Vegan pumpkin pie filling minus most of the gloopy starch (egg-free, milk-free, nut-free)

Introduction:

This may not be a cooking blog, but occasionally a little science can help solve a very real problem - a better vegan pumpkin pie filling! The starchy, gloopy, blobby pumpkin pie filling found in most vegan pumpkin pie recipes has much to be desired. In fact, I like to joke that I can chuck a scoop across the room and watch it slowly bleb down the wall. We deal with many allergies that won't allow using certain egg-replacing binders (e.g. flax seed gel, corn starch, tofu, etc.), so after coming up null with internet searches for workable recipes given our allergen set, necessity became the mother of invention! Welcome to my test kitchen!

Question: 

Could I use chia seed, some combination of chia seed and tapioca starch, or a combination of chia seed and course oat flour to improve the texture of the existing gloopy pumpkin pie filling (tapioca starch-based)?

Hypothesis: 

I predicted that either the combination of chia seed and oat flour or the combination of chia seeds and tapioca starch would significantly improve the texture of the gloopy pumpkin pie filling. I predicted that the chia seed alone would not provide enough binding to make an adequate filling.

Rationale: 

Chia is often touted as an egg substitute. Soaking 1 Tbsp of chia seeds in 3 Tbsp water for ~20 minutes makes a mucilaginous gel resembling the texture of raw egg in quantity. While the texture seems on par with raw egg, the real magic of egg binding in recipes doesn't happen until after it is cooked (think of a hard-boiled egg. The uncooked "white" is primarily protein, whose structure changes to the opaque, hard but slightly pliable white after cooking. Now imagine that same structure distributed throughout your pie filling!). Chia has a combination of polysaccharides (complex sugar chains - aka carbohydrates, some protein, and some fat). I reasoned that chia alone wouldn't have the same protein binding "magic" as an egg based on its protein content (1 large egg = 6.3 g of protein; 1 Tbsp chia seed = 3 g protein). Although it is possible that chia may compensate for a lack of protein a bit by providing more carbohydrates that can "gel" (1 large egg = 0.4 carbohydrates; 1 Tbsp chia seed = 5 g carbohydrates). Oats have a good deal of both protein and carbohydrates, though! So I figured grinding rolled oats into a coarse flour with a food processor may expose more of the protein/carbs contained within to serve a really good "binding" function (1/2 cup of rolled oats = 5 g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat).

Making chia seed gel. 1 egg substitute = 1 Tbsp chia seeds + 3 Tbsp water. Let sit ~20 minutes before using.

Materials and methods:

In order to waste as little food as possible, I mixed a large pumpkin pie base whose ingredients were common to all conditions and added 3/4 cup of the "base ingredients" to each of four tempered glass cups. 

Base ingredients common to all conditions

2 cups pureed pumpkin

1 cup light coconut milk

1/4 c. packed light brown sugar

1/4 c. maple syrup

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

I then scaled down the unique ingredients I wanted to add to each of the four separate conditions, fully mixed, and baked in the oven at 375 deg. F for 45 minutes. Note, I would have loved to test additional conditions, but I didn't have enough ingredients to test them all! In theory, I should have included a proper "negative control" that would have baked the "base ingredients" with no additions. I would have also included an "egg based" version for good measure, but hey, we deal with an egg allergy in our house - it just didn't seem right. After baking and cooling, my husband and I taste-tested each condition to obtain results based on our personal texture preferences.

Results:

Chia seed + oat flour was the clear winner for binding and texture. Both the tapioca starch alone and the chia seed + tapioca starch had the gloopy starch binding texture instead of the soft texture associated with traditional egg-based pumpkin pie filling. Chia seed alone was quite delicious, but did did not have enough binding for pie filling. It makes a fabulous pudding, however! (Yes, two recipes in one!!!).

Pumpkin pie recipe:

Use your favorite crust recipe and line a 9 in. pie pan with crust. Mine happens to be Claire's quick and easy pie crust using spectrum organic shortening. You could easily substitute a different recipe to make this gluten-free.

Pumpkin pie filling ingredients:

2 c. pureed pumpkin (I used a can of Trader Joe's)

1/2 c. of coarsely ground oat flour (I used a food processor to grind rolled oats)

1 c. coconut milk light (I used canned from Trader Joe's)

Chia seed gel (1 Tbsp chia seed + 3 Tbsp water, sit for ~20 minutes before use)

1/4 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 c. maple syrup

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Pumpkin pie filling thoroughly mixed.

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 deg. F. 

2. Combine all pumpkin pie filling ingredients and thoroughly mix.

2. Pour filling into pie shell (I covered my crust edges with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes of baking and removed foil for the remainder of the bake time).

3. Bake for ~60 minutes (ovens may vary, so please check your pie sooner!).

4. Cool on rack and enjoy!

My new article at Slate - egg allergies and flu vaccines ARE compatible

I'm really proud to have authored the following piece on Slate.  Vaccines are tried and true at preventing a multitude of potentially deadly infectious diseases and have a long history of safety.  Are there adverse events?  Of course, but they are rare.  The benefits far outweigh the risks (see the infographic below).  While the flu vaccine varies in efficacy every year (some years are better than others), it is the best means we have to prevent flu, which can and does kill thousands every year and puts many more in the hospital.  It is especially important for those with asthma. 

Please know that I want to present everyone with facts so that they, along with healthcare providers, make informed decisions.  People can and do rarely have anaphylaxis to vaccines, which may have nothing to do with the miniscule amounts of egg proteins.  In controlled clinical trials, over 4,000 individuals with egg allergies have received the flu vaccine without anaphylaxis.  On top of this, the MMR vaccine is also made using eggs and is routinely given without issue.  It is important that as many of us who can receive vaccines do, in order to protect not only ourselves, but those who can't receive it (e.g. - those who have had anaphylactic reactions to vaccines more generally).

Vaccines are often suggested as a cause behind allergies, autism, etc.  There has been no direct causal evidence to support this.  A lot has changed in our modern world (maybe some not for the better), but I fear going back to the pre-vaccine era.  Keep the discussion going!  This is an important one to have.

vaccine infographic created by Leon Farrant, as appeared in Forbes - http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2013/02/19/a-graphic-that-drives-home-how-vaccines-have-changed-our-world/

Fifty Shades of Egg

At the end of April, I shared Egg-cellent news that JR, my 4 year old son, successfully ate one half of a hard-boiled egg during a food challenge at the allergist's office (see previous post for a detailed description of a food challenge).  As parents, we were beyond thrilled, since it appeared that JR had outgrown his egg allergy!  In a long list of food allergies, egg is one that I will happily check off the list.

However, there was a remote possibility that JR's egg allergy could return with a vengeance following the egg exposure at the food challenge.  Before the egg challenge, JR's last known exposure to egg had been as an ~18 month old, and the reaction had been anaphylactic (for description of anaphylaxis, see the Allergist Mom's post).  Needless to say, nothing strikes fear into a food allergy parent more than anaphylaxis, the most severe, lightning fast (usually), and life-threatening kind of reaction which involves several bodily systems.

Because of this possibility, we were to wait at least a month and follow up with a blood test to look for the specific antibodies to egg in JR's blood that could cause an allergic reaction.  Because it had been so long since JR's last egg exposure, the level of antibodies to egg may have fallen below what the blood test could reliably detect.  This means that the first exposure to egg would not trigger a reaction.  With more time (e.g. weeks), however, JR's immune system may have mounted a "defense" against the egg he just ate. Meaning, antibody production would increase so that the immune system may respond if exposed again (Side note:  normally this is a brilliant process to protect from invading bacteria/viruses/etc that cause illness.  Our immune system learns to fight them off, so we don't fall ill to the same bad "bugs" again).  If the amount of antibody in JR's blood did not change, then we were in the clear, meaning the egg allergy had indeed gone away.  However, if the amount of antibody in JR's blood increased above its last tested value, it could indicate that the allergy had returned.

So, we tested JR, and the answer was not black or white like we had hoped, but rather shades of gray.

So, we've been sitting, waiting, trying to muster the strength to figure this out once and for all.  In the back of my mind, I swing between the worst and best case scenarios.  I remember my sweet, 18 month old, in the midst of hives, throat constriction, vomiting, and sheer terror.  On the other hand, I think of a 4 year old enjoying waffles, french toast, and scrambled eggs.  I hope for the best, but am terrified of the worst.  So we wait...  until finally this past week, we mustered up the courage to try egg.  By the way, we were advised that he will likely be ok, but to watch him closely.  Can you say, "shades of gray?!".  After looking up some of the scientific literature on egg allergy, I completely agree with this rather "gray" assessment.  It just goes to show that we have a long way to go in making allergy testing more certain in diagnosing a true allergy!  I guarantee the doctors advising patients much be just as frustrated as the sufferers! 

JR and I made chocolate cookies, and I threw an egg into the mix.  Just as an extra precaution, I smudged a little cookie dough on JR's face to see if there were any signs of allergy.  Fifteen minutes later, redness and a small hive appeared where the cookie dough had been.  Both JR and I were devastated:  JR because he had to wait for me to whip up another batch of cookies without the egg and me, because it appeared egg may not safe after all.

Redness and small hive where egg-containing
cookie dough was placed ~15 min before photo

This was in no means a controlled, scientific experiment that shows JR will react to egg if eaten, I realize this fact.  There are many possible explanations given the poor "experimental" parameters tested that day (e.g. no experimental control, raw egg instead of cooked egg, etc).  What it does tell me, however, is that blood tests are only prediction tools and not great ones at that.  It is safe to say, we will be talking with our allergist about another food challenge, which is the only way to confirm the allergy one way or the other.... sigh.

Stay tuned for an egg allergy fact sheet and another installment in the "Fifty Shades of Egg" saga.

Egg-cellent news

Thursday was a stressful day to say the least. It was food challenge day, and it marks the first time in living with food allergies that hope may indeed be reality.

So, when does this egg story begin?  December of 2009 marks the last time that JR, our handsome young 1 year old at the time, ate anything with eggs.  Before that point, JR regularly devoured scrambled eggs.  Like any parent, I enjoyed watching my growing boy enjoy such a wonderful source of protein.  But in December 2009, the immune "switch" was flipped and our joy quickly turned to terror as scrambled eggs suddenly evoked the scariest of immune system responses, anaphylaxis.  Vomiting, lip swelling, hives, coughing - all within 5-10 minutes.  The incredible, edible egg suddenly became not-so-incredible and definitely not edible.  For JR, eggs were poison.  (As a side note, a few weeks after the scrambled egg incident, we learned the hard way that "made on shared equipment" labels should be heeded.  Mac n Cheese made on shared equipment with egg-containing foods caused the same reaction.  We were novice food allergy parents, and absolutely heart-broken to have put JR through that terror.  JR was ridiculously sensitive to trace amounts of egg protein).

Fast forward to 2012.  Every year since 2009, JR has been tested through a blood test (RAST) for the presence of antibodies to egg protein.  You know, those same antibodies that protect us from disease?  Well for the food allergic, the immune system erroneously targets innocuous substances like eggs.  This year, the antibody level was at the threshold of being positive.

The antibody (dark green, Y-shaped structure) binding to antigen (light green circle).  In Ian's case that antigen is the "harmless" egg protein.  C'mon, immune system. Since when were eggs worse than the plague?!
Photo source:  http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/hab/habs_toxins/marine_biotoxins/detection/elisa.html

Hope, but not proof. 

If only it were as simple as measuring antibody levels in the blood.  Due to the unpredictable nature of the immune system when it comes to food allergies and the large error inherent to allergy testing methods, the definitive proof is the food challenge.  To put it more bluntly, this is the "test" where you go to the doctor's office and consume the offending food... and wait.  Will there be a reaction?

On a very rainy Thursday afternoon, JR and I headed into the doctor's office with 3 hard-boiled eggs and an i-Pad loaded up with Disney movies (for the waiting part).  JR was chipper.  I was terrified.  I remember what happened two and a half years ago.  I'm not sure that JR does. As a scientist, I know this "test" is necessary to confirm the egg allergy is gone (or not), but at that moment, I would have given anything to not have my son be a subject in this test.  But, hey, at least we were in the best place should a reaction occur, right?!

The egg-cellent news

Step 1 - scratch egg into the skin surface and wait (watch the Lion King)... no reaction.
Step 2 - rub egg on lips and wait (Simba just can't wait to be king)... no reaction.
Step 3 - eat a bite of egg and wait (Hakuna Matata)... no reaction.
Step 4 - eat more egg and wait (Lion King done, 4 year old takes over)... no reaction.
Step 5 - try and eat even more egg (4 year old loudly resists)... no reaction.
Step 6 - resort to every form of bribery known to parents to convince 4 year old he should eat more egg... no reaction.
Step 7 - half an egg finally goes down the gullet and Dr. agrees half an egg (instead of a whole egg) is sufficient for the test - no reaction.
Step 8 - relief and a dinner of ice cream and chocolate chips :).

It turns out, we're not quite out of the woods just yet.  Apparently, there is a small chance that the immune system could come back with a roaring vengeance to egg.  For one month, we will avoid eggs altogether.  At the end of the month, JR will be given a blood test to look for antibodies against egg.  If the antibody levels are still extremely low, JR is given the ok to eat egg!  And there will be cake, and cookies, and french toast aplenty.

Scientifically, the immune system is not my area of expertise, but I am in expert in what food allergy parents go through.  As a parent and a scientist, I can't help but wonder why in the world a medical community capable of successfully transplanting vital organs, doesn't have more reliable, indirect methods of allergy testing (e.g. any other test besides the direct food challenge test?!).  What is it that we lack in our understanding?  Finally, if JR has indeed outgrown his egg allergy, what has changed?  What has turned that immune system "switch" off?  If we can understand what turns that "switch" off, then we may just have a cure for food allergies.  I'm not an expert in the immune system scientifically, but I make it my goal everyday to try... for JR and for all of us that are walking on eggshells when it comes to food allergy.

Let's turn the food allergy switch off.