Pumpkin pie probably takes part in just about every American household for our upcoming day of Thanksgiving. Next to my grandmother’s apple pie, it has always been one of my favorites. But, in the traditional version of this holiday dessert, pumpkin, a seemingly nutritious food is combined with a good deal of fat and cholesterol with the use of evaporated milk and eggs. By replacing the milk and eggs with silken tofu it’s possible to reduce the overall fat count by 27 grams or a little over 3 grams per serving. Three grams may not seem significant, but during a season where we are surrounded by so many high fat high calorie foods every little bit helps.

For those of you who are beginning to turn away because you can’t imagine eating tofu especially in a dessert, please try it at least once. I have served this pie on several occasions to groups of people who are not the least bit health conscious. This pie has received raves every time, and I guarantee no one had any idea it was made with tofu!

If you do brag about your success in serving a vegan pumpkin pie to unsuspecting guests, just remember it is still a dessert. If you haven’t tried making your pie crust with Spectrum’s non-hydrogenated shortening I highly recommend it. I have had some people provide me with feedback after switching to Spectrum, and I would love to hear yours as well.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

• 1 - 9″ pie crust, blind baked and cooled
• 1 - 15 oz. can pure pumpkin puree
• 1 - 12.3 oz package extra firm silken tofu (I prefer Mori-Nu brand)
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 t. cornstarch
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground ginger
• 1/4 t. ground cloves
• 1/8 t. ground nutmeg (preferably freshly ground)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Combine all pie filling ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour into prepared pie shell.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake an additional 40-50 minutes or until the pumpkin custard is set.

Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Note: If your crust begins to get overly brown, cover outer edge with foil or use a pie crust shield which can be purchased in most grocery and hardware stores.

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• 2 large stalks rhubarb, small dice
• 1 1/2 c. black cherry juice
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3 t. orange juice concentrate

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until liquid has reduced by half and is nice and syrupy.

Makes a wonderful dessert topping on vanilla ice cream or a great drizzle on savory grilled and roasted meats.

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This pudding is a great way to utilize stale bread and over-ripe bananas, but you don’t have to wait for the bread to stale to make the pudding. I like my bread very dry when starting this recipe. To achieve this, simply cut the bread in cubes, spread on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree F oven and bake until the bread has completely dried out. This will take approximately 25 minutes. Alternatively, you can cut-up a fresh loaf of bread, place the cubes in a paper bag and allow to dry out over a couple of days.

For the pudding:

• 1 stale French baguette, roughly cut in 1 1/2” pieces
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 3 ripe bananas
• 2 cups milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Grease a 9” x 13” baking dish. Arrange stale bread in dish in an even layer and set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until evenly combined.

In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork. It’s okay to leave some large chunks of banana. To the bananas, add milk, eggs and vanilla. Stir to thoroughly combine. Add sugar mixture and stir well.

Pour custard (banana and milk mixture) over bread in baking dish pressing down on bread to make sure it is submerged in the custard. Cover with and refrigerate for one hour to allow the bread to soak up the custard.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Keep pudding covered and bake in center of oven for 45 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking an additional 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center come out clean.

For the sauce:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dark rum

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large skillet and add the brown sugar. Stir to combine. The mixture will be thick and grainy.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the rum. Stir to combine and return to medium heat. When the mixture begins to simmer, carefully light the sauce with a long match. Keep the liquid on the heat and allow it to continue to bubble and flame. The flames will go away when the alcohol has been burned off. If you are unable to get the sauce to flame, simply allow the sauce to simmer for about 4 minutes to allow the alcohol to burn away.

Serve warm over warm bread pudding.

Optional addition: After the alcohol of the sauce has burned off, add about 2 tablespoons of milk or heavy cream to make a rum caramel sauce.

Note: Keep the sauce warm by placing it in a pitcher in a pan of simmering water. This is also a great way to gently heat the sauce after it’s been refrigerated.

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• 1 pint blueberries, picked over and washed
• 1 c sugar, divided use
• 8 egg yolks
• 3 c heavy cream
• 1 c whole milk, divided use
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise

In a saucepan, heat the blueberries and 1/4 cup of the sugar over medium heat. Stir occasionally and cook about 10 minutes or until berries begin to pop. Set aside to cool and refrigerate until ready for use.

While berries cool, stir together the egg yolks and remaining 3/4 cup sugar. The egg yolks and sugar should be thoroughly mixed together.

Combine cream, 1/2 cup milk, salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the halved vanilla bean and add seeds and split bean pods to the cream mixture. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, prepare an ice water bath large enough to accommodate a 2 quart or larger stainless steel bowl.

When the cream and vanilla bean mixture has come to a simmer, whisk about half the cream into the egg yolk mixture adding the cream in a steady stream. Transfer the egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cook until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and an instant-read thermometer registers 180 degrees F. This will take about 8 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup milk.

Pour the custard through a fine sieve or cheese cloth lined colander into the stainless steel bowl set over the prepared ice water bath. Stir to cool custard completely and freeze the ice cream according to the directions of your ice cream maker.

While the ice cream is freezing, place a large mixing bowl in the freezer to chill. When the ice cream has frozen in the maker, transfer it to the chilled mixing bowl. Fold in the chilled blueberry mixture until swirled. Return mixing bowl to freezer and freeze for at least 90 minutes for a firm texture.

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• 2 crust pie-pastry
• 3 pints blueberries, picked over and washed
• 1 c sugar
• 6 T cornstarch
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and lemon juice. Allow the mixture to sit while rolling out and lining the bottom of a deep dish pie plate.

Add prepared fruit to lined pie plate and top with remaining crust. Vent top crust by cutting slits with a knife.

Place pie in oven and bake for approximately 1 hour or until juices are bubbly and crust is golden. Allow to cool before cutting and serving.

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