Even though I used new crop cabbage and new crop potatoes, this would work nicely as a winter time pie too – winter cabbage isn’t as mild and tender as summer cabbage, but it is one of the few locally produced veggies that are available all year round in Finland.

The Crust:

• 4 and 1/2 dl whole wheat flour
• 1 dl canola oil
• 1 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 teaspoon salt

I first measured the flour and the salt in a large mixing bowl, and then added the oil and stirred with a fork until it formed crumbles. I added the yogurt and mixed until it was incorporated – the dough was still very crumbly, but kept together when pinched between two fingers. Then I pressed it on a pie tray greased with a little bit of margarine, and refrigerated while I prepared the filling.

The Filling:

• 7 and 1/2 dl chopped new crop cabbage (2/3 head)
• 2 big onions, sliced
• 2 medium potatoes, grated
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
• 1 dl plain unsweetened soy yogurt
• 1 teaspoon agave syrup
• 2 dl oat cream (or other vegan cream)
• 1 dl parsley leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 1/3 teaspoon ground allspice (maustepippuri in Finnish)
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons canola oil

I heated the oil in a frying pan, and fried the onions until they were soft, for about 6 minutes. Then I added the cabbage and fried it for about 5 minutes, and added the potatoes and garlic and kept on frying until they had softened too, which took some 7 minutes. Now, I added the rest of the filling ingredients in the pan, removed it from heat, and poured the filling in the pie crust.

Then I baked the pie in 175 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes, until the top had browned just a little bit, and the crust started to loosen from the sides of the pie tray.

The crust I made was really nice too, and its crunchy texture was a great compliment to the smooth filling. We’d left the sides of our springform pan over at a friend’s house, so had to use a pie tray instead, but that didn’t really cause any problems.

The Crust:

• 1 and 1/2 dl wheat flour
• 1/2 dl potato starch
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 1 tablespoon muscovado sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 50 g margarine, cold
• 2 tablespoons soy milk, cold

I first mixed the dry ingredients together, then added the cold margarine, and mixed with a fork until crumbly. Then I added the soy milk and stirred until the mixture was sticky, and then pressed in the bottom our prepared pie tray with fingertips dipped in cold water. I baked the crust for about 17-20 minutes in 175 degrees Celsius, on the middle rack of the oven, until the sides were just lightly brown. Then I let the crust cool down before preparing the filling.

The crust puffed up quite a bit during the baking process, but settled once removed from the oven.

The Filling:

• 350 g silken tofu (we had Mori-Nu firm)
• 200 g vegan chocolate
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons agave syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 dl coffee liqueur
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier liqueur

First, I melted the chocolate in a water bath, and set it aside to cool down a little. Then I measured everything else in a mixing bowl, and blended with our immersion blender until smooth. Now, I added the melted chocolate in the mix, and stirred until combined.

When the crust had cooled, I brushed the sides of our pie tray with a little bit of canola oil. Then I poured the filling over the crust, spread it with a butter knife, and made wavy shapes on the surface with a fork. Now, we refrigerated the pie overnight to let the filling settle, but the original recipe said it would be good to eat after two hours.

Agar agar keeps everything together, and I think scant 2 teaspoons is just the right amount – the filling is smooth and creamy, but keeps together nicely when cut. This pie is surely an easy way to impress friends and family! We brought this one to a dinner party, so no inside pics – I feel a little weird about bringing dessert and then taking pictures of my own portion.

No-Bake Graham Cracker Crust:

• 400 g whole wheat Digestives, finely ground
• 5 tablespoons brown rice syrup
• 5 tablespoons melted margarine
• 2 tablespoons soy milk

The crust is easy to make: everything just needs to be mixed together. The mix should have a consistency that keeps together when pinched with two fingers. After making the crust, Heikki covered the bottom of our 22 cm springform pan with a round piece of baking parchment, and then pressed the crust on the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Filling:

• 4 limes, zest and juice (about 1 dl of juice)
• 4 dl soy whip cream (or soy cream cheese and more soy yoghurt)
• 1 and 1/2 dl plain, unsweetened soy yogurt
• 1 dl plus 2 tablespoons sugar (or to taste!)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar (or extract)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons agar agar powder

The filling is almost as easy to make as the crust. I started with prepping the limes, and pouring the juice in a small cooking pot. Then I reserved about one teaspoon of the lime zest for garnish, and placed the rest of the lime zest in a mixing bowl along with the soy whip, the soy yogurt, sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt. Then I whipped these together until the mixture started to become a little fluffy.

I heated the lime juice on medium heat until it was at a gentle boil, removed the pot from heat, and sprinkled the agar powder in the pot while Heikki was whisking the juice. He whisked it for a little while, a minute maybe, until the powder had dissolved.

Now, Heikki moved on to whisk the contents of the soy-whip bowl, and I poured the lime-agar mixture in the bowl in a thin stream. When everything was all mixed up, we poured the filling in the crust, leveled the surface, and sprinkled the reserved lime zest over the pie. Then we popped the pie in the fridge and let it set overnight.

Frozen berries are my choice this time of year, but fresh ones would be nice – they’re a tad sweeter too, so probably need less sugar than indicated.

The Chocolate Crust:

• 3 dl wheat flour
• 1 dl dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 dl sugar
• 100 g vegan margarine, cold
• 4 tablespoons almond milk (or other vegan milk, or water), cold

This crust is pretty easy to make; I placed the flour, cocoa, sugar, and margarine in a bowl, and mixed with a spoon until crumbly. Then I added the almond milk and mixed until the dough came together, and held together when I pinched it with my fingers.

At this point, there are two options; the crust can be chilled and rolled out with a rolling pin, like I did with the mocha pie, or it can be just pressed in the pie tray as it is. The rolling pin method takes a little longer and the result looks a little more professional, but the latter method is quick and easy, and that’s what I needed this time.

After the crust was in the pie tray, I pre-baked it for fifteen minutes in 175 degrees Celsius.

The Raspberry Filling:

• 200 g frozen raspberries
• 300 g silken tofu (Mori-Nu for us)
• 1/2 dl plain soy yogurt
• 2 tablespoons potato (or corn) starch
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
• 3-4 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 and 1/2 dl sugar

Heikki mixed the tofu with our immersion blender until it was all smooth and creamy, and then whisked in the rest of the ingredients except for the berries. Then we added the berries and stirred until the filling was pale pink in color, and then poured it in the prebaked crust.

Now we baked the pie in 175 Celsius for 15 minutes. Heikki grated some 50 grams of semi dark chocolate, and we sprinkled that on top of the pie – the chocolate melts nicely when the pie is still warm, and if there’s some pie left to store in the fridge, it forms a crunchy layer over the filling.

The crust came out chewy like an oat cookie, and the vanilla ice cream we served this pie with complimented its tart fruit flavors quite perfectly. The filling would probably go nicely with the no-bake crust I used for the strawberry lime pie as well.

Oat Crust:

• 2 dl rolled oats
• 2 dl wheat flour
• 1 dl muscovado sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons rum
• 2 tablespoons oat milk

I combined the oats, wheat flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl, and then added the liquid ingredients one tablespoon at a time until the dough came together and was a little sticky. Then I covered the bottom of our spring form pan with a piece of baking parcment, greased the sides with a little margarine, and pressed the crust in the pan. I baked the crust in 175 degrees Celsius for about 14 minutes, until just lightly browned, and let it cool down while I prepared the filling.

The Filling:

• 4 dl mango puree (unsweetened, or pureed fresh mangoes)
• 1 dl sultanas
• juice and zest of one lime
• 1 and 1/2 dl plain soy yogurt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 dl water
• 2 teaspoons agar agar powder

FIrst, I placed the mango puree, sultanas, lime zest, and soy yogurt in a mixing bowl, and let the mixture come to room temperature for about fifteen minutes. This made the sultanas soften up a little bit as well. Then I blended the filling with an immersion blender until the sultanas were all mashed up. Now I seasoned the filling with lime juice and sugar, alternating between a squeeze of juice and a tablespoon of sugar, until the balance was just right – not too tart and just sweet enough.

I heated the water in a small cooking pan, and when it was almost boiling, sprinkled the agar agar powder in the pan, whisking all the time. The mixture thickened almost immediately, but I kept on whisking for a few seconds to make sure all of the agar had dissolved, and then removed the pan from heat.

I scraped the agar mixture out of the pan and poured it in the mango bowl, whisking whisking whisking away as vigorously as I could to avoid lumps. Now, I poured the filling in the crust, covered the pie with plastic wrap, and immediately placed it in the fridge to chill for 5 hours – overnight would be even better. It is important that the pie isn’t moved once the filling starts to thicken, or it won’t set properly.

Once the pie was set, we enjoyed our slices with a generous scoop of vanilla soy ice cream.

The crust is speckled from the coarse muscovado sugar we use.

The crust wasn’t actually as thick as it seems in the photo – that’s a really tiny slice of pie, since there wasn’t much left the next day…

Crust:

• 20 Digestive graham crackers (about 300 g)
• 5 tablespoons margarine, liquid or melted
• 2 tablespoons dark syrup

Filling:

• 3 dl frozen strawberries
• 1 and 1/2 dl granulated sugar
• 2 dl vegan whippable vanilla sauce (or vegan whip cream)
• 1 dl plain unsweetened soy yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• zest and juice of 2 limes (1/2 dl juice)
• 1 (and 1/2) teaspoon agar agar powder

Heikki made the crust while I was preparing the filling. He ground the digestives, and then mixed the crumbs with margarine and syrup until thoroughly combined. Then he covered the bottom of our spring form pan with a piece of parchment paper, and pressed the crust evenly in the bottom and up the sides of the pan with his fingers.

I didn’t have time to defreeze the strawberries, so I placed them in a bowl with the vanilla sauce, soy yogurt, lime zest, and sugar, and mixed the whole thing with an immersion blender until it was smooth and pink. Now, I filled our kitchen sink with hot water, and placed the bowl in the sink. This warmed up the mixture, so that the agar that I added later wouldn’t get shocked by the coldness.
Now, I heated the lime juice over medium heat in a small sauce pan until it was barely boiling, and sprinkled the agar powder in the pan while whisking vigorously. I kept on whisking until the agar had dissolved, for about a minute or two, and then removed the pan from heat. Then I spatulated the agar lime mixture in the strawberry bowl, and whisked the filling briskly for a minute or so. I poured the filling in the pie crust, levelled the surface of the pie, and refrigerated it until we were too impatient to wait any longer.

By the next day, what was left of the pie had firmed up the way it should. I still think it could have been a little firmer, so using a little extra agar would be a good idea in this recipe. I used 1 teaspoon, but I think that adding 1/2 teaspoon more would be just the perfect amount.

The ingredients were improvised from what we had in the house, and we managed to use up a few items that had been sitting in the fridge since pizza night; half a bell pepper and a small chunk of Cheezly vegan cheese. I don’t think Cheezly contributed to the taste very much. The quiche was delicious, and with some more elegant garnishes could very well be served to guests as well. I had a slice for lunch the next day, as pictured above, and the flavors were even better after a night in the fridge.

Crust:

• 3 and 1/2 dl wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 dl liquid vegan margarine
• 1 dl plain unsweetened soy milk

First, I mixed the flour, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Then I poured the margarine and the soy milk in the bowl, and mixed the dough with my hands until it formed a firm ball. Now, I rolled it out with a rolling pin to form a round shape a little larger than our pie tray. After Heikki had greased and floured our pie tray, I placed the crust in it and evened up the edges.

Filling:

• 2 small onions, finely diced
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil for frying
• 2 dl walnuts
• 350 g firm silken tofu (we had 1 package of Mori-Nu)
• 20 g Cheezly Edam (optional)
• 1 dl soy milk
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

First, Heikki diced and fried the onions in olive oil until they had browned a bit. Meanwhile, I placed the walnuts, the tofu, soy milk, lemon juice, and vegan cheese in a bowl, and mixed them with our immersion blender until the mixture was smooth and light brown. Now, I added the rest of the ingredients, stirred with a spoon to combine, and adjusted saltiness. Then I poured the filling in the crust.

Garnish:

• 1/2 small red bell pepper

Heikki sliced the bell pepper thinly, and I arranged the slices over the walnut filling.

Now, we baked the pie on the middle rack of the oven, in 175 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Then we placed the pie on the lower rack of the oven, baked an additional 10 minutes, and let it cool down for 15 minutes.

I got this recipe from a friend, who had tried and liked the original non-vegan version. My filling has silken tofu and soy yogurt instead of eggs and cream, and I added some vanilla and rum extracts to compliment the coffee flavor. Our servings were decorated with a few shavings of my precious vegan white chocolate, a name day gift I got from Heikki on Sunday.

First, I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Crust:

• 3 and 1/4 dl wheat flour
• 1 dl dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 dl granulated sugar
• 150 g vegan baking margarine
• 2 tablespoons cold water

I mixed everything together with my fingers, until a stiff dough appeared. I formed the dough in a ball shape, then wrapped it in plastic wrap, and refrigerated for an hour and a half.

Then I placed the dough on a lightly floured sheet of baking parchment, and rolled it in a circular form with a rolling pin, until it was a little larger than my pie dish. Now, I greased and floured my pie dish, and then placed the crust in the dish with the help of the baking parchment, removed the parchment, and leveled the sides along the upper rim of the dish.

I prebaked the crust in the lower part of the oven, preheated to 175 degrees Celsius, for 20 minutes. After baking the crust, I let it cool for about 10 minutes, while I was preparing the filling.

Filling:

• 350 g (1 package) silken tofu (we had Mori-Nu Firm)
• 1 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 and 1/2 dl granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 dl very strong coffee (brewed with a Moka Express)
• 1/2 dl canola oil
• 2 tablespoons barley (or potato or corn) starch
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To make the filling, I just mixed everything up with a hand held immersion mixer. It took about 5 minutes until the tofu had become completely smooth, and the sugar had melted. Now, I poured the filling in the prebaked crust, and baked the pie on the middle rack of the oven for about 20 minutes, until the filling had settled somewhat.

Topping:

• 100 g vegan chocolate

I shredded the chocolate and sprinkled it over the pie when it was still hot, so that the chocolate melted a little. Now I refrigerated the mocha pie for a few hours, and when chilled, the chocolate turned into a crunchy layer.

We use a lot of plain soy yogurt in cooking, but there is only one really good brand sold in Finland, called Alpro. Their organic plain yogurt is not sweetened and it is pretty thick and tangy, like Bulgarian yogurt. I can’t remember buying any Alpro products in the US, but in Europe they are widely available.

Another ingredient liberally used in this recipe is the egg replacer powder, the brand sold in our local organic shops is called NoEgg by Orgran. I use it a lot these days, because it is a relatively new ingredient for me, and I want to find out how it works in different things. It can always be replaced with another starch, corn or potato. In this crust I think it could simply be left out. The crust is pretty similar to regular graham cracker crust, it probably just keeps together slightly better before refrigerating.

Crust:

• 1 dl liquid baking margarine, or melted margarine
• 3/4 dl raw cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy milk
• 1,5 dl wheat flour
• 1 dl spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons egg replacer powder

Cream cheese filling:

• 1 dl plain soy yogurt
• 100 g (half a package) Tofutti Creamy Smooth Original soy cream cheese (this is the only brand we have in Finland)
• 3/4 dl granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 3 teaspoons egg replacer powder

Blueberry filling:

• 200 g frozen blueberries
• 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch

First, I prepared the baking pan, 22 cm in diameter with a detachable bottom (don’t know what this is called in English). I greased it lightly with margarine and covered with bread crumbs. The oven was still hot after baking the macaroni casserole, so I just adjusted the heat to 175 degrees Celsius.

I made the crust by mixing the margarine, sugar and soy milk first. In another bowl, I mixed the dry ingredients, added this to the wet mix, and stirred until everything was combined. Then I spread the crust in the baking pan, dipping my fingers in flour every once in a while to make it easier.

I prepared the two fillings by just mixing the ingredients in two small bowls. I poured the blueberries in the crust, and then spooned the soy cream cheese filling on top, until it covered the berries completely. Finally I smoothed the surface to make the pie prettier, and put it in the oven for 40 minutes. Towards the end of the baking, I checked it every 5 minutes to see if the crust had browned and the filling settled.

We let the pie cool down for an hour or so, and served it with our evening tea.

Here’s what I used:

Dry ingredients:

• 1,5 dl spelt flour

• 2 dl wheat flour

• 2 tablespoons corn starch

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom

• 1 dl raw cane sugar

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Liquid ingredients:

• 2,5 dl soy milk

• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar (or lemon juice or other vinegar)

• a few drops almond extract (karvasmantelioljy in Finnish)

Topping:

• 1,5 dl crushed fresh lingonberries

• 2 small Ingrid Marie Apples (or other sweet apples), cubed

• 1 tablespoon corn starch

• 3 tablespoons raw cane sugar (should have used more)

First, I preheated the oven to 175 degrees celsius.

Then, I combined the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, and the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl. I set the soy milk mixture aside for a few minutes, while I covered the pie dish with margarine and bread crumbs. The vinegar curdled soy milk and it became a little thicker, like sour milk. Then, I added the liquid ingredients to the dry mix, and stirred just enough to smooth up the batter.

Now, I poured the batter in the pie dish, and baked this in the oven for 7 minutes or so. While the batter was baking, I mixed the topping ingredients. This pie/cake ended up slightly too bitter, so it might be a good idea to add a little more sugar in the topping. I took the pie from the oven and spooned the topping on top, and then baked the pie/cake for another 20 minutes or so, until a toothpick inserted came out clean.

We had this piecake with vanilla sauce, which is really easy to make: poured 4 dl soy milk in a small cooking pan, added some sugar and 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar, heated on medium heat just until boiling, then, while stirring constantly to avoid clumps, added 2 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with a little water, and cooked for a few minutes until the sauce thickened.