Deep Dish Chayote Apple Pie

I am excited to bake my Deep Dish Chayote Apple Pie today. Why? Today’s bake will be a final confirmation of the perfected recipe. If all goes as planned, after several refinements, the recipe will finally be ready to post on the blog. Which means you, as my reader, will have the highest chance of success making chayote apple pie yourself. And that my dear friends is my goal.

Have you had the experience of being seduced by spectacular food photos on the internet, only to regret making the accompanying recipe? Boy, that has happened to me a gillion times. Of course, experimenting is an excellent way to learn and expand one’s skills and repertoire in cooking. Still, I know the let-down. That doesn’t even cover the frustration of having wasted time and money on ingredients.

Granted, we all have different tastebuds and nutritional preferences. So, we won’t always agree on what is exquisitely delicious. I’ve come to accept that’s ok. But I want you to know each of the recipes I put up on the blog have been tested several times towards the goal of sparing you disappointment. Plus, I have gone over the instructions accordingly. Sometimes I might nail a recipe right away. Then I only need two remakes to tag it finished. Other times I might make twenty or more adjustments before I am satisfied.

Chayote Deep Dish Apple Pie fell in the middle. I feel like doing a little dance that it’s ready. When I first tackled this mock apple pie, I used sugar and bottled apple juice. To me, it seemed a reasonable way to sweeten and infuse chayote with apple flavor. I found it worked. But as time went on, I started thinking there might be a way to intensify the apple flavor and, at the same time, use a healthier sweetener. Thus, I switched to maple syrup and unsweetened frozen concentrated apple juice. Hooray. It turned mock apple pie filling into a sweet indulgence without any added refined sugar. How awesome is that?

Even more impressive is the fact that several people have tried this pie and didn’t even realize it was made without apples. You will see how the deep apple flavor is provided entirely from whole foods. On top of that, you will discover how to ace the tender bite of the mock apple slices. They are just firm enough to hold their own in the beautifully thickened cinnamon sauce.

Sound tempting? You can eat it recently baked and warm with ice cream melting on top. Or you can enjoy its autumn-spice sweetness in a cold slice all on its own. However you plate it, I think you will agree this scrumptious dessert is an incredible tropical-climate alternative to apple pie. Mahalo chayote!

Deep Dish Chayote Apple Pie

Mock apple pie made with chayote makes a fabulous tropical-climate dessert. You won't believe how it tastes like Grandma's apple pie. Dairy-free and refined sugar-free.

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Plant-Based

Cooking Skill Intermediate

Servings 8

Author poppyswildkitchen

Ingredients

Pastry For Double Crust 9 Inch Pie*

Chayote Apple Pie Filling

• ▢ 7 cups peeled chayote sliced 1/8 inch thick, about 4 large chayote
• ▢ 1 cup thawed frozen apple juice concentrate**
• ▢ 1/2 cup maple syrup
• ▢ 2 tsp. vanilla
• ▢ 2 TB cornstarch
• ▢ 1 tsp lemon zest
• ▢ 3 tsp. cinnamon
• ▢ 1/8 tsp. allspice
• ▢ 1/4 tsp. salt
• ▢ 1/8 tsp. liquid stevia optional, to taste

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Instructions

Prepare Chayote

• Cut chayote in quarters lengthwise. Rinse with water and wet hands liberally. Remove chayote seed and peel chayote. Place peeled and quartered chayote in a large bowl. Cover with water.
• Remove sections of peeled and quartered chayote and slice into 1/8 inch thick slices. As you go, keep hands wet. This will prevent sticky residue from accumulating on hands.
• Place sliced chayote in a deep sauce pan and fill with water to reach top of chayote. Bring to a boil and cook about 5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Let the chayote soften but remain firm enough to have a tender bite. Pour chayote in a colander and let drain.

Cook Cinnamon Sauce For Filling

• Place apple juice, maple syrup, vanilla, cornstarch, lemon zest, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a sauce pan. Whisk well to dissolve cornstarch. Bring to a boil and cook a couple minutes until cornstarch thickens and is no longer cloudy.
• Place drained chayote in a large bowl. Pour cinnamon sauce over and stir to mix. Taste filling for sweetness and add optional liquid stevia if desired.
• Let pie filling cool while preheating oven. Turn oven on to 425 degrees and place rack in second from bottom position.

Fill and Bake Pie

• Pour chayote apple pie filling into prepared bottom crust. Cover with top crust or lattice as desired and crimp edges of pie.
• Bake pie 15-20 minutes until top crust is getting golden. Cover with foil and bake another 10-15 minutes, or until bottom crust is fully cooked.
• Remove pie from oven and cool on a rack.

Notes

*Pastry For Crust: A standard double crust recipe will be enough pastry unless you want to add extra decoration to the top. Then you’ll want to plan on a little more pastry dough. 

 **Thawed Apple Juice Concentrate: Be sure to use undiluted apple juice concentrate. For best results, thaw whole can and stir before measuring for pie.

Cutting Chayote: Chayote, like some winter squashes, releases a clear liquid that can coat hands and be hard to remove. I don’t generally find it a problem if I am cutting one or two chayote. When I am cutting up several, I keep my hands wet to prevent the sticky substance from building up. 

Measuring Chayote: Here’s a little trick to not loose count measuring cupfuls of chayote. For each cup measured, place a small bit of chayote at top of cutting board. When you have 7 pieces lined up in a row, you’ve got 7 cups of chayote in the pot!