☆ ☆ ☆ 4th OF JULY PIE ☆ ☆ ☆

It’s America’s birthday this week and we decided to make some celebratory pie.  A good looking pie, a vegan and gluten-free pie that’s delicious.  Trust me, the finished product tastes as fresh and as good as it looks!  We’ve never attempted vegan and gluten-free baking before, and the upcoming summer holiday offered the perfect opportunity.  So, there you have it, fourth of July pie and a picture with my cutie-pie.

I am looking forward to all the celebration & fireworks and I wish everyone a fun holiday weekend!

1 cup Walnuts;  soaked

1 cup Pecan Nuts;  soaked

1/2 cup Dates

1 Tbsp. Honey

1/4 tsp. of Cinnamon

dash of Salt

1 pint of Coconut Milk Ice-Cream (we used CoconutBliss in Naked 

Coconut)

fresh Strawberries

fresh Blueberries

1 Banana

optional:  fresh Raspberries (we picked ours from the garden and they were extra, extra tasty)

P R E P A R A T I O N S

Soak the nuts in water for a couple of hours; ideally over night.

Drain the nuts after soaking.

In a food processor, combine the nuts, dates and honey with the cinnamon and salt.  Run the machine until the mixture resembles a fine moist crumb but still retains some texture.  The dough should stick together slightly when you press it together with your fingers, however it shouldn’t be super sticky either.

Evenly crumble the dough over the base of your pie dish.  Starting from the middle, press the mixture evenly but firmly into the pie form, moving outward and upward along the side of the pie dish.  Due to the oils in the nuts, it’s not necessary to grease the baking pan.

Bake the crust, uncovered for 10 minutes at 350° F or until lightly golden brown at the edges.  After baking set the pie crust into the freezer to cool for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the ice cream by letting it thaw a bit and whipping it in a food processor.
Pour the ice-cream filling into the prepared crust, scooping every last bit out of the blender.  Make sure to smooth out the top evenly.

Garnish the pie with fruit!  Be as fancy or creative with it as you like.

First, wash and clean the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.
Cut the fruit to fit your design.  We left the blueberries and raspberries whole, quartered the strawberries and first thickly sliced the banana, then cut these slices in half.

I lined the outside edge of the pie with 1 ring of raspberries and then arranged the blueberries into the upper left hand corner of the pie.  With the rest of the fruit, create alternating stripes of strawberry-red and banana-white.

Place the pie on an even surface in the freezer until the ice cream in the pie sets or until you’re ready to serve.  Cover the dish with foil if you’re looking to freeze the pie overnight.

Voila, there you have it, the most American pie I’ve ever made.  Enjoy!

       Nina