipe so that I’d have extra dough for the cookies on top, that’s optional though)
- vegan “egg” wash – whisk together 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk and pinch of salt
- 4 ounces (or about 1/2 cup) chopped chocolate
- ¼ cup canned coconut cream
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons melted vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1/3 cup agave (or honey if that doesn’t bother you, or just use more maple syrup)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
- 4 vegan eggs (if using the cornstarch-type egg replacer that you can buy in the grocery store, feel free to replace the water with whiskey which is what I did 🙂 )
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind)
Directions
- A few days before you want to make the pie, put a cup or so of raisins in a small bowl and just cover with rum (or apple cider would probably work nicely as well for a non-alcohol version). Add a few tablespoons a maple syrup, stir and cover. Allow to marinate/ soak for a few days if possible.
- The day BEFORE you want to make your pie (this is only applicable if you’re making your own crust): Make crust recipe and roll (or press) into pie pan. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight (if making little cut out crust cookies, do that now and freeze separately as well)
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking pan with parchment or silpat. Unwrap frozen pie, cover with tinfoil and place on the baking pan to blind bake (by filling it with pie weights, beans or rice to weigh it down) for 25 minutes. Uncover pie removing pie weights carefully. Brush with vegan egg wash and bake uncovered for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely (at least 30 minutes)
- Make the chocolate layer – place chocolate in a small bowl. In another small bowl (or small saucepan on the stove if you prefer), microwave canned coconut cream until just starts to bubble (shouldn’t take too long, 30 seconds to 1 minute). Immediately pour over chocolate and allow to sit for a few minutes. Stir continuously until chocolate is all completely melted, mixed and smooth.
- Using a spoon or spatula, evenly spread the ganache all over the inside of the pie. Place pie in the freezer while preparing the filling.
- Again, with the oven preheated to 350F, make the oatmeal raisin filling. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, melted vegan butter, spices, and salt. Add the maple syrup, molasses, agave, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and maple extracts, whisking to combine. Add the egg replacer and whisk briskly until everything is fully incorpoarted
- Using a spatula, stir in oats and rum soaked raisins.
- Remove the chilled pie from the freezer and return to prepared baking sheets (seriously lay down parchment, tinfoil or silpat in case of any spillover). Pour filling into pie and bake for about 50-55 minutes. Edges should basically be set up, the center is fine if it’s still a bit jiggly, it’ll continue to set up as it cools.
- If making cookies out of extra pie crust, bake at 350F for about 5 minutes, then remove from oven, brush with leftover vegan egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired. Bake for an addition 2-3 minutes.
- Once pie has been cooling for at least 10-15 minutes, you can decorate the top of your pie with pie crust cookie cutouts if desired. Store in the refrigerator.
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