Baking pies seems to be a lost tradition. If I or my husband mention my recent pie baking , people look at us as if we are either freaks or miracles. We are neither. I just happen to get pie requests from him and the kids, and I happen to be very accommodating. Sometimes. I like making pies, but not eating them. They are just not my thing. Although, I do like the fact they should not be perfect. They should look messy, and drippy, and almost over-baked by the time they are ready. And boy oh boy do I like imperfection.
Rhubarb & Mixed Berry Pie
This is in a 9 inch glass pie pan.
Crust
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoon salted sweet cream butter -cold
- 3 cups gluten free flour. I use namaste, but a mix of rice and potato flour works fine for pie crust
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 egg
Mix flour, sugar together.
Cut up butter into large square chunks and toss in flour. Use your hands to break up butter and incorporate it roughly into flour. Whole it is still cold and piec-y, mix water and egg, and add to dough. Knead it into the dough. Once dough holds together, separate it in to two disks with one being slightly larger than the other. Pat your disks and press them firmly. Place them in a glass bowl, cover in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge 1-24 hours.
Filling
- 4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
- 2 cups frozen or fresh mixed berries
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup gluten free flour
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Roll out your larger dough disc between two sheets of wax paper. It will stick to surfaces horribly if you do not. I don’t really know why, but gluten flour just sticks. Remove top sheet of wax paper and lay pie pan upside down over the dough. Slide hand under bottom wax paper and flip the pie pan and dough over. Press dough in to pie pan with a large overlap hanging off sides.
Mix flour and sugar. Sprinkle 1/4 of flour/sugar on bottom crust. Mix rhubarb, berries, and balsamic. Add half the fruit mixture. Sprinkle another 1/4 of sugar/flour over fruit. Add remaining fruit and sprinkle remaining flour/sugar over it.
Make sure it is a bit higher in the center, as it will sink while baking.
Roll out your top crust also between your two sheets of wax paper. Use the wax paper to transfer the dough sheet to the pie and lay over your pie. Slide bottoms wax sheet out. Cut to size with an overlap on edges. Press you edge lip together. As an alternative to a top dough sheet, you can get creative. Instead of a full top crust, you can alternatively use cookie cutouts on your dough. This method is easier with gluten free pie dough, since it doesn’t hold together as well. for this pie crust top, I used cookie cutouts of dough and after pinching the edges, I pressed them with a fork. It creates a nice uniform look.
Of course, that pretty uniform look will basically be pointless if you bake your pie properly.
Place pie pan on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil to catch overflow.
Bake at 350ºF for 1 hour and 45 minutes to two hours, or until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling. Most places bake their pies for too short a time so thatthey look nicer. Then you bite into a pile of raw doung. I can’t remember the last time I have a slice of pie from somewhere that was not undercooked. If your pie is truly done, it will no longer look conventionally pretty!
Here comes a toughy. Let it rest overnight. You want the fruit to have time to set as the natural pectins do their thing. You also want to let gluten free dough rest too. At the very least, leave it for about five hours.
