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Love is in my Tummy

Plant-based flavor

October 9, 2017 By Tina Dawson 14 Comments

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie {Halwa Pie}

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie fragrant with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, coconut & vanilla, and a crust that almost melts in your mouth!

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie fragrant with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, coconut & vanilla, and a crust that almost melts in your mouth! #Dessert #Fall #Pie

One can never have too much pie they said, and I was misled by the heavily implied expression of deliciousness that spews off that statement. False, there is such a thing as too much pie, and last week stands testimony to that.

I have never baked a pie (shocker!) and although I have made a few hand pies in the past (Peach Pie,  Savory Veggie Pie, Mini Apple Pie), it was still not a true pie and it wasn’t vegan either! So this year, I wanted to try my hand at baking a proper pie and make it as pretty as I can!

Fall is my favorite time of the year (if I haven’t said it enough already!) for this month marks very many firsts in my life: it’s the month when I got my first (and only) proposal, which also happens to be the day we got married years later, the month when I moved from India to the US, the first time I saw Fall colors, to name a few. The most significant moments of my life happened this month, so every October, when the winds turn cold and the trees change hue, I get very nostalgic with a flood of emotions, all month long!

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie fragrant with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, coconut & vanilla, and a crust that almost melts in your mouth! #Dessert #Fall #Pie

I wanted my first pie to encapsulate everything this month stands for, adaptational metamorphosis being the theme. A representation of new life, life in a new country as seen through the eyes of an Indian leaving her homeland for the very first time.

A task easier said than done because the first test crust came out crispy and bland and not at all flaky. Thank goodness for blind baking, otherwise I’d have wasted good filling. The second batch was a little better but the crust wasn’t melting in my mouth in creamy decadence. So I powered through and long story short, 5 pies and 4 days later, I managed to bake the perfect, PERFECT pie! Crust gets an A+ and the filling – well, you can fill it with anything and it’d still be amazing!

Me, I went with a not-so-traditional Pumpkin and Beet Halwa filling, flavored with cardamom and vanilla respectively. Inspired by the glorious colors of the season, and the fact that Diwali is around the corner, I wanted to celebrate everything together in this pie.

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie fragrant with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, coconut & vanilla, and a crust that almost melts in your mouth! #Dessert #Fall #Pie

 

The filling for this pie was inspired by the colors that will forever remain etched in my mind – make the beet and pumpkin filling separately (remembering to wash the pan in between, beets are notorious and will stain anything in its path!) and drop dollops on the blind baked pie crust. Then spend your own sweet time fashioning the top crust anyway you like.

This being my first pie, I was a little nervous and a lattice crust seemed intimidating. So I used these amazing cookie cutters to cut out shapes and just lined them best I could on top. I loved these cutters by the way, they are actually fondant shapers, so there’s a press to impress patterns (like leaf veins) on top, and it also makes it so much easier to get the shapes out of the rolled out dough.

Here is a tip to get the most of them:

Press the cutter into the rolled out dough. Press the plunger firmly and hold for 3 seconds and lift. The cut dough should lift off with the cutter. Press once more to release the shaped dough. Easy peasy!

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie fragrant with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, coconut & vanilla, and a crust that almost melts in your mouth! #Dessert #Fall #Pie

Instead of egg wash, I brushed with coconut milk and it had the same effect and turned the crust beautifully golden. And despite having had just about enough pies for one week, I truly cannot wait to try out more variations this month, now that I have a bunch of happy adopters who’d love to give my excess pies a good home.

If you have any excellent, but unusual pie fillings to tell me about, please do! I am in the mood for pie this month, and I am going to get my fill of it.

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie fragrant with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, coconut & vanilla, and a crust that almost melts in your mouth! #Dessert #Fall #Pie

And in return, please, PLEASE try this one, even if you’re not vegan. It’s a delicious pie, fragrant with the flavors of cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, vanilla and coconut – oh yes, I went all in for my first ever pie, and yes, it was as incredible and decadent as it sounds.

Make the filling the day before, and refrigerate. And on the day of, bake your pie and make sure it’s in the oven as your guests walk in to make your home smell like what I image heaven must be like.

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie fragrant with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, coconut & vanilla, and a crust that almost melts in your mouth! #Dessert #Fall #Pie

When you make these (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here!

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie

Created by Tina Dawson on October 9, 2017

VEGAN Pumpkin Beet Pie fragrant with saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, coconut & vanilla, and a crust that almost melts in your mouth! #Dessert #Fall #Pie

  • Prep Time:30m
  • Cook Time:40m
  • Total Time:2h
  • Serves: 4
  • Yield: One 9" pie

Ingredients

For the vegan pie crust

  • 375 g all purpose flour
  • 150 mL coconut oil (chilled + firm)
  • 7 g salt
  • 55 mL cold water

For the beet filling

  • 315 g beetroot (about 1 medium), grated
  • 115 g sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla bean paste

For the pumpkin filling

  • 825 g yellow pumpkin, grated
  • 260 g sugar
  • a pinch of saffron
  • 1 cardamom, seeds powdered, skin discarded

For the crust topping

  • 1 tsp. coconut milk, diluted to milk consistency
  • 2 tbsp. cinnamon sugar

Instructions

Make the pie dough

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Add coconut oil (in its thick scoopable form) and work it in the flour till it's fully incorporated. Don't leave any large bits intact (as you would with regular butter pie crust). Mix it all in.
  2. Adding a little water at a time, bring the pie dough together into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill until firm enough to roll.

Make the Beet Filling

  1. In a medium pan, add the beets, cover and cook until the raw smell dissipates. Then add sugar, and stir until it melts from the beet juices. Keep cooking till the sugar syrup thickens and the beets cook further. Continue cooking over medium heat until all the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and let cool. Keep refrigerated until ready to fill the pie crust.

Make the Pumpkin filling

  1. Wash the pan and add the grated pumpkin, cover and cook until soft. Add sugar, saffron and cardamom powder and continue cooking on medium-high heat till the sugar syrup thickens and all the liquid evaporates. Keep stirring to prevent burning. Once you get a thick, liquid-free consistency, remove from heat and let cool. Keep refrigerated until ready to fill the pie crust.

Blind bake crust

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. Re-position the baking rack in the oven to the lower-middle slot.
  2. Take the chilled dough and divide in half. Refrigerate one half.
  3. Roll out the other half evenly thick to fill a 9" pie tin. Carefully transfer it to the tin and press down to fill the sides and bottom. Line the top of the crust with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans or popcorn kernels. Transfer the pie tin to a baking tray.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven at 425°F/220°C on the lower-middle rack for 15 minutes, remove the pie weights and foil and continue baking for 10 more minutes. Cool completely in its tin until ready to fill.

Fill the pie

  1. Drop spoonfuls of the beet and pumpkin filling, alternating and forming random smudges where they meet. Get creative, and make it look as close to an overheat view of Fall colored tree tops.

Shape top crust

  1. Take the remaining pie dough from the fridge and roll out to a 1/4" thick sheet. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, strips and lay them on top of the filled pie. Continue to roll and cut until you run out of dough and the pie is completely covered with a few holes peeking through.
  2. Brush the tops with the diluted coconut milk and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.
  3. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Re-position the baking rack in the oven to the middle slot.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the dough is crisp. Cool slightly on a wire rack before you slice in.

Reheating instructions

  1. Leftover pie can be refrigerated in an airtight container, wrapped in foil. Reheat in a preheated oven at 350°F/180°C for 8-10 minutes until warmed through.
  • Print

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Filed Under: All Recipes, American, Cuisines, Desserts, Vegan, Vegetarian Tagged With: beet halwa, coconut oil, halwa, pie, pie crust, pumpkin halwa

Previous Post: « Stir Fried VEGAN Yakisoba Noodles
Next Post: Holiday Gifting ideas that keep on giving »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liv says

    October 19, 2017 at 6:08 am

    Yeeey, very Beautiful ??

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      October 19, 2017 at 10:00 am

      Thanks Liv!

      Reply
  2. James | Thyme to Mango says

    October 14, 2017 at 1:25 am

    Oh my, this pie looks so beautiful! I love the design on the top and the addition of beetroot… wow!

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      October 14, 2017 at 10:14 am

      I’m so glad you enjoy the weird combination James! Thanks!

      Reply
  3. Ginny McMeans says

    October 9, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    Now this sounds like a dream recipe. What a brilliant idea to add beetroot in with the pumpkin. Just gorgeous too!

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      October 9, 2017 at 1:47 pm

      The colors and the flavors somehow work well together Ginny! Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Jeni @ Biscuits & Booze says

    October 9, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    This pie is GORGEOUS! I also love fall, and October particularly. I got married in November, and engaged in October 🙂 I love the combination of beets an pumpkin though – I think it would work perfectly!

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      October 9, 2017 at 1:47 pm

      Jeni, we have so much in common then! We should just meet and talk about how wonderful October is… have our own version of Oktoberfest!

      Reply
  5. Beth says

    October 9, 2017 at 12:11 pm

    This pie is absolutely gorgeous! I love the top crust! My favorite pie is my rhubarb custard pie but it is hard to find rhubarb out of season!

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      October 9, 2017 at 1:46 pm

      Rhubarb is on my radar next, Beth! But will probably wait till they’re in season, out of respect!

      Reply
  6. Dana says

    October 9, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    Omg TINA! I can NOT get over how gorgeous this pie is. You must have just stood there staring at it with the ultimate grin of satisfactory on your face. This is stunning — I’d hate cutting into it! (But I’m sure the amazing smell would help me get over that pretty quickly, haha.)

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      October 9, 2017 at 1:46 pm

      I did, how did you know Dana!!!! But I did eventually get in, and I regretted the time spent looking at how pretty it was. So good! Thanks!

      Reply
  7. April says

    October 9, 2017 at 11:03 am

    Beautiful pie! I made a sweet potato pie and I tried making leaves without the cookie cutter, well It didn’t come out too well. I think next time I will buy cookie cutters!

    Reply
    • Tina Dawson says

      October 9, 2017 at 1:44 pm

      It will make things so much easier, seriously! Good luck! And happy baking!

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Tina - the human behind all the content you see on this blog. Welcome to my little corner of the internet where I create flavorful and unique plant-based recipes.

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