Description
This Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with Meringue Topping is a luscious, dairy-free dessert perfect for any occasion. Featuring a flaky vegan pie crust filled with a creamy, spiced sweet potato mixture and topped with a light vegan Italian meringue, this pie offers a perfect balance of sweetness and texture without any coconut ingredients.
Ingredients
Scale
Pie Crust
- 1 batch vegan pie crust
Filling
- 600 g sweet potatoes
- 125 ml soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 125 g silken tofu (soft or firm)
- 125 g vegan butter
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 100 g soft brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Topping
- 1 batch vegan Italian meringue (optional)
Instructions
- Make the pie crust: Prepare the vegan pie crust recipe up to step 6 as per your crust preparation guide.
- Preheat and prepare dough: Preheat your oven to 210°C (410°F). Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling out on a lightly floured surface to a circumference larger than your pie dish. Carefully lift and place dough into a 10.5″ (26 cm) pie dish using a rolling pin.
- Shape the crust: Lightly grease the base and sides of the pie dish with oil or vegan butter. Gently press the dough into the base and sides without stretching. Trim excess pastry with scissors and crimp edges by pinching with fingers or fork. Pierce several holes in the base with a fork.
- Blind bake the crust: Cut parchment paper into a circle slightly bigger than the pie, place over pastry, and fill with baking beads or dried beans/rice/lentils. Blind bake at 210°C (410°F) for 20 minutes. Remove beads and reduce oven to 175°C (347°F), bake for another 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on a rack.
- Cook sweet potatoes: Boil sweet potatoes in salted water for 25-30 minutes until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Peel once cool enough to handle.
- Prepare the filling: Blend cooked sweet potatoes, soy milk, and silken tofu until smooth in a high-speed blender. Add vegan butter, granulated and brown sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Blend until creamy and smooth. Pour filling into par-baked pie crust.
- Protect crust edges: Fold a sheet of foil in half lengthwise and place around the pie dish to shield edges from over-browning.
- Bake the pie: Bake at 175°C (347°F) for 45-55 minutes until the pie top is set with a slight jiggle and the crust is browned.
- Cool the pie: Let the pie cool to room temperature, at least one hour.
- Add meringue topping: Prepare a batch of vegan Italian meringue. Once the pie is completely cooled, spread the meringue evenly on top using a spatula. Optionally, you may torch or bake briefly to set the meringue if desired.
Notes
- Use soft or firm silken tofu as per availability and preference; it helps achieve a creamy texture.
- Ensure the vegan butter used is solid and suitable for baking to achieve a flaky crust and rich filling.
- Granulated sugar can be substituted with organic cane sugar or other vegan-certified sugars.
- Blind baking with baking beads or dried beans ensures the crust remains crisp and doesn’t puff up.
- To prevent crust edges from burning, use foil shields during the longer bake time.
- Allow the pie to cool fully before adding meringue to prevent melting.
- Optional: Lightly torch the meringue topping for a toasted appearance and flavor.
