cherry pie
If you long to eat a gluten-free & dairy-free cherry pie, look no further!
I find gluten-free pastry needs to contain more moisture than the traditional kind, making it sticky and hard to handle. But if you use a chopping board and work quickly, you can even make a fully-encased pie like this one.
gluten-free, dairy-free, yeast-free
Preparation time 45 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling the pastry and 12 hours soaking the cashew nuts for the cashew nut cream Cooking time 1 hour Serves 8 to 10
dairy-free margarine, for greasing 2 pounds 4 ounces cherries, stoned ½ cup fruit sugar or granulated sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons cornflour rice flour, for rolling the pastry 1 large egg or egg yolk, beaten
Dough:
heaped ½ cup rice flour, plus extra for dustingheaped ¾ cup gram flour ⅓ cup very finely ground blanched almonds ¼ cup fruit sugar or granulated sugar 1½ teaspoon xanthan gum 5½ ounce chilled dairy-free margarine, diced 1 extra-large egg, beaten
Cashew Nut Cream:
1 cup cashew nuts
- Put the nuts in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak at room temperature overnight or for at least 12 hours.
- Drain and rinse the nuts thoroughly, then put them in a blender. Add ½ cup water and blend 10 minutes or until smooth.
- To make the dough, sift the flours and xanthan gum into the bowl of a food processor and blend well. Stir in the almonds and sugar. Add the dairy-free margarine and blend until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and blend 20 to 30 seconds until the mixture comes together to form a sticky dough. There should be a little extra moisture at the base of the bowl. If it is too dry, gradually add 1 to 2 tablespoons chilled water. If too sticky, add a little rice flour.
- Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill in the refrigerator 30 minutes.Preheat the oven 350°F and grease a 9 inch pie plate with dairy-free margarine. Put the cherries, fruit sugar and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally, 20 to 25 minutes until the cherries have softened. Put the cornflour and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Stir the cornflour mixture into the cherries and cook for 3–4 minutes until the juice thickens.
- Liberally dust a chopping board with rice flour and set aside one-third of the dough. Roll out the remaining two-thirds of the dough into a circle slightly larger than the pie plate, to allow enough dough for the sides, and trim around the edges to neaten. Be careful as the dough will still be slightly sticky. Put the pie plate, face-down, on top of the dough, then, holding the board and pie plate together, turn them over to drop the dough into the dish. Ease the dough into place, pressing down carefully to remove any air pockets. Neaten the edge, using a sharp knife, then pour the cherry filling into the pie shell.
- Dust the chopping board again with rice flour and roll out the remaining dough into a circle very slightly larger than the pie plate, to allow enough dough to press down at the edges. Using a dough brush, brush the rim of the dough already in the pie plate with water. Using a spatula, ease the dough onto the top of the pie and press down around the rim with your fingers to seal and crimp the edge. Brush the top with the beaten egg, then, using a sharp knife, cut a small cross in the center of the top dough to let the steam out during baking.
- Bake 30 minutes or until the pie is a rich, golden brown. Leave to cool 5 minutes, then serve hot, drizzled with cashew nut cream, if desired.
related ingredients: baking powder,
fruit sugar,
gram/chickpea flour,
olive oil margarine,
rice flour,
soya cheese,
soya margarines,
xanthum gum
