I bought a tray of fresh apricots and you may have noticed that blueberries are plentiful in every grocery store. Long long ago I made this delectable combination of fruits in a pie with a lattice crust when I could still eat gluten. So, this was a perfect pairing for adaptation to a gluten free pie recipe.   The resulting pie was juicy and flavorful.  We took it with us this past weekend  on vacation

This is an easy pie to create.  Slice and dump together the filling, crumb topping made in mixer bowl you used for bottom crust. You can store any leftover crumb mixture in a sealed container in the fridge; it keeps a few weeks.  This GF crumb topping is perfect for most any fruit pie.  If you prefer a solid crust just double the crust part and top your pie with it.  Be sure to cut some slits for steam escape! I think a lattice crust would be fantastic although more time consuming to construct.

Apricots don’t need peeling; just halve and remove the pits. So, bake and enjoy summer in a pie in just a few minutes of work.  Don’t eat it piping hot; it should be cooled to room temperature or even chilled.  You could certainly serve this with vanilla ice cream.

And this pie also works perfectly with fresh nectarines or peaches.  I have to confess I love to make it with nectarines as no peeling.  This apricot version is really flavorful so if you ever get about a quart of apricots this is a great recipe for a pie.

 

Angie’s GF Blueberry Fresh Apricot Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 Tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

3 cups sliced fresh apricots pitted and cut in halves or quarters

2-3 cups fresh blueberries – place in medium bowl

Mix with:

½ cup sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup quick tapioca

Add and stir in

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Let stand while you prepare the crust.

Roll out pie crust in a pie bag or between the two sheets of wax paper, try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Fill with fruit mixture.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form.

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like (all is fine!).  I generally like about a heaping cup of the mixture. But this time my crumbs were bigger so I used the whole batch. Up to your personal taste… It sinks partially into the fruit mixture and adds lots of sweetness and eye appeal. 

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45-55 minutes until bubbly and the crumb crust is light brown. You can put a pie juice catcher under the pie as it might bubble over.  This protects the oven bottom from a mess. I put a piece of aluminum foil on top for the last ten minutes.  Cool at least 2 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature.  I think it is best served the same day you make it, or no more then 10 hours after baking for optimal flavor.  The crumbs will get soggy if too much time passes.  A way to remedy this is to grill your slices; see my recent posting on fire roasted pie! 

Note: if you find your bottom crust is not browning enough bake it empty at 375 degrees for ten minutes before filling it with the fruit.  I have a bottom heat pizza style oven which gives me perfect pie crust so I don’t ever have pale pie crust.

 Brown Rice Flour Mix (Same as King Arthur’s GF blend flour)
2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour