what is this, you ask? well, they are candied hibiscus flowers that jumped at me as I was busy doing my shopping at Trader Joe’s.
yes, they did indeed attack me and force me to take them home. now that was an “offer” I couldn’t refuse!
intriguing little suckers, aren’t they? I have yet to bite into one, but I’ll be sure to update you as soon as I do. provided it doesn’t bite back…
I bought a huge bag of organic apples at Lassen’s the other day, and unfortunately they started showing signs of extreme fatigue soon after I put them in the fridge. what better way to get rid of them than to use them for a pie?
the crust is my (and my mom’s) favorite crust, ever: foolproof, crispy, and delicious. now, there are two things when it comes to baking that I really dislike doing: piping frosting onto cupcakes, and rolling down pie crusts. that’s why I love this one so much, it’s so easy to simply press it down into the pie plate!
I found it in the Nov/Dec 07 issue of Vegetarian Times, but I use vodka instead of the water [or egg] they recommend in their version.
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 T sugar in the raw
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 cup vegan margarine, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup + 2 T COLD vodka
place first 3 ingredients in food processor. pulse a few times until combined.
add margarine, pulse a few more times until combined.
add vodka, process until dough comes together.
remove from processor, press down in a greased 9-inch pie plate.
place crust/pie plate in fridge for half an hour.
preheat oven to 375F, cover with foil and uncooked beans/pie weights. bake for 10 minutes, place filling in crust and keep on baking.
I actually used 2 huge apples for this, grabbed a custard recipe, adding only a few tablespoons of the stuff to pour onto the apple prep. I also used soy creamer instead of soy milk, arrowroot for the custard powder, and ended up adding 1 T of flour in order to get it thicker.
I added 1 T of flour to the cored, peeled, cut-in-slices apples, 1/4 cup sugar in the raw, 1/4 t ground ginger, and 1/4 t ground nutmeg.
all in all, I baked the pie for about 45 minutes (not including the pre-baking time for the crust), turning it every now and then to be sure it’d bake evenly. once I let it cool down for 2 hours or so, it came out of the pan without any effort on my part, and in one piece. woohoo!
last but not least, have a look at the upper right corner of the blog: the oh-so-talented Cakespy drew one of her whimsical cupcakes for me to use as a link to that LiveJournal vegan food blog community I’ve been yammering about incessantly. holy crap!!!
I am spoiled rotten, what can I say?
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Wow, candied hibiscus…? How did I miss this, I was at TJ’s 3 days ago! I’m terribly intrigued to hear what you think.
And of course, that pie looks ridiculously perfect.
Ha ha, we have the same culinary-task dislikes! (my secret-whenever you see a picture of a cupcake I frosted, chances are there are only two others like it as I get tired of piping and the rest of the cupcakes get a hasty slathering o’ frosting). I shall try that pie crust recipe, I don’t think I’ve ever had success with a pie crust. That pie looks amazing!
And OMG I love the cupcake advertising the lj community, so cute!
The candied hibiscus is seriously blowing my mind right now! I love all things hibiscus and just the thought of them covered in candy is almost too much to handle. And they are so gorgeous too, almost too pretty to eat. But just almost.
a friend just told me that if you like rosewater, you’ll like these flowers. I.can’t.wait!
Celine, where’s my slice?? Make sure you cut it big, please. :)
That is a beautiful pie. Wish I could make pies! :(
your treats and your photographs look absolutely terrific here. yum!
Vodka? In a pie crust? How does that replace egg? I need to know (pretty please)! Will any alcohol do? I’m thinking Calvados would be awesome for an apple pie, and the possibilities are endless for other alcohol-laced pie crusts (Kahlua crust with a chocolate cream filling anyone?)
Looks gorgeous, by the way!
so being the non-vegan that i am, the original recipe was literally just one egg in place of the vodka? not that i’m against trying the alcohol substitution (that sounds awesome!) but i’ve been looking for an easy from-scratch pie crust recipe myself! thank you celine!! –ooooner
Patricia, I really wish I could! we’d trade our goodies and have a blast, that’s for sure. :)
Amber: no, the original recipe was one egg or the amount of water written above. I simply gave a try to using vodka. :)
Sarah: I wouldn’t know about using other alcohol, but as I have written in my latest post, it really didn’t make any difference from when I made the exact same crust with water instead of vodka, so why bother? it’s cheaper to use water. ha!
Meghan: you’re too kind! thank you for saying.
Jackie: you can too make pies. if I can, everyone can.
The candied hibiscus is soooooo pretty! And that apple pie looks amazing. I need to post my recipe for tarte tatin sometime soon.
Those candied hibiscus are so cool! I gotta look for them at my TJ’s tomorrow.
I just went to Trader Joe’s two days ago,
Didn’t see anything like those flowers,
Mmmmm…I have to go back again and check it out!
I’m always looking for a good pie crust recipe, it seems the popular ones all have vodka in them!