Orange Chocolate Cream Pie {Vegan}
Well, it’s Mother’s Day this weekend, and you know the drill!
Look, not to be a total downer here, but I’m not a fan of Mother’s Day. First of all, much like other “Hallmark Holidays,” Mother’s Day is a made-up day to sell cards and flowers. Secondly, shouldn’t we treat our mothers nicely every day of the year, not just one day a year?
Okay, some of this is personal. I don’t have a mother. I haven’t had a mother in 16 years, and even before that, sometimes my relationship with her was challenging (I’m literally writing a book about it right now). As an adult, I do have a child, but I’m a single parent, so often the burden of celebrating the mom falls to the partner, not to the child, and I don’t have one of those.
So, yes, Mother’s Day sometimes makes me grumpy.
You know what doesn’t make me grumpy? Pie. That’s right. Pie is not going to let you down, on Mother’s Day or any other day of the year.
I wanted this Orange Chocolate Cream Pie to be vegan, so I made it vegan, but if you don’t have the ingredients, and you’re not vegan, just sub out for regular ones. Like, I used the Silk Vegan Whipping Cream for this, but if you’re not vegan, just use regular whipped cream, it won’t make any difference to the recipe.
Oh–chocolate because all moms love chocolate, obvs. I was inspired to make this Orange Chocolate Cream Pie when I tasted the Orange Dark Chocolate from Meru Chocolates. It’s incorporated right into the recipe. These guys are local, female-lead, and vegan. Oh–and other flavours include a plain dark chocolate, coconut, mint, and a salted caramel.
Orange Chocolate Cream Pie {Vegan}
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1.5 cups cookie crumbs I used biscoff, but oreo cookie crumbs would also be tasty
- zest of half an orange
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, melted or you can use regular butter if not vegan
For the filling
- 2/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice about 2 large oranges
- zest of one orange
- 2/3 cup non dairy milk I used oat
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp orange blossom water
- 1/4 cup vegan butter cut into small chunks
- 1 cup whipping cream vegan or regular
For garnish
- whipping cream vegan or regular
- finely chopped dark orange chocolate I used Meru
Instructions
To make the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the cookie crumbs to a bowl, and zest in your half an orange. Pour the melted butter over the cookie crumbs and mix well.
- Dump the cookie mixture into a 9" pie plate and press it into the bottom and up the sides
- Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until the sides start to get golden. Remove and allow to cool.
To make the filling
- In a medium saucepan, place the orange juice, zest, non diary milk, salt, sugar and cornstarch and whisk really well to combine everything, ensuring there are no lumps of cornstarch.
- Place over medium heat and bring up to the boil, whisking often. Once the mixture has boiled, whisk constantly for about 3-5 minutes, until it thickens.
- Remove from heat and stir in orange blossom water and the vegan butter. Stir until the butter melts into the the hot mixture.
- Pour the mixture into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, and then place it into the fridge to cool for an hour or two.
- Whip the cream to stiff peaks using a mixer or hand-held mixture.
- Carefully fold the orange mixture into the whipped cream, taking care to not deflate the whipped cream too much. Add in most of the chopped chocolate as well, reserving about 1/4 for garnish.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell, and place in the refrigerator to set, an hour or two.
- Garnish the finished pie with additional whipped cream and chocolate and serve.