Wonderful, wonderful readers…how do I begin to thank you for your outpouring of love and kindness? Your comments, emails, messages and tweets have been a surprising source of comfort over the last few days. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

While I’m taking a little more time to be with family and recharge, I have a guest post by Elise from Hungry, Hungry, Hippie – one of the first blogs I ever read, and still one of my very favorites. Meeting Elise is on my bucket list…and this post just might the kick in the pants I need to get myself out to Southern California and visit (or move in with) her. Thank you, Elise!

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Dearest Yes, I Want Cake readers,

Let me first lower your expectations: I don’t have cute baby photos.  Or a Crossfit workout.  Or a delicious cake recipe. 

Katie has me there.  

But I do have this. 

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Truthfully, I never thought I’d be the kind of girl who would make a pie from scratch.  A vegan pie no less.  It’s just so…domestic.  

But every once in a while I surprise myself.  And now you get to benefit from the anomaly.  

Enjoy!

Double Pie Dough

[vegan, adapted from Vegan Pie in the Sky]

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 cup cold Earth Balance/coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp soy yogurt (I used plain but vanilla would work too)
  • 1/4 cup almond milk

Mix dry ingredients together and then cut in the cold butter/oil in chunks.  Use your hands to break up the chunks without overworking the dough.  It will be mostly floury with random butter bits.  That’s fine, though, don’t worry.  Next add the yogurt and almond milk.  Using your hands, mix and fold the dough until it has just come together.  Then cover the bowl in saran wrap and put it in the fridge to chill (at least 30 minutes). 

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Apple & Cranberry Pie Filling

[vegan] 

  • 1 really large apple (or 2 medium sized apples) 
  • 1 cup cranberries (I used frozen)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot/cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • pinch nutmeg
  • pinch salt

Chop apple (some people prefer to peel them first, but I didn’t) and mix it with the rest of the ingredients.  My cranberries were still fairly frozen, but it didn’t affect the recipe at all. 

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Split chilled dough in half – one portion for the bottom, one portion for the top.  If you have a rolling pin, great, roll out the dough and place it in a greased pie pan.  If you don’t have a rolling pin, you’re in good company.  I used my hands to press it into a pie pan shape, but a bottle of wine makes a decent rolling pin, too. 

Trim the edges of the dough.  Add in the filling.  Place the top layer of rolled out dough over the filling.  Press the edges together making a fancy shape.  Cut slits to let the air out. 

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Bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, then 5-10 minutes at 350.  Watch it at the end so you don’t burn the edges of the crust. 

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Enjoy! 

This was a nice balance of sweet and tart and the crust was flaky, soft, buttery perfection.  And I’m pretty sure the neighbors could smell it’s deliciousness from a mile away. 

Katie, I know it’s not cake, but is this good enough to lure you to Southern California??  

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