This Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Pie is:
- crispy and flaky
- fresh and tangy
- rich and creamy!
I posted this Vegan Lemon Curd recipe the other day, and promised that I would be using it to make a Vegan Lemon Pie...so here it is!
This Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Pie starts with my go-to easy pastry recipe, which is made using gluten-free flour, coconut oil for buttery flavour, and ground almonds for a crispy, flaky texture.
This pie crust recipe is really easy as you can just press it into the pie dish using your fingertips, without any need for a floured surface or a rolling pin.
Make sure you remember to use a fork to poke holes in the crust before baking, or use baking beans.
Once you've baked your pastry pie crust, you can get to work on the refined sugar free lemon curd filling - it's a simple 4-ingredient recipe made using shop-bought custard powder.
I use this custard powder. It's vegan and gluten-free, and doesn't contain any added sugar, plus it's made of just 4 simple ingredients!
If you can’t get hold of a shop-bought custard powder, see the recipe notes for how you can substitute it with cornflour (cornstarch).
The lemon curd filling is easily customisable as you can use any type of plant-based milk you like - see recipe notes for how the texture can vary depending on which type of dairy-free milk you use.
I then decided to top this Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Pie with fluffy clouds of coconut whipped cream. It's easy to make and adds just the right amount of creamy richness to offset the sweet and tangy lemon curd filling.
I then decided to decorate it with some cheery lemon slices and fragrant toasted desiccated coconut, but you can use anything you want!
For more vegan and gluten-free lemon desserts, check out my:
- White Chocolate Lemon Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Mug Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Lemon Curd
- Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Helpful tools to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Pie:
For the crust:
glass mixing bowl
pie dish
For the lemon curd:
measuring jug
For the coconut whipped cream:
electric whisk
Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Pie
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil
- 75 g (⅔ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub rice flour, or plain all-purpose flour if not gluten-free)
- 75 g (⅔ cup) ground almonds* (almond meal)
- 7 tablespoons water
For the lemon curd:
- 530 ml (2 ¼ cups) plant-based milk** (see notes)
- 3 tablespoons custard powder*** (or sub cornflour/cornstarch or arrowroot)
- 8 tablespoons lemon juice to taste (approximately equals the juice of 1 lemon)
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup to taste (or sub any other sweetener)
For the coconut whipped cream:
- 400 g (14oz) tin of full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate (optional):
- Lemon slices
- Toasted desiccated coconut
Instructions
For the pastry:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until it forms a firm dough - add the water a few tablespoons at a time so that you don’t add too much!
- You can keep this pastry dough in the fridge for up to a day if you like, but there is no need to chill it before using
- Place the pastry dough into a greased pie dish and use your fingers to carefully press it across the bottom and up the sides of the dish - I used a 20.5 cm/8 inch pie dish
- Use a fork to pierce the surface (remember the sides too!) of the pastry, so that it doesn’t puff up in the oven. Alternatively, you can use baking beans
- Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes, until the pastry crust is firm to the touch and golden brown
- Leave to cool slightly before pouring in the filling
For the lemon curd:
- Measure out the milk in a jug or measuring container
- Pour the milk into a pan, leaving behind a few tablespoons of milk in the jug
- Heat up the milk in the pan
- Add the custard powder to the remaining milk in the jug and mix well, ensuring it has dissolved completely
- Once the milk in the pan is steaming, add approximately half of the hot milk to the bowl with the dissolved custard powder, mix well and transfer the custard powder mixture to the saucepan
- Mix well and keep stirring on a low heat for around 5 minutes, until thickened
- Add the lemon juice and maple syrup
- Taste and add extra lemon juice or maple syrup if desired
- Once the pastry crust and the lemon curd have both cooled a little, carefully pour the curd into the crust
- Leave the pie in the fridge for up to a few hours to set completely before topping with the cream
For the coconut whipped cream:
- You’ll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won’t happen and you won’t be able to make this cream!
- Open the tin upside down – the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to soups or smoothies)
- Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl
- Add the maple syrup and vanilla extract
- Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy
- Take the pie out of the fridge, and ensuring that the lemon curd has completely set, carefully cover it with the coconut whipped cream
- Decorate with lemon slices and desiccated coconut, if desired
- Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Stine Mari
This pie looks soo moist and melt-in-your-mouth! Yummy!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!
Anonymous
I really enjoyed the 🍋 curd so I will definitely try this!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!
Abengoa
Rhian Williams, thanks! And thanks for sharing your great posts every week!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!
Dorit Coish
I just made this pie and have a couple of comments. The crust was quite tough and difficult to cut through. Not sure what I did wrong. I also had to put more custard powder into the mixture because it was just not thickening up. I will try it again to see how it turns out the second time as we found it quite tasty. My daughter is vegan and she suggested that I use aquafaba for the topping next time I make it. She was always a huge fan of lemon meringue pie before becoming vegan. Thanks for the recipe!
Rhian Williams
Thank you for making it and thank you for the feedback, that's really helpful to know. Regarding the crust, the texture may improve if you leave it in the oven for a slightly shorter time - ovens can vary so it might be that it requires less time in your oven. I found that my custard was quite runny when I put it in, but it firmed up in the fridge as it cooled. But not a problem to add some extra custard powder to make sure it doesn't end up too liquidy. Aquafaba sounds like a great topping idea! Hope your second time goes well!
Anonymous
Have you found a decent substitute for almond flour or meal? We can't use nuts in our family. Thanks!
Rhian Williams
You can use buckwheat flour!