Today we launched a series of spirituality events in the Anglican Parish of Kalamunda-Lesmurdie. The first was led by the Reverend Bec Bydder, in celebration of the six hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Revelations of Divine Love.
For a bit of fun, I decided to bake a hazelnut pie, as a reference to this quotation from Julian:
“Then he showed me a small thing, the size of a hazelnut, nestled in the palm of my hand,” Julian writes. “It was round as a ball. I looked at it with the eyes of my understanding and thought, What can this be? And the answer came to me: It is all that is created. I was amazed that it could continue to exist. It seemed to me to be so little that it was on the verge of dissolving into nothingness. And then these words entered my understanding: It lasts, and will last forever, because God loves it. Everything that is has its being through the love of God.”
The pie was quite popular, so I thought I’d write up the recipe. 😊
Hazelnut Pie (Vegetarian, Egg-free; Vegan & Gluten-free optional)
Ingredients
- 20g flaxseed meal
- 135ml water
- 250g golden syrup
- 135g brown sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 30g of tapioca flour (for gluten free), or cornstarch
- 60g of butter (or vegan alternative)
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
- 420 grams of hazelnuts, peeled, roughly chopped
- 240 grams of hazelnuts, peeled, whole
- shortcrust pastry for the pie shell (I use store bought, gluten free will work fine)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Roll out enough of the pastry to line a 30cm skillet or pie dish. Brush dish with butter (or vegan alternative), then line with pastry and trim the edges.
- Mix the flaxseed meal with water in a small bowl, and set aside for 10 minutes until thickened.
- Pour the golden syrup into a large bowl. Gradually stir in the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, tapioca or cornstarch, butter or vegan alternative, and vanilla. Finally, stir in the thickened flaxseed mixture. Stir thoroughly until a smooth mixture forms.
- Stir the roughly chopped hazelnuts into the mixture.
- Decant the mixture into the prepared, pastry lined dish.
- Top the pie with the whole hazelnuts.
- Bake at 180C for around sixty minutes. The pie mix will darken and thicken, and the nuts on the top will take on a toasted (but hopefully not burnt!) appearance.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool completely. Go around the edge of the pie with a knife or spatula, and you should then be able to remove it from the skillet or dish.