And so we begin with the Disney-inspired bakes. Why gooseberry? I hear you asking. Why not apple? Well, last fall a game called Disney Dreamlight Valley launched, and quite a few of the recipes I’ve created for this project are based off of recipes in that game.

This is actually a pretty simple recipe. The biggest challenge I find when using gooseberries in a recipe is just finding gooseberries in the first place. For my US friends, don’t mix up gooseberries with cape gooseberries. They have similar names, yes, but they are certainly not the same thing. Gooseberries are either green or red, and are part of the currant family, whereas cape gooseberries, or goldenberries, are more like a tomatillo. When I went to the store in person, I could only find cape gooseberries, and so wound up ordering canned gooseberries in syrup off of Amazon. No problem though, they taste just the same.

As for products like vegan butter and egg replacers, they’re pretty readily available at stores like Trader Joes, Sprouts, and Whole Foods– even Safeway or Target, if you’re lucky. For the most part, I use Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer. There’s lots of other things you can use, though. For butter, some other replacements are a low-flavor oil like canola or grapeseed, and for eggs, it depends on whether it’s a leavening agent or just there to help bind ingredients together. Some options are applesauce, flax seed, bananas, or cornstarch. This recipe also calls for vegetable shortening. I just use Crisco (all-vegetable).

Okay, on to the baking. First thing is to gather all your ingredients.

This recipe is split into two portions; the crust, and the filling. For the crust, you’ll need 3 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup vegan butter, 1/2 cup shortening, and some ice water. These are the measurements for a double-crust pie, but it can be adjusted for other amounts.

For a nice, flaky pie crust, you want to keep your fats really cold, so the first thing I did was cut up the butter and shortening into small cubes. Keep these in the refrigerator until you’re ready for them.

Then, combine all the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk it together. A quick note about sugar – your typical white granulated sugar is actually refined with bone char, and some folks consider it to not truly be vegan. I’m using it for now since we already had it in the house, but unrefined sugar is better.

Give it a quick whisk, then add in the shortening and butter. With a pastry cutter or a fork, cut it in until the dough resembles a coarse meal.

Add in the ice water one tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to come together. For this amount of dough, it took me 7 or 8 tablespoons. Split the dough in half, press them into balls, and refrigerate them in separate plastic bags for at least 30 minutes.

While those are resting, start working on your filling! The filling requires 16oz of fresh gooseberries (canned works too), 1/2 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon vegan butter, and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 4 tablespoons of water.

In a small saucepan, mix the fresh gooseberries and water and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. If you’re using canned gooseberries, you can just leave them in the syrup.

After the gooseberries are done simmering, drain the excess liquid, then add the sugar, vegan butter, and flour to the saucepan and continue to let it simmer for a few minutes.

Beat in the cornstarch mixture slowly, and cook the filling over medium heat until it thickens. Mine turned an unusual sort of grey color, so I decided to add some food coloring to brighten it up and look more apple-y to go with the theme.

I was a touch overzealous with the green, but it matches our themed drinks as well.

Once the filling has thickened, roll out one of the dough balls on a lightly floured surface, and carefully use the rolling pin to transfer the dough into a pie tin. Then add your filling to the pie crust.

Roll the second dough out and place it on top of the filling. Use any extra dough to create any decoration you’d like. I topped mine with an apple. Don’t forget to cut steam holes! Lastly, brush the top with soy milk in lieu of an egg wash, and sprinkle a touch of sugar on top

Wrap the edges of the pie with aluminum foil to prevent the edges from over-browning, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another 15-25 minutes. It should be golden-brown.

Let it cool for a while, slice, and enjoy! We’re pairing ours with Spooky Apple Punch, the recipe for which you can find in The Unofficial Disney Parks Drink Recipe Book. Add a little gin or vodka if you’re feeling saucy.