Vegan Elderberry Pie -Perfect Pie Crust with an Incredible Filling

Very rarely do I ever see elderberry anything be it in a pie or jam. My mother in-law has 6 very large elderberry bushes and they produced a lot of berries this year. In one cut we have cleaned and bagged 17 cups of berries. This is a timely process because they are tiny and delicate but they need to be removed from there stems as they are bad for you.  After reading how raw elderberries ain't good for you I was shocked, I remember eating them raw as a kid. So elderberries need to cooked before you eat them.

Now this pie crust needs to be made prior at least 2 hours it a very simple recipe. I have combined a bunch of ideas from recipes to come up with this crust is very light and fluffy.  I have never even heard of the pastry flour till I read it on the blog Healthy-Happy-Life, wow this blew my pie crust out of the water. Now this is the only way I will make pie crust, the only variation I do is if its a sweet pie I add a splash of vanilla and if a savory pie I leave it out.

Pie Crust

2 1/4 cups Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour 

1 tbsp sugar 

1 tsp salt 

1 cup of Earth Balance Vegan Butter(cut into chunks and put in the freezer 30 min prior to using)

1/4 to 1/2 cups of ice cold water

splash of vanilla

Combined all the dry ingredients in a food processor with a dough blade and pulse to combined them. Add the butter and vanilla (if your making a sweet pie) and turn it on adding the water slowly till the dough forms a ball and cleans all the flour off the sides of the bowl. Then separate them into two balls and wrap in plastic wrap and put into the freezer.

Into the freezer for at least 2 hours

Now the filling is very simple only a few ingredients are need to make this pie which is the best way to make any thing. Now this is a basic pie filling recipe that can be used with most fresh fruits.

Pie Filling

4 cups elderberries washed and stemmed

6 tbsp flour

1 1/4 cups of sugar (bump it up a quarter cup if you want a really sweet filling

2 tbsp lemon juice

a sprinkle of cinnamon

All you gotta do is combined all the first 4 ingredients in a sauce pan heat till it starts to boil, now this one of those things that takes your  FULL ATTENTION. The sugar will melt fast and burn even faster before you know it it will be ruined, but this can be avoided by stirring constantly and right after it starts to boil then remove it from the heat source and let cool for at least 15 min before using stirring very couple of min. Now pull out your dough from the freezer and let warm up for about 10 min this will make it easier to roll out.

Pre-heat oven to 450 and roll out your dough one piece at a time after you roll the bottom out place into pie pan and shape into the sides. Place the filling in the bottom crust place the top crust over top and seal the sides by pressing together. Cut vent slots into the top to keep your pie from exploding out the sides. Now I don't like to waste any dough so I will always make little glass dish pies with the leftover filling and dough, perfect size for one person. bake at 450 for 10 min then turn down to 350 degrees and bake for 30 min.

This pie turned out so perfect, the taste was incredible and I loved that we picked the berries ourselves and made it.