The cooler weather has stirred a desire for pumpkin pie. The flavor of pumpkin is strongly tied in the minds of Americans to the autumn season, and everywhere I seemed to turn this week, I saw ads for pumpkin-flavored this or pumpkin-flavored that.
The traditional pumpkin pie is a dairy dessert that uses evaporated milk or sweetened condensed milk depending upon one's recipe. But for vegans and those following kosher dietary laws who wish to eat the dessert after a meat meal, traditional pumpkin pie is a no-no.
I mentioned to my mother that I thought I'd experiment with making a parve pumpkin pie. She said she tried to make one a dozen or so years ago using soy milk, but she was dissatisfied with it. She mentioned in particular that the filling failed to set up properly, and she suggested trying almond milk instead.
I found online a suggestion about thickening almond milk with rice flour, and following that idea — slowly adding roughly 1/3 c. white rice flour a to 1 1/2 c. almond milk cooking on a low flame while whisking vigorously to get an almost roux-like paste — I prepared the pumpkin pie.
The top of the filling developed cracks like a cake. I must admit I'm a bit wary of what the texture will end up tasting like, but it's on tonight's menu as the dessert, and I'll report the results in this space in a couple of days.