My Game of Chess

Chess pies are a Southern specialty that has a simple filling of eggs, sugar, butter, and a small amount of cornmeal; some include vinegar. And WOW! thats a bunch of junk I didnt even use... except for the cornmeal. But I swear it looks, taste and bakes up just the same. My gram is proud;)
"The origin of the name, Chess Pie, is uncertain, but there are plenty of guesses and a bit of folklore surrounding the name. The most probable explanation is that since the English lemon curd pie filling is very close to lemon chess pie, and they believe the word “chess” is an Americanization of the English word “cheese,” referring to curd pie. Basically the Chess Pie is a cheese-less cheesecake. "
I simply view every dessert recipe as "how do I make this alternatively?". All I do is some combo of vegan, gluten free and low-glycemic indulgence, one-for-all specialties I call them. That doesnt mean that the authentic taste of the product should waver.

Pre-heat oven to 350*. Two-rack oven: 1 in the middle and one on the bottom. I like to do any "custard type" dish with a water-bath so the product doesnt dry out. Directions following.
Before beginning, prepare your flax egg substitute.
1 heaping tablespoon of ground flax seed (coffee grinder) stirred into 1 cup of boiling water. Let stand to cool, it thickens/congeals most quickly placed in fridge.
The crust:
1 & 1/2 cups pre-cooked, leftover brown rice
1/4 cup of tapioca flour
1 Tbl coconut flour (optional)
1/4 tsp each salt, baking powder and cinnamon
Pulse in food processor till a finer meal. The rice wont entirely become flour-y.
Add 3 Tbl of cold vegan butter or cold non-hydrogenated shortening. Pulse
Add 1/4 cup of your flax eggs
2 Tb of agave nectar or 1 dropper filled of stevia sweetener
Pulse till doughy and pastry looking.
Press into a 9in glass(preferred) pie pan and sit in fridge to stay cold.
Prepare filling using remainder
3/4 cup flax eggs
1/2 cup brown rice syrup or agave nectar (a.n less sweet)
2 Tbl unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup room temp vegan butter or shortening (non-hydrog)
1/2 cup organic cornmeal flour
1/2 Tbl of vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of nutmeg (really gives it the egg-nog taste, but optional. sub cinnamon)
1/4 tsp cinnamon (if not using to sub nutmeg)
add additional dropper(s) of stevia extract if you like it sweet (I do!)
Beat this with a fork vigorously or electric beaters till smooth.

Fill a 9by13 cake pan half full of water and place on the bottom rack of oven. The water evaporation will keep moisture in the oven so the brown rice shell isnt too crisp and neither the filling or crust become dry. Pour filling into pie shell and bake on the top center for about 30-40 minutes. Check at 25. It should be golden brown and only leave a slight indentation when touched in the center. Let stand at least 15 minutes before slicing. Firms up more as it cools. Great warm or cold. Leftover slices freeze well, too. You can also cook the filling alone without a shell. It takes about ten minutes less time, and really just as delicious.

Since baking is essentially chemistry, Im thrilled when the finished experiment in substitution comes out tasting original. I definitely called checkmate on this one!