Raw Pumpkin Pie
Fair warning on this one…it is a little time consuming but boy, is it worth it. I have had a couple of “pumpkin” pies that are made with cashews and carrots with pumpkin pie spice. They were good but tasted like carrot pie with cinnamon and nutmeg! Wanting a real pumpkin pie, but knowing that the challenge would be to get the starch taste out of it to make it palatable, I dehydrated it and then, softened it up again! Never going over the 116 degrees, the enzymes, vitamins and minerals are still intact!
Pumpkin is full of carotenoids which are really good at neutralizing free radicals. Pumpkin is also high in lutein, which helps protect your eyes and prevent macular degeneration. Full of antioxidants, pumpkins also have a lot of common nutrients, like iron, zinc, and fiber. Good for you and so good to eat! You will need to start this the day before. Actual time making it is not bad, but you will need to do a little soaking and dehydrating.
Raw Pumpkin Pie
SERVES 12
Crust
- 2 cups pecans (previously soaked and dried)
- 4 dates (soaked until soft)
- Put pecans into food processor with dates. Process until well ground.
- Press into 8″ tart pan
, wrap with plastic wrap or paper towels and place in refrigerator.
Filling
- 1 medium sugar pumpkin (not the kind you carve for Halloween) about 5 cups chopped
- 3 cups water (divided)
- 1/2 cup agave (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (not raw but used in raw food cooking)
- 1/2 cup coconut butter
- 1/2 cup cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- The day before you will start preparing the pumpkin. This is important because if you used the pumpkin completely raw, it would have a very unpleasant starchy quality to it.
- Peel the pumpkin and slice in half. Slice into 1 inch slices. Chop the slices into pieces that are about 1/8th inch thick. So, the slices will look like a 1″ square that is 1/8″ thick.
- Place on dehydrator screens and dehydrate at 116 for about 3-4 hours. Make sure you remove them before they are hard!
- Place dehydrated pumpkin in a bowl. Cover with 2 cups of the water and let sit for about 3 hours. You can do this the night before and just put it in the refrigerator and leave it.
- Soak the cashews and dates at the same time and you will be ready to rock in the morning!
- In the food processor, place all ingredients except the remaining 1 cup water and cashews. Process until it becomes a mash.
- Add the cashews and process until well mixed.
- Transfer half the mixture to the vitamix. Add 1/2 cup water and blend until smooth. This will require some patience and the plunger but the results are well worth it.
- Repeat with remaining filling and 1/2 cup water. Mix the two batches together then spoon into the crust. Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours before serving.
constance wrote on October 27, 2014
I’m not the author of the recipe but I can tell you that you always soak pecans (and most other nuts) this is to remove the enzyme inhibitor. You can find charts for times of soaking all over the internet, most of your brown skinned nuts will soak for around 14 hours. After that your rinse them extremly well till your rinse water runs clear then dehydrate them back to dry and crisp, you now have a nut that is fully digestable. hope this helps
My question is on the pumpkin??? Can I dehydrate the pumpkin to a soft stage then bag and freeze it for a later date?
cant wait to try this pie looks amazing
Renee wrote on October 27, 2014
I’m also wondering about what Stephanie said with the pecans
Stephanie wrote on October 19, 2014
In the recipe for the crust it says pecans soaked then dried..does that mean you soak them for x amount of hours then dehydrate until bone dry or does that mean soak them and pat them dry?
Susan wrote on October 27, 2014
Hi, Stephanie, You soak the nuts to remove the enzyme inhibitors and they dehydrate completely dry for the recipe. I hope that helps. If you don’t want to soak them, just use them dry. Cheers!
stephanie wrote on October 12, 2014
Can I use a Vitamix? I do not have a food processor.
Susan wrote on October 19, 2014
I would think a vitamix would work. I would be careful about over blending. Cheers!
Stephanie wrote on October 19, 2014
thanks!!
AR wrote on August 29, 2014
About how long did this take you from start to finish?
Susan wrote on August 30, 2014
AR…I wish I could tell you. I created this recipe quite a few years ago and I did not time it. Cheers!
Mark Sylvester wrote on November 27, 2013
Susan, I did it! I also documented the steps here http://msylvester.tumblr.com/post/68294496595/raw-pumpkin-pie-original-recipe-from-rawmazing. The flavors are stunning and you are right, the difference between this, with real pumpkin and not flavored cashew mash, makes all the difference. The dehydrator trick is one I will use again for other dishes. Awesome.
Melissa wrote on October 8, 2013
Hi,
Thanks for your beautiful recipes and information,
Could you explain to me how it is that the starch is removed by dehydrating the pumpkin?
I wonder how you found this out, I can’t find any information about it..
Thank you!
Melissa
Susan wrote on October 8, 2013
Hi, Melissa…the starch taste.
Katie wrote on June 18, 2013
Hi, your Pumpkin Pie looks delish! How did you get the formed crust out of the pie pan for the presentation in the photos?
Susan wrote on June 18, 2013
I used a tart pan. 🙂
James Brookins wrote on January 4, 2013
Very pleased with the texture which I attribute to the step involving dehydrating the night before. Needed just a bit more sweetner (I used honey). Enough filling for two pies out of the 5 cups. the remaining filling I made pumpkin cookies (use a melon ball scoop), adding almond flour(dehydrated pulp left from almond milk) raisins and nutmeg. Sprinkle coconut and pumpkin seeds. Dehydrate about 6 hours.