I Was A Teenage Vegan CookBlog

Miniature things are inherently charming, or so cupcakes, kittens, and munchkins would have me believe. It was with this in mind (and the practical difficulty of serving pie without silverware) that I settled on the idea of pumpkin-pecan “pielets” for Chris’ party. They take a bit longer to prepare than a traditional pie - which you can easily make from this recipe by simply halving the measurements for the crust ingredients and using a pie plate instead of a cupcake pan - but are worth the extra effort for the looks of childlike wonder they inspire among children and overly enthusiastic adults. Next up: miniature tofurkey. Anyone who can point me in the direction of a Rick-Moranis-style shrink ray will get their reward. . . their eternal reward.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 10 tbsp. margarine
• 6 tbsp. water
• 1 cups pecans, chopped
• 24 pecan halves, whole
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 15 oz. pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 measures egg replacer
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Equipment: mixing bowl, refrigerator, frying pan, cupcake pans, oven.

Music: The Panoply Academy - Everything Here Was Built to Break

Instructions:

1. Combine flours, coconut, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 3 tbsp. sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut in margarine, add water, and mix until combined. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate.
2. Cook pecan pieces and halves with 1/4 cup margarine and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a frying pan over medium/high heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture coats the pecans completely and the excess liquid is mostly reduced. Set aside, separating the halves from the chopped pieces.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it by hand on a floured surface into a log shape, roughly 3″ in diameter. Cut into 24 equal slices. Press the dough slices into the cupcake pans, using your fingers to shape the crust around the sides forming a small lip that extends slightly abovethe top edge. Fill the bottom of each crust with the caramelized pecan pieces.
5. Combine the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend until smooth. Fill each crust with an equal amount of filling. Place a caramelized pecan half in the center of each pielet.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes, until the centers the pielets have set and are firm to the touch.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool before removing from pans.

I asked the people in the pastry kitchen at work if they’d ever made pumpkin pie from scratch (using a whole pumpkin, rather than a can) and they said yes, but that it turned almost identical to the canned variety, albeit waterier, so that the extra work was in no way justified. I remain skeptical - while thankful for the convenience of modern canning technology (and certainly preparing a new batch of pumpkin puree for each of this recipe’s iterations would have rapidly become tiresome), I can’t help but suspect that, like with almost every other food product I’ve ever had, a skillfully prepared fresh dish would easily trump a mass-produced and preserved one. Perhaps one day when I have more time and druthers I’ll investigate further. First I should probably figure out what druthers are, and where some might be acquired.