Cloud Pie, Yes…that’s a Thing!

It’s spring but not much fresh fruit is out for pies; I am rather tired of apples pulled from refridgerated storage, ditto the pears. And peaches/plums.necterines are here after traveling thousands of miles from South America. So for a quick dessert try this recipe: a chocolate cloud pie. This works well with a premade graham cracker crust. My guy actually liked it better that way. I especially loved the version I made once with a mixture of chocolate cookies and ginger snaps. Do any crust you like.

It is not hard to make: I throw it together in three easy steps. It was one of those recipes where the sum of the ingredients is far tastier than the components would lead one to believe. The first time I made it everyone devoured their slice. some took slices home. The name came from the fact that it is as light as a fluffy cloud and from my love for my older sister who died over eight years ago. Margie’s love of pie was renown in our family and I am absolutely sure she would have adored this pie. Whip some up this week and woo your family with chocolaty goodness that should please everyone.

Notes: I used Amaretto this time instead of rum as I was out. I think cognac would be nice too. I have used bourbon too; works fine! I used 3/4 cup almonds as that’s all I had; worked great; I put 2 Tbsp. aside for topping and rest went on top of the baked cookie crust. You can buy a crust or make your own. I often leave out the almonds on the crust before you put in the filling. I don’t really miss them…good to know if you don’t have a full cup of almonds. A healthy slice is like eating a chocolate cloud….with puffs of cream and the crunch of toasted almonds. I used a hybrid crust when I made it a couple of years ago; I was tired of my gf oreos; so I scraped out and discarded the filling and crunched up the cookies, I thought I was a bit short on cookies so I added 7-8 gingersnaps I still had from my last cookie crust. Crunched up and mixed with butter, baked into what became a flavor delight of a cookie crust! One of the best pies I have ever made. And I make a lot of pies….

Chocolate Cloud Pie

Ingredients
1 pre-made graham crumb crust, GF
1 pkg chocolate pudding, the kind you have to cook
2.5 cups whole milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cocoa

1 tbsp dark rum, Amaretto, brandy, coniac
3/4 cup slivered almonds, divided
1 1/3 cup heavy cream, divided

4 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Pour the almonds into a frying pan, no oil and toast them, stirring constantly. Alternately you could do this in the oven at a low temperature but I prefer the frying pan. Stop when they are medium brown, try not to let them get black on the sides.

Cook the filling; put the whole milk into a medium sized heavy sauce pan, Then add the dry pudding mix, the corn starch and the cocoa. Stir with a whisk as it heats on medium heat. Once the mixture is bubbling all over the surface turn off the heat and add the rum. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill until cooled. Take ½ cup heavy cream and whip. Add this to the pudding and whisk until blended. Take 4 tbsp of almonds and set aside for garnishing the pie later. Sprinkle the rest of the toasted almonds over the chocolate pie crust Gently spoon the filling into the pie shell on top of the toasted almonds. Chill at least 2 hours until set and cold. Whip the rest of the heavy cream in a chilled bowl, adding the sugar near the end of the whipping. Gently put dollops of it all over the pie top. Sprinkle the reserved almonds on top. Enjoy!

Originally posted March 2014. No changes to recipe.

Chocolate Cloud Pie…Oh My!

I have a fantastic cookbook, all pies, nothing else. By Farm Journal, published in 1981 but it has the vibe of the 1950’s. Lots of interesting combo fruit pies and chiffon pies like you never heard of. If you are tired of the same old pie for Thanksgiving try this recipe: a chocolate cloud pie. The pre-made cookie crust would sub in for a traditional pie crust which the original recipe called for. I had all the ingredients except the crust ….but I thought it sounded tasty and worth a trip to the grocery store for the crust cookies, gluten free of course! And it works well with a premade graham cracker crust. My guy actually liked it better that way. I especially loved the version I made once with a mixture of chocolate cookies and ginger snaps. Do any crust you like.

It is not hard to make either. I throw it together in three easy steps. It was one of those recipes where the sum of the ingredients is far tastier than the components would lead one to believe. The first time I made it everyone devoured their slice. some took slices home. My mom was eager to keep a second slice….for tomorrow. This enthusiastic audience caused me to mention it on facebook. I got all these likes and a few hungry comments. The buzz of happy responses led me to decide to share my version of chocolate rum pie. I have renamed it Chocolate Cloud Pie. That was six years ago….

The name came from the fact that it is as light as a fluffy cloud and from my love for my older sister who died over seven years ago. Margie’s love of pie was renown in our family and I am absolutely sure she would have adored this pie. Whip some up this week and woo your family with chocolaty goodness that should please everyone.

Notes: I used french brandy instead of rum as I was out of dark rum. I think cognac would be nice too. I have used bourbon too; works fine! I used 3/4 cup almonds as that’s all I had; worked great; I put 2 Tbsp. aside for topping and rest went on top of the baked cookie crust. You can just buy a crust.

I originally osted this back in the spring of 2014 and hadn’t made it for a while; a matter of just forgetting how amazing it tastes. Like eating a chocolate cloud….with puffs of cream and the crunch of toasted almonds. I used a hybrid crust when I made it a couple of years ago; I was tired of my gf oreos; so I scraped out and discarded the filling and crunched up the cookies, I thought I was a bit short on cookies so I added 7-8 gingersnaps I still had from my last cookie crust. Crunched up and mixed with butter, baked into what became a flavor delight of a cookie crust! One of the best pies I have ever made. And I make a lot of pies….

Chocolate Almond Cloud Pie

Ingredients
1 pre-made chocolate cookie crumb crust, GF
1 pkg chocolate pudding, the kind you have to cook
2 cups whole milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cocoa

1 tbsp dark rum
1 cup slivered almonds, divided
1 1/3 cup heavy cream, divided

4 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Cook the filling; put 2 cups whole milk into a medium sized and heavy sauce pan, Then add the dry pudding mix, the corn starch and the cocoa. Stir with a whisk as it heats. Once the mixture is bubbling all over the surface turn off the heat and add the rum. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill until cooled. Take ½ cup heavy cream and whip. Add this to the pudding and whisk until blended. Take 4 tbsp of almonds and set aside for garnishing the pie later. Sprinkle the rest of the toasted almonds over the chocolate pie crust Gently spoon the filling into the pie shell on top of the toasted almonds. Chill at least 2 hours until set and cold. Whip the rest of the heavy cream in a chilled bowl, adding the sugar near the end of the whipping. Gently put dollops of it all over the pie top. Sprinkle the reserved almonds on top. Enjoy!

Originally posted March 2014. No changes to recipe.

Dutch Apple Pie with Shortbread Crust

A year ago in November, I had a rigid plastic brace on my on right arm and very limited strength, I just could not roll out pie dough. So, a great option for me was a press in pie crust make in stand mixer. Perfect fit in my Dutch Apple Pie, with crumb topping. The cookie crust was tender and held together well, wasn’t soggy. Best eaten within 2 days.

If you are not into making a rolled out crust this is a perfect solution for you if you want to make a delish gf crust. I really didn’t miss the rolled out crust; this simple press in crumb recipe by Annalise Roberts is the very best crust for one handers or crust novices!

I used a mixture of apples; a few golden delicious, some granny smith and a few Jonagold. Using 2-3 kinds of baking apples is the best plan for flavor and structure (doesn’t mush down too much or not enough). This was definitely a great mixture. I am making a Thanksgiving apple pie next week and I will probably use a similar mixture of varieties. The pie went in tall and settled nicely into a tightly woven pie filling. One thing: please don’t use red delicious; they are not baking apples.

Dutch Apple Pie with Cookie Crust

Ingredients:

CRUST:

1 1/2 cup gf flour (King Arthur basic gf blend)

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. xanthan gum

7 Tbsp. cold butter

FILLING:

6-7 cups peeled and sliced apples; don’t leave them too fat; thinner is better

2 Tbsp. Tapioca flour

1/3 – 1/2 c granulated sugar

¼ c. brown sugar; packed

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

CRUMBLE:

3/4 cup gf flour

5 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS: Make crust in stand mixer; put dry ingredients in, add butter and mix on medium until crumbly. Spray 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray and press in crust, heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix filling in large bowl; dump in apple slices. Mix the dry filling ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle apples with lemon juice and then the dry mixture. Stir and let stand while you make crumbs.

Mix crumbs: use stand mixer: no need to clean bowl. Dump in flour and sugar and mix, then blend in butter and blend well. Gently pour fruit into pie pan on top of crust and sprinkle top with crumble to mostly cover fruit. sprinkle about 1 ¼ cups of crumb mixture.

Bake on lowest shelf in oven, 55-65 minutes until lightly browned and applies are bubbling. Remove from oven and cool completely before serving (at least 2 or 3 hours.) Best eaten within 24-36 hours. Vanilla ice cream is a perfect combo with this pie! Enjoy.

Blueberry Peach Crumb Pie

In Pennsylvania we are past the peak of both peach and blueberry season but we were both craving a great late summer pie. The resulting pie was flavorful down to the last slice.

This is so easy to make: slice and dump together the filling, crumb topping gets made in the mixer bowl you just 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.

To peel; heat 3 inches of water to a boil, drop the peaches gently in 3-4 at a time and poah them 1-2 minutes. Allow to cool somewhat before peeling. I like to do that over a bowl to catch the juices as I slice each peach.

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 close to room temperature. You could certainly serve this with vanilla ice cream. And this pie works perfectly with fresh nectarines or apricots. Bonus: no peeling required!

GF Blueberry Peach Crumb Pie

Crust:

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

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbps. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Directions:

Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. I confess I forget to do this more often than I remember…still works.

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:

2 cups sliced fresh peaches, peeled and cut in thick slices

3 cups fresh blueberries – rinse and place in medium bowl

Mix with:

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup quick tapioca

Add and stir in

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Let the filling stand while you prepare the crust, important for the tapioca so it does its job optimally.

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

Directions:

Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like. I like about a heaping cup and a half of the mixture. 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 45-50 minutes until bubbly and the crumb crust is light brown. 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.

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 oven which gives me perfect pie crust if I put the pie on the very lowest shelf so I don’t ever have pale pie crust.

Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour (finely ground)

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

Banana Custard Pie, 2.0

My mom used to make a similar banana custard pie when I was in my thirties and I moved back to PA – lived close enough to come home some weekends; for some reason she never made it for us as kids. I remember cutting up and setting the banana rounds in the baked pie shell for her. The contrast of the rich custard, the flaky crust and the fluffy cream with the delicate banana flavor is just so memorable. Today I used a shortbread crust for first time and it was very well received. My grandson said it was my best pie ever! Easy as can be too!

Notes: I will freeze the egg whites to make angel food cake this winter. Waste not want not!! In a past version I used a slightly different egg custard – both are delish! This one might be slightly easier to construct and it sure got firm; I have had one or two failure custards that never did fully gel. I suppose you could use a box custard but this is infinitely superior.

Nonna’s Banana Custard Pie

Make the custard first as it takes a while to cool down. Next do the crust. Don’t do the bananas until you are ready to pour the custard. The whipped cream should be make right before you use it.

This is an old shot from last time I made it; slightly different crust but I wanted you to get the idea of the sliced bananas.

Another older picture; lots of creamy custard with banana treasure in there!

Filling:

4 egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

½ tsp sea salt

2 cups whole milk or 2 percent, no lower fat than that

1 tbsp. butter cut into small cubes.

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 large ripe bananas

Directions: Beat the egg yolks until thick; add the sugar in a slow stream. Heat the milk in a 1 ½ qt sauce pan, add the cornstarch and salt to the egg/sugar mix; then add the hot milk in a slow stream beat/stir with a metal whisk as it heats. Pour it all back into the saucepan and cook on medium low heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Once it reaches a boil; turn heat down to low and time it for one minute, STIRRING CONSTANTLY. Add the butter and stir as it melts, then the vanilla, stir. Pour into a mixing bowl, let cool a bit and then put a film of plastic wrap on the top; press it down onto the custard. Chill at least an hour before using. Do not use until cold.

CRUST: I am still not rolling out pie crust; so I made a crumb filling like shortbread cookies using my stand mixer:

1 cup KA all purpose gf flour

¼ c sugar

1 tsp. xanthan gum

¼ tsp. cinnamon

Mix in stand mixer and add 5 Tbsp. cold butter cut up in 6-7 pieces; blend until crumbly and press in pie pan

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 17-18 minutes until the crust is light brown. Cool at least 30 minutes.

Cut peeled bananas into 1/3-1/2 inch rounds and cover the bottom of the pie crust with them close together. Pour the custard over the sliced fruit and smooth the top.

Chill pie 1- 4 hours before slicing and serving cold topped with a big dollop of whipped cream. Note: I confess we didn’t do this step of chilling it; we ate it right away as there was no time for chillin.

Whipped cream: Beat cold whipping cream with an electric mixer until it holds soft peaks; add 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar and ½ tsp. vanilla. Do not beat any more, just stir the sugar in. I didn’t bother with vanilla; made this part in my mom’s assisted living room; left the vanilla bottle at home. Still great.

I think it is best served the same day you make it, or no more than 12 hours after baking for optimal flavor. The crust will get soggy if too much time passes. Mine was still very good the next day; just not as great as when really fresh.

Note: I froze my egg whites for later use in a cake. No wasting them, that’s for sure!

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