Tangy Lemon Pie
This is a delicious, lemony treat, free of dairy and cane sugar. I dedicate this recipe with enormous love to my dear friend Sally-Anne, who is the nicest thing I ever found in the Australian craft shop Lindcraft!
Seriously, they need to stock more Sally-Annes. Business would boom!😂
Prep time: about 30 minutes.
Cooking time: About 30 minutes.
Serves 6.
Ingredients.
Crust.
Rind and juice of one lemon.
Two cups of self-raising flour
One tablespoon of vanilla essence.
1 third of a cup of honey.
Half a cup of oil.
Filling
One cup of lemon juice
One cup of coconut cream
One cup of apple juice
The rind of two lemons
Half a cup of honey
Two tablespoons of oil
Two tablespoons of vanilla essence
Three tablespoons of corn flour.
A little apple juice or non-dairy milk.
Two egg yolks.
Topping
One egg yolk.
One large tablespoon of maple syrup.
One tablespoon of vanilla essence.
Baking the Base
To prepare the base, combine the oil, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, rind and honey into a dough. Mix the ingredients lightly until it only just forms crumbs. Do not mix the dough more than you absolutely must. Cover with clingwrap and refrigerate for five to ten minutes.
Once chilled, tip the dough into your pie pan and press it in with your fingertips.
Don’t bother trying to roll it out. The oil makes for a fragile pastry. It will hang together after baking, but it will not tolerate being rolled out like butter or Crisco pastry.
Bake the empty shell for five minutes at 220 c (428f).
Making the Filling
To make the filling, combine the coconut cream, apple juice, lemon juice, oil, rind, vanilla essence, and honey in a pot. Whisk together until smooth. Cook the mixture until it begins to bubble, stirring constantly.
Combine your corn flour and non-dairy milk (or apple juice). Stir it into a smooth paste.
Once a smooth paste has been formed with the corn flour, whisk it into the lemon and honey mixture. Return the mixture to heat. Whisk over heat until the mixture thickens up. When it reaches the bubbling point, beat in the egg yolks.
Pour the mixture into your pie crust and return it to the oven.
Bake until the filling becomes firm. This should take about fifteen minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven.
To create the topping, mix one egg yolk with a large tablespoon of maple syrup and a tablespoon of vanilla essence. Pour over the top of the pie. Return to the oven for about five minutes until the egg mixture is cooked.
Remove from the oven and allow it to cool. Decorate with shredded coconut and Lady Banks (or Banksia) rose. It is non-toxic and the delicate yellow looks so pretty on the pale yellow of the lemon pie.
Tips.
As with all my recipes, the above directions are more of a guide than a formula. When we cook with real food, results vary more than when we used highly processed food. That’s a good thing. It’s an opportunity to be creative and sensitive to our ingredients. Taste your mixture as you go and adjust accordingly.
