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The official Vegan Pie in the Sky review thread (to be updated)!

Add reviews for Vegan Pie in the Sky: 75 Out-of-This-World Recipes for Pies, Tarts, Cobblers, and More by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero here, and they will be added to the compilation.

Pie Crusts
Buttery double crust
I've made this several times and it's delicious. I've had a bit of trouble rolling it out (it seems to stick pretty easily), but the end result has always been good. It stays flaky and buttery and delicious. The last time I made it, it had perfect flavor and texture (but I did have to attempt rolling out 1 of the crusts twice). I always made it with 6 tablespoons of each EB and shortening (instead of eight), because that was changed after testing. I'd try it with the 8, and definitely make this again. (AC)
A fine crust. It rolls out well, and didn't stick to anything. It's flaky enough, but I think it's worth a go with vodka. I'll have to try that next time. Despite the inclusion of eb, I think that the shortbread crust has much more of a buttery thing going on. (fb)
Vodka dough

Olive oil double crust
I had a bit more trouble with this dough. I think the recipe has been modified since testing, but it was difficult for me to work with. While mixing it together, the texture just became strangely flaky...weird flake pieces not coming together. The end result was good, and I was actually able to roll it out pretty well to make a lattice, so I would definitely try it again. (AC)
This is delicious. The dough smelt really vinegary before baking so I was a little worried about it, but it ended up being my favorite part of the (appleberry) pie. (sog)
Fantastic. I had always used a recipe here on vegweb that uses only oil for pie crust, because it comes out very flaky and just great. This is the same. I think one could easily sub with canola oil or the like, because there is still that olive oil flavor there (though I'm sure it depends on the olive oil, since mine is pretty strongly flavored). (fb)
I tried this again, using canola oil (also freezing it). It worked out great, just as flakey as the olive variation, with the benefit of no olive taste. I used it as a lattice crust for the sweet potato cobbler, and it browned and worked better that way than the buttery double crust.  (fb)
Puffy pie dough
A little bit disappointed in this. I remember everyone raving about it during testing, but I didn't love it. I used So Delicious coconut milk yogurt, but my dough was quite sticky and not the easiest to work with. I didn't really find it all that puffy at all, either. I assume mine just didn't turn out quite right, but there was nothing really wrong with it..just didn't really deliver for the amount of work. Everyone else loved it in the blueberry handpies. (AC)
This stuff is pretty good. It turned out slightly lighter than your usual buttery crust but I don't know if I'd call it 'puffy' by any means. All in all, good stuff. Can't wait to make hand pies using this recipe. (sb)
Hm, this was fine, but my least favorite only because the others are so good. It's not really puffy, so there's that. But it functions fine. (fb)
Single (and loving it!) pastry crust
Good, basic crust. Pretty easy to work with; be sure to roll it thin enough. (AC)
did the job just fine. Worked well. (andini)
Very easy to make, and flakier than the buttery double crust. (fb)
Shortbread tart shell
Delicious! Very rich, but very good. Great that you can press it in. (AC)
Also very easy to make, and incredibly decadent. You could use this dough to make some awesome shortbread cookies, I think. If I was making a pie to impress (especially the more decadent omni-food inclined), I would absolutely choose this crust. (fb)
Good basic crust.  Mine turned out wonderfully flaky! (lotus)
Chocolate shortbread tart shell
Yesssssss. It is everything that the shortbread crust is but very CHOCOLATY. If you do not care for your waistline and want tasty pies, the shortbread crusts are where it's at. Great texture, rolled out easily. (fb)
Yum! This came together quite easily when I mixed with my hands. It took a tiny bit of patience to make sure to evenly press it all into the sides, then bottom of shell, but it worked out very well. I actually used some dark cocoa powder, so it was definitely chocolaty! I messed up and baked it too many times for the pie recipe, but it was still great. Didn't puff up. Pretty darn easy. Great for the baked strawberry tart. I made this one as 1 big 9-10" tart. When I made the mini strawberry tarts with regular shortbread crust, I preferred those warmish, but this was much better later in the day. Will make again. (AC)
Graham cracker crust
I used a previous version of this as the "cookie crumb crust" using gingersnaps. It was good, but I preferred the actual gingersnap crust recipe. (AC)
Chocolate cookie crust
I used Late July brand chocolate sandwich cookies, which are kind of dry, but worked well here. I was just shy of all the crumbs I needed, so I used about a 1/2 cup ground almonds, and this was fantastic! I also tried the canola oil option, and I thought this was too greasy--I think I'll stick to EB or even the coconut oil in the future. (veganrun)
I probably shouldn't review this because I didn't really follow the recipe, but other people may make the same mistakes I did...so anyway.  I used oreos instead of chocolate wafers.  I reduced the amount of margarine because I figured the "cream" in the cookies would add some fat/oil.  I don't think I reduced it enough because the crust was gooey instead of crumbly.  After I baked it, it was kind of chewy.  Just be aware of that if you're using oreos.  I'm pretty sure that's where I went wrong. (lotus)
Made this with Annie's chocolate bunny grahams, and it was excellent. I had a bit less than 1 1/2 cups crumbs, but kept everything the same, and it was excellent. The flavor of the chocolate grahams was great. Texture was slightly moist, but baked well. Held together well, and not grainy. (AC)
Lemon cookie crust

Vanilla cookie crust
I used homemade vanilla wafers for the Boston creme cake pie, which worked well! I thought it could have used a little spice like cinnamon or nutmeg or something, but overall good. (sog)
I used the Mi-Del wafers (they seemed to be suggested?), and damn, those things seem awfully greasy. I didn't notice at first as I munched on a few, but I put those things in the food processor and I got oil out of them. Straight oil! Anyway, this worked well as a crust, and tastes like nilla wafers with the Mi-Del cookie. After this, I got pretty lazy and just used crushed cookies, but this is still an easy and quick recipe. (fb)
Made this using homemade vanilla wafers and it was pure heaven underneath the blueberry cheesecake. LOVE IT! (sb)
Black and white crust

Gingersnap crust
Super simple and very good. Loved it. (AC)
I used gingersnap crust in the pumpkin pies, which worked great. Man, I love gingersnaps, and this recipe like all the cookie crusts comes together pretty easily. Only inconvenience is it gets your food processor dirty. (fb)
Chocolate olive oil crust
I didn't like this so much. It's not too sweet, and doesn't actually come off that chocolatey. It's not bad, but the chocolate shortbread one is definitely better. (fb)
Buckwheat double crust

Press in almond crust
Very, very good. Super good in the pear tart. It's crisp with bite, but still tender. Delicious. (AC)
So good--like a “grown-up” graham cracker crust. I’m pretty lazy, so I like a good press-in pie crust. In the food processor, this took just a mere 2 or so minutes, start to finish. Fantastic. (veganrun)
Made it for Thanksgiving and it was AWESOME! Was the star of the pear tart! (schmige)
Pretty great. It crisps up really well, and yeah, kind of like a graham crust (to get more of that effect, I might use brown sugar and more cinnamon). It has a tiny bit of chewiness to it. I think it'd be a good alternative to a cookie crust. (fb)
Fruit pies
She's my cherry pie

Maple kissed blueberry pie
HELL YEA. The maple and lemon and blueberry go SO WELL together. I wasn't expecting to be crazy about this, but it's great and a pretty simple pie. Would make again. (fb)
frakking delicious. Bf seal of approval. Maple + blueberry=<3. (sog)
Blueberry thrill pie

Pucker up raspberry pie
Quite pleasant. I used frozen raspberries, and the amount of sugar called for was perfect. A simple pie. It didn't taste vinegary or anything, in case anyone's worried about the balsamic. Goes well with one of the creams (used the macadamia creme, but would go well with rad whip or coconut creme too). (fb)
Blackberry bramble pie
This came out more tart than I was expecting, but was still good. It was just a bit too tart, and too juicy. I used the blackberry liqueur. (AC)
I had some issues with this pie. I used frozen berries and upped the cornstarch to 4 T instead of 3 but it turned out like soup! After cutting the first slice, I scooped out as much juice as I could added another 2 T of cornstarch mixed with water and popped it back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Thankfully that worked, but the pie was still very tart. I think next time I'll 86 the lemon juice altogether and up the sugar just a touch. I like that the natural tartness of the blackberries was able to shine through, but it was overkill to have lemon zest AND lemon juice. It was a just slightly too sour. I was going to bring this pie into work, but it's really not that good. If I made this again, I'd definitely adjust the recipe. (sb)
Strawberry rhubarb crumb pie
My favorite pie so far! I used frozen rhubarb and fresh strawberries. So good. I would even consider doing this as a crumble with just the fruit and topping. Definitely all balanced. I love the sweetness with the tart, and the tiny bit of cinnamon. I was thinking I might want more cinnamon, but I like as is. I think I baked it a little less. (AC)
Never used rhubarb before until this. My frozen strawberries were quite tart, so the rhubarb blended in well. I was afraid the rhubarb would retain some crispiness, but it didn't, it softened up. The crumb topping is GREAT, but I had trouble fitting everything (strawberries, rhubarb, topping) in my half pan thing (made half the recipe). Most of the time there's always a little extra filling with that type of pan, but this was a whole lot. To top it off, I was using scant measurements 'cause I didn't have that much rhubarb. Hm. Anyway, I don't think I would have liked the tart-ish filling as much without that crumb topping. It really made it. (fb)
Appleberry pie
P's favorite! My pie was golden and bubbling after about 52 minutes. I had some juices bubbling up on the side, but not bad. When I cut into the pie, there is a TON of liquid. Like...a good depth of the pie. I don't know why! I wasn't a huge fan of the still kinda crispish apples. I loved the berries. The crust came out tasting good and good texture. I guess the bottom crust is soggy because of the liquid, but that didn't really bother me. I liked the flavor, but it wasn't my favorite. (AC)
This is delicious. I used the olive oil crust recipe, and the dough smelt really vinegary before baking so I was a little worried about it, but it ended up being my favorite part of the pie. I read AC's review beforehand and since she said it was very liquidy, I added an extra T or two of cornstarch to the filling. I don't think this was necessary as mine was not very liquidy and the cornstarch seemed like too much.. next time I'll just stick to the recipe. But overall, this pie is very good. I used 3 medium granny smith apples and two cups of fresh black berries. I also used half WW pastry flour for the crust, and it came out wonderful! (sog)
Didn't enjoy this too much. We used a mixed berry thing and fuji apples, and it was just fine. Not amazing, not bad. I think that part of it were the apples, which didn't want to soften up too much. I think I might try this again with some apple i know will bake well, with blueberries or somethin. (fb)
Pearberry

Blueberry ginger handpies with lemon glaze
Pretty good. I didn't lovelove them, as others seemed to (including my family). I thought they were good, but missing something. I did an orange glaze instead of lemon. The crust wasn't puffy or flaky, and the filling was....good. Not worth the effort for me. I might be interested in trying the strawberry ones some time. My aunt really loved these, though. I was hoping for more for some reason, but did just come out with 8. Followed the recipe. (AC)
Pretty good, fairly plain. It's not super gingery, and has the advantage of being pretty simple. As a filling, I like the maple blueberry better. Assembly was a bit tricky, and would probably be much easier if I used fresh blueberries and not frozen. They oozed a bit, but nothing disastrous. (fb)
Strawberry field handpies
Also a little troublesome in making these (gooey-ness from frozen fruit). Still good, simple way to have pie. I think a variation like strawberry-ginger or strawberry-lime would be good. (fb)
Strawberries and cream tarts
Another favorite! So simple, but so flavorful. I liked the coconut cream, but prefer these with the rad whip.  It's surprising how good it is, because it's basically just strawberries! The baked flavor is delicious. Shortbread crust is great in these, but just slightly tedious to press into mini pans. The cream here is pretty coconutty, and the whip is more balanced. I baked for 30, because my crust didn't look golden. Loved them. (AC)
YES. The strawberry layer solidified well, the crust was great, and the sweet coconut cream was great here. Coconut just goes great with the tartness of strawberries. Nice little fancy thing that isn't too too hard to make. (fb)
I made this again, but did 1 big 9-10" tart and used the chocolate shortbread. I also used orange juice instead of lemon. It could have used a tiny bit more juice, but was great. (AC)
Ginger peach pandowdy

Plummy pandowdy

Blueberry lemon corn biscuit cobbler

Very berry chocolate chip cobbler
Delicious! Totally exceeded my expectations. I figured it would be good, but I love the berries and the chocolate. We both really loved it. I really missed the vanilla ice cream that we didn't have. Juicy, but not too much for a cobbler. I was afraid the biscuits wouldn't be totally done, but they were nice and firm, with a little crisp, and not soggy on bottom. The chocolate is excellent! I had to add another splash of milk to get my biscuit dough to come together, and wasn't really able to "fold" my chips in..but it didn't matter. I just scooped them up with the plops of dough. My berries were blue, rasp, strawb, and black..all frozen. (AC)
Summer fruit buckle cake
Delicious! It really is just the perfect little snack/brunch/coffee/tea type cake. The hint of almond (not too strong) with the bits of fruit. Texture is great. It's slightly gummy (not really gummy...) right under the fruit, but that's not a negative. It has a crisp top, and the cake was fluffy. I did the apricots, and also added just a couple strawberries in the middle. I didn't need 10 apricots (maybe sliced 1/2 that, and didn't even use all those). My bag was 2 pounds, and I didn't use 1/2 the bag. I even put my slices pretty close together and all the way around the cake. It tested done right at 45 min., and I think it was perfect. No issues with any sticking or anything. (AC)
Blueberies

Cherries and berries

Peach melba

Olive oil double crust
I tried this again, using canola oil (also freezing it). It worked out great, just as flakey as the olive variation, with the benefit of no olive taste. I used it as a lattice crust for the sweet potato cobbler, and it browned and worked better that way than the buttery double crust.

Chocolate olive oil crust
I didn't like this so much. It's not too sweet, and doesn't actually come off that chocolatey. It's not bad, but the chocolate shortbread one is definitely better.

Pucker up raspberry pie
Quite pleasant. I used frozen raspberries, and the amount of sugar called for was perfect. A simple pie. It didn't taste vinegary or anything, in case anyone's worried about the balsamic. Goes well with one of the creams (used the macadamia creme, but would go well with rad whip or coconut creme too).

Key lime pie
Similar results to AC, in that it firmed up a whole lot. However, I liked it fine. Sweet and limey, and while something creamier would be nice, it's fine. I'd like to make this with key limes (instead of regular) next time, and maybe use less of a thickening agent.

Strawberry kiwi creme tart
Well well. 1. the shortbread crust, as usual, is great. 2. Not always a fan of this fruit combo, but eh, you could really use anything anyway. 3. The cream. So, it's a number of steps and stuff to make this cream. I got it pretty much entirely smooth, which was surprising to me because it's VERY thick, and I was using my hand blender. It's a very good cream, and pretty almondy. If it were thinned out, it would make a good dessert topping.

Cosmos apple pie
A good, regular ole pie. I used the buttery double crust, which worked out fine but tbh one of the oil crusts would work better. The spices were fine, and in the future I might use a little less sugar, depending on the apples.

Apple brown betty
I was a little weirded out by using breadcrumbs a the topping (vs like oats in a crisp), but it was pretty good and to me, preferable to the apple crisp. This just had a little something that didn't.

Apple crisp
Pretty good, though the crisp topping will get soggy if it sits for any significant length of time.

Sweet potato Brazil nut crunch pie
Instead of brazil nuts (gross!), I used sliced almonds. It seems like a LOT of crunch topping stuff, but it all works out. I quite liked this despite not being a sweet potato fan; there's only so much sweet potato anyway, versus coconut milk and lime and rum... I liked it. The almonds were actually great as a topping, and IMO they go better with coconut stuff than other nuts anyway.

Sweet potato cobbler
Not such a huge fan, but partly my fault probably. Not a huge fan of sweet potato to begin with, but the syrup didn't totally work out. It would be helpful if it mentioned how much the liquid should be reduced by (which wasn't all that much for me, despite boiling it on a higher heat and waiting longer), 'cause it ended up still watery, and I couldn't fit even half of it with the sweet potatoes. As a result the filling was lightly flavored and not too sweet.

Chocolate hazelnut truffle tart
Ohhhhh yeahhhhhh. Initially I was thinking that this would be like chocolate hazelnut butter, but chocolate chips really are the main ingredient here. Still fairly hazelnutty. Don't eat this on a diet.

Brownie bottom peanut butter cheesecake
So I didn't even try adding banana after reading the views. The brownie crust is pretty good, but mostly eclipsed by the peanut butter filling. It's not really tangy like a cheesecake (though a little bit), and pretty peanut buttery. I think I might like the chocolate peanut butter tartlets better.

Chocolate mousse tart
The mousse is pretty much the regular silken-tofu-chocolate type of mousse thing. I added some kahlua to it to make things different. It was good and rich, and could be made just as plain mousse if wanted.

Salted chocolate caramel tart
I didn't use salt.
The caramel was good and pretty easy to make, though it was a bit thinner than I expected when setting up (cutting into the start would squish some caramel out, but it wasn't such a big deal because I made mini-tarts).

Rad whip
Some excellent stuff. A number of steps, but not too difficult. The texture of mine came out similar to the sweet coconut cream - fluffy and forms peaks, but doesn't stay. It doesn't particularly taste of any one of the ingredients, and I think goes better with the fruit pies than the others. It's funny, because if I didn't know better I'd assume this was made with silken tofu because of the texture and slight starchiness to it, but nope, no tofu. Also, I believe the recipe says it makes a lot, but making half the recipe, it's not so so much really.

Macadamia creme
I couldn't get this COMPLETELY smooth, but it's still pretty good nonetheless. Even though it's half macadamia and half cashew, it still has a pretty significant macadamia flavor. I think that in the book this is described as thick but pourable, and mine came out a bit thinner than that description. It's much thinner when initially making it, but it sets up a little in the fridge. Still, if I needed "thick" cream I would probably reduce the soymilk to 3/4 ot even 1/2 of what is called for. Good with everything.

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Press in almond crust
Pretty great. It crisps up really well, and yeah, kind of like a graham crust (to get more of that effect, I might use brown sugar and more cinnamon). It has a tiny bit of chewiness to it. I think it'd be a good alternative to a cookie crust.

French toast apple cobbler
Pretty good. There was a considerable amount of extra french toast batter, which thickened a bit while baking. The topping didn't really crisp up; maybe it should have had more time. The filling is good, general apple pie type filling. It's a creative dish, but I think I like the brown betty here; I'd rather just make french toast.

Pear frangipane tart
Most excellent. The almond crust is perfect, and the cream is quite thick and almondy, like a superalmond version of the creme used in the strawberry kiwi tart. Wouldn't have minded making a bigger portion of this - I made half the recipe as 3 mini-tarts (which worked out well). I used about 1 anjou pear; maybe it's less because of smaller tarts or something. Anyway, cooked quite beautifully and is a very presentable dish without being too complicated. Would make again.

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Coconut cream pie
Gotta be honest, not a huge fan. I like coconut, I like coconut cream pie, made this with a delicious gingersnap crust... I think I need my coconut to be baked or something, because as it is it's fairly plan, and the texture of the coconut is a wee bit rough (though using that really finely shredded Let's Do Organic stuff). I think I could do with it having some other flavoring or fruit. It set fine - not a dense gel or anything, but it'll slice easily and stay together. Wanted to like it.

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Maple kissed blueberry pie

frakking delicious. Bf seal of approval. Maple + blueberry=<3.

Pie bakers, where do you source your agar powder? I know there's lots of places to get it from online, but I'm just wondering if any of you get it from one place over another for a certain reason.

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Pie bakers, where do you source your agar powder? I know there's lots of places to get it from online, but I'm just wondering if any of you get it from one place over another for a certain reason.

I know a lot of people get theirs at Asian markets (brand starts with a T?) for cheap. Other than the stuff fb sent me, I had to order from VE.

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Yeah, I get it from an Asian market. It's like 69 cents for a 1 oz packet.

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Thanks AC and fb!

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