Soupy Watery Pies

[meg.june]

I followed the recipes exactly so why are my apple pie and cheese cake watery and too thin to cut?? I am so agravated I want to cry... I spent $50.00 on the ingredients and they can't even be served...

please help, can I dry them out (the ones I have already made?)

thanks

[Ama]

Have you put them in the fridge? I made a fruit pie some time ago with a coconut crust and the fruit filling was quite watery but I left it in the fridge over night and it firmed up a good amount. Some people put some psyillium husk (sp) or ground chia seeds or something similar to give it a thicker consistency but that doesn't help you now that the pies are made. If you haven't kept it in the fridge for a few hours I'd definitely try that!

[meg.june]

Thank you! I will try that, they have been in there for a couple hours, maybe they need overnight...

[baltochef]

meg.june

If putting the pie in the fridge overnight doesn't help to set the filling; then I would remove the filling from the shell & dehydrate the filling to remove some of it's moisture content..

Perhaps, you may want to consider putting the shell in the dedydrator to try & eliminate some of the moisture that it has absorbed while you have been attempting to get it to set up..

When the filling reaches the dryness that you think will set up in the fridge, then refill the crust, & chill for several hours..

Taste the filling & adjust the seasonings, if necessary before refilling..

Should come out better..

Bruce

[meg.june]

Awesome, thanks!

[beppa66]

I usually place the cheesecake in the freezer which makes the coconut oil harden to a very firm texture, then I place in the fridge before serving for easier slicing. What type of pie did you make? There are lots of ways to make them thicken up...but I need a little more info.

PS. usually there is some way to salvage raw food, so don't fear! ( :

[meg.june]

While I am at it with my non-cooking issues... my raviolis were awful, I couldn't get the turnip slices paper thin, I used a mandolin (even at the thinest setting is too thick) and tried the spiral slicer (mine is too small) soooo, how do you get paper thin turnip slices???

I thought my awful cooking days were gone, I am the worst cook ever born and here I am the worst non cook too...

:p

[meg.june]

I tossed the apple pie because the sun flower seeds were too overpowering, the cheese cake is the one from the blueberry cheese cake recipe in Living on Live Food, It tastes awesome but is so watery, I made it about 2-3 hours ago. I sub'ed strawberries... there is no coconut oil in it unfortunately...

[baltochef]

When substituting ingredients, you have to take into consideration their differences..

Blueberries have probably 1/3 the moisture content of a strawberry..

In all likeliehood, that's where the problem started..

You need to add something to the recipe to absorb that additional liquid..Something bland that won't adversley effect the flavor..

Bruce

[meg.june]

... but the recipe said you can sub strawberries... hope that isn't the case- I failed chemistry...

[Lilly the Naiad]

The thing is that you can't really predict produce, sometimes the difference in produce will create a difference in your uncooked foods. And then there are the things we've learned from years of cooking, like to simmer something to remove excess water from it. Well, with uncooking things can be fixed just as well, but there's a learning curve to it.

The best way to make the most scrumptious uncooked foods is to simply try, try, try again and keep trying. Like with anything, practice is the key. Find out the basics, like what ingredients will work for which textures and flavours, etc. What tools will help you create which consistencies, etc. etc. Then use recipes as guides, but find your own tastes.

Some people like their marinara sauce very sweet, others more salty, others with more garlic, others with less. See what you have, learn what you can do with it and experiment.

If you see something turning out too watery from a recipe then try to add less of the watery element, or find ways which you can dry it up a little. No two apples turn out the same! Most people here work ther recipes by eye and taste using the book as guidelines.

My first guess with your situation was that it needs to be in the fridge for a while to set, especially if there's coconut oil which most of these desserts contain because it hardens when cold.

I'm not sure what recipe you've used for apple pie, I'm guessing the crust had sunflower seeds? For apple pie this is the standard crust that I make:

Combine equal amounts of walnuts and almonds, add salt to taste and a date or two or honey/agave just to make it sticky. A bit of coconut oil too if it seems too dry. Blend in the food processor to a crumbly paste consistency. Then spread and press in your pie plate.

For filling I'd suggest taking some apple chunks with peel and some pureed without peel, then combining them and filling the crust. For the puree just puree some peeled apples with a bit of lemon juice, cinnamon, salt and dates/honey/agave to taste. A strawberry puree works very well too.

For rawvioli I could only buy very small turnips so I just used a vegetable peeler and combined two peels with filling inside like with real raviolis, worked well enough for me :)

Don't give up! I don't even want to remember my first raw food disasters. Everything can seem too hard in the beginning but with patience and practice you'll become a master raw food chef before you know it ;)

Lilly

[meg.june]

ughhh.... it is chemistry and home ec all over again.lol

thanks for the tips...

[Ama]

meg.june, I am also a horrid cook and not the best un-cook either, I just don't have the patience. With the ravioli, I just used a veggie peeler. If the turnip that I bought was too big, which was usually the case, I would just cut the sides off and then use my veggie peeler. The rawvioli's are no longer round but hey, that was okay with me. They now would be more rectangular because you cut the edges, hope that makes sense. Another thing that I've done is instead of using one turnip slice and putting the filling on part and folding it over I would use two turnip slices, one for the top and one for the bottom. For some reason when I tried to use one slice the turnip would never fold, it would stick to the filling for a second then pop open LOL. You'll just have to play around and find what works best for you.

[baltochef]

I agree with Lilly!!

My first raw desserts turned out well, but my first dozen or so savory raw entress were a disaster..

Even though I am a chef, I still had to re-learn to uncook..Without heat to cause chemical reactions that add flavor (carmelization, etc.), cause thickening (reducing moisture by whatever method), etc. the raw cook depends on subtler ways of accomplishing the same things..

Instead of using heat to thicken, we raw cooks usually depend on the natural starches in raw foods to absorb liquid, dehydration in an oven or dehydrator to reduce the liquids in foods, as well as refridgeration & freezing to set pie fillings & desserts..

After you get some experience under your belt you will start to intuitively understand what you will need to do to make a printed recipe work in your kitchen, with your ingredients..

Those who consider themselves "bad" cooks will often rely on the cookbook's directions to be exactly right for every situtation..Unfortunately, this is just not possible..Experimentation is necessary to learn what tools, ingredients, & techniques will work for you..

I've always said that are really no bad cooks, just cooks that need to be guided along until they have the confidence that they need to "Git 'Er Done!!"..

Keep perservering, & it will work for you!!..I know it will..

Bruce

[Zuri]

I followed the recipes exactly so why are my apple pie and cheese cake watery and too thin to cut?? I am so agravated I want to cry... I spent $50.00 on the ingredients and they can't even be served...

please help, can I dry them out (the ones I have already made?)

thanks

I feel so bad for you. The same thing happened to me when I made a blueberry pie and a key lime pie once. I ended up wasting two of those containers of blueberries that were so sweet and deelish. It doesn't say anything in any recipe book I've seen either, about blueberries coagulating in the 'fridge...def not tasty to me. I guess you live and learn and now we know. Each time I make a pie, esp it comes out different. I'll get it right one day and so will you!

[diali36]

I just tried my 1st two pies today, a sweet potato and a cheesecake with blueberry sauce. Both were o'k I guess but not the best, not smooth textured at all and too nut tasting for me. I was disapointed in both and will probabley feed them to the outside birds in the am.
What I am going to do is make very much smaller amounts of a recipie to try so I won't be wasting so much time and money on something that comes out not well. Then I can play with it and adjust it to my likeing I hope. I seem to make out better with savory stuff then sweet allthough I haven't tried any real recipies yet except for salads and pates.

[LivingRawGirl]

For the ravioli I also had problems getting the turnip thin enough. My solution was to put the slices in the dehydrator for about 1/2 hour and they became soft and pliable and my family likes them better that way.

For the cheesecake I found that the coconut butter/oil is key to getting a solid filling although psyllium would help if you didn't want the coconut flavor. Also blended blueberries have a tendency to "gel" and for me other berries don't.

Good luck, be patient your doing great!

[Lilly the Naiad]

Fot the perfect smooth texture with nut creams and most seeds, veggies and fruit the tool needed is a vitamix. With other tools you just won't get that creamy texture as good.

I'm saving up for one myself.

[baltochef]

diali36

Use a tart pan or creme brulee dish (if you have one) to test small batches of fillings for pies..

For that matter, I use mine to test whether or not I care for the taste of pie crusts before proceding to fill them up with expensive fillings..I dehydrate small batches of crust to check for both taste & texture..

LivingRawGirl

Blueberries have decent amounts of natural pectin in them which helps in the jelling process, although not as much as when heat is involved..

I haven't used purchased pectin in over a decade (the last time I made jellies & jams)..I'm sure that it would not be considered raw..My Food Lover's Companion says that the liquid pectin is made from apples, & the dry from either apples or citrus..

Adding it would defineatly help in getting pies to set up..I'll have to do some research on this subject to answer my own questions..

I'm wondering whether arrowroot starch, or tapioca flour would aid in getting a filling to set??..Both are vegetable products, although not raw..

Raw tapioca flour could theorectically be made at home, if sweet cassava roots could be purchased to do so..

Bruce

P.S.

The New Food Lover's Companion is a book that I would highly reccomend that everyone own..It explains many procedures, as well as defines ingredients, tools etc..

[Troyanne]

megjune i'm laughin here cuz u sound like me inside my own head lol

[goodbeets]

Megjune- I have found that, when making rawvioli, I put my mandoline setting at 0, and do not push down hard, otherwise my slices are thick. I have also found that making little sandwiches works and tastes just as great as folding perfect little circles.

As far as botched pies, make the filling into a pudding! How about a shake? Cut the crust into shapes and pop it into the dehydrater for cookies.

I also was a chef for a while and I definately threw out a lot of cooked food. With raw food, I just make a mistake into a new invention that still tastes great, even if not how I planned it to come out.

(Life is what happens when you are making other plans. -J. Lennon)

Just a thought.