• Add all of the ingredients, except the water, to a food processor and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
  160 g plain flour, 50 g icing sugar, 10 g ground almonds, 50 g coconut oil, 50 g dairy free margarine
• Add 1 tbsp cold water and blitz again briefly. Take a small handful of the mixture and squeeze it together in your hand - if the mixture comes together into a ball then it’s ready, if not add another tsp of water and blitz again before testing once more.
  1 tbsp water
• Remove the mixture from the food processor, bring together into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Once chilled, transfer the dough to a lightly floured smooth surface. Wet your hands lightly with cold water and knead the dough briefly for a few seconds to make it easier to roll out.*
• Roll the dough out to around 1/4 - 1/2cm (1/8 - 1/4") thick. Place your pie dish upside down on top of the rolled out pastry and cut a border around 4cm wider than the pie dish.
• Roll the dough around your rolling pin and use it to transfer the pastry to the pie dish. If you’ve had any mishaps along the way don’t worry, this pastry is very forgiving - just patch it up as necessary, using spare pastry to fill any holes.

How to bake or store your pastry:

• For a blind-baked case: Stab the base gently with a fork and then place it in the fridge to chill whilst you preheat the oven to 170°C fan (190°C conventional / 375°F / gas mark 5). Bake the pastry case for 12-15 minutes until the base is just starting to colour. This will give you a blind-baked pastry case ready to fill with a cold filling such as for Banoffee Pie.
• For a baked pie: Chill the pastry in the pie dish for 20 minutes whilst you preheat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C conventional / 400°F / gas mark 6). Add a cold fruity filling (such as my Rhubarb & Strawberry Pie) and a lattice pastry top using the spare pastry. Brush the lattice with dairy free milk, sprinkle it with demerara sugar and bake the pie for around 45 minutes until golden and bubbling.
• Storing the pastry: If you’re not ready to bake your pastry just yet, you can wrap the dough up and either pop it in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze it for up to a month. Just defrost fully in the fridge for 24 hours before use.