pie

Black Bottom Pie A Southern Treat!

This is a humdinger of a pie, from the South but definitely a pie we love here in Pennsylvania. A gingersnap crust topped with a thin layer of dark chocolate custard and then a high layer of rum flavored custard which I like to top with lightly sweetened freshly whipped cream. Heaven on a plate.

This pie is slightly tricky but honestly I have never had a fail and I have made it like 2 dozen times over the years. My mom used to make it and I often make it during the Christmas season. We had some on New year’s Eve to celebrate. My guy claims to not like gingersnaps but once he eats a freshly baked one made from scatch he suddenly becomes a fan! So, you could use a graham cracker crust but I urge you to try this with the gingersnap version. The rest of it is hard to sub in anything. I generally like dark rum but in a pinch I have used white rum more than once. I use bittersweet chocolate but you could try it with semi-sweet or even 50/50 bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate.

Black Bottom Pie

Make a gingersnap crust; 1 1/2 cup crushed gingersnaps; I do it in the blender

1/3 cup melted butter; mix in a bowl and pour into a 9 inch pie pan; spread evenly on bottom and sides. I like to use a sheet of wax paper to easily spread it. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Let cool completely.

Filling

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 Tbsp and 2 tsp. cornstarch

2 cups whole milk heated to quite hot in the microwave; I do 2 minutes

4 eggs separated; put yolks in a small bowl and lightly beat with a whisk

1.5 ounces of bittersweet chocolate melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbsp plain gelatine mixed with 2 Tbsp. cold water in a small dish; let stand a minute before using

1/4 tsp. cream of tarter

2 Tbsp rum, preferably dark rum

a cup of cold heavy cream

Directions: Mix the sugar and cornstarch and add to the milk in 1.5 quart saucepan, heavy if you have such. Stir as it heats on medium. I use a heat diffuser between the heat and the pan. Cook slowly, do not let boil. Stir a lot so it heats evenly. It needs to coat the spoon; won’t get that thick and this generally takes 8-10 minutes at least. Then use a measuring cup to dip out 1/3 or so cup of it and stir into the egg yolks. Then pour the egg yolk mixture into the hot milk and stir well. Then cook on medium heat for a minute. Meanwhile… Melt that chocolate; I do it in my microwave. Dip out or pour a cup to 1.25 cups custard into a small bowl; pour in melted chocolate, stir good and add the vanilla, stir and let cool a couple of minutes before pouring into the crust. evenly coating the bottom. Put in fridge to chill.

Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until forming soft peaks. Add 1/3 cup sugar very slowly as it beats to firm peaks. Pour the melted gelatin into the remaining hot custard, stir in until it is melted. Add rum and fold together with the beaten egg whites until no white shows, pull the crust out of the fridge and gently pile the rum custard on top of the chocolate custard. Chill at least 3 hours. Serve topped with whipped cream sweetened with a little powdered sugar; 1 cup heavy cream plus 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar.

Delicious Nectarine Blueberry Pie

 This July post never got uploaded, when I discovered that, I decided to add it to my blog so it’s available next summer. The resulting pie was delicious 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.

I used a lot more nectarines than blueberries; the proportions are up to you. The nectarines don’t need to be peeled like peaches. I used coconut palm sugar in my crumbs; it does darken them but lowers the hypoglycemic level of the pie; good for those of us who are prediabetic or just avoiding white sugar. You can also replace some or all of the sugar in the filling with coconut palm sugar. I like to do 50/50 sugar and c coconut palm sugar.

You could make this pie with frozen fruit; just add at least 10-20 minutes of time to the bake time. Don’t defrost them fully; can defrost somewhat but not completely before putting it together to bake.

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. 

GF Nectarine and Blueberry Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (King Arthur Basic GF blend or use the recipe at the bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. 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

Directions:

Spray 9 or 10 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.

crust

Filling:

5 cups sliced fresh nectarines, unpeeled and cut in thick slices

1 cup fresh blueberries – rinse and place in medium bowl

Mix with:

½ cup sugar (or use coconut palm sugar for half of the sugar)

½ tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. 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 or a blend of coconut palm sugar and granulated 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 1 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature.  I think it is best served the same day you make it, or no more than 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 there are a couple of choices; you could bake it empty at 375 degrees for ten minutes before filling it with the fruit. Choice 2: I bake pies on a rack placed at the very bottom of my oven which gives me perfect pie crust; I don’t ever have pale pie crust.

The topping is extra brown due to coconut palm sugar instead of all granulated sugar.

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

2/3 c potato starch – Not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

Pecan Pie: Thanksgiving Classic!

Thanksgiving pie – you gotta have it. Posted my go-to pumpkin pie recipe the other day.  Here is another classic pie. This is my favorite pecan pie recipe; been making it for a long while and I have shared the recipe before but not on this blog; right out of Betty Crocker, just now with a gluten free crust.  I add an extra quarter cup pecans to make the pie a bit fatter and I always use dark Karo syrup; it is really the only one you should use if you want a great result. The next time I bake it I want to test it with coconut palm sugar instead of granulated sugar in the filling. I love the lower spot for it on the hypoglycemic index so lately I use it whenever possible.

karopecans

I often don’t need a whole pecan pie so I make a half batch of filling to fill four flat bottom tartlets filled with pecan yumminess. Just a thought if you don’t want a whole big pie.  My tartlets were baked in 30-35 minutes.  They were scrumptious.

Pecan pie is awesome on its own but is also great with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  A classic never goes out of style.  It looks just like pecan pie should; rich, dark and chock full of pecan halves. The crust is tender and flaky: it tastes exactly like the best pecan pie ever: no one will ever know it is gf!

pecan-pie

I keep forgetting to take a pic of my pie; this is from McCormick Spices but looks a lot like mine.

Angie’s GF Pecan Pie 

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix aka King Arthur basic gf blend (diy recipe is at the bottom of this 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

Directions: Spray a 9-inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.  I don’t usually bother with this but feel free to take this extra caution. A glass pie tin works too.

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 get the rest ready. I use an OXO pie bag that is great for rolling out gf crust…better than wax paper by far.

Filling:

3 large eggs

2/3 c sugar (try coconut palm sugar!)

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup very soft or melted butter

1 cup dark corn syrup

1 1/4 cups pecan halves

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions: Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and corn syrup until well mixed, can use a hand held mixer.  Stir in pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Roll out pie crust between the two sheets of wax paper or in a pie bag; try to get the thickness even, no thick middle is allowed! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Fill with pecan mix.  Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 40-50 minutes until the filling is set.  Cool at least 1 hour before serving at room temperature or slightly chilled.

 

Brown Rice Flour Mix (same as King Arthur’s gf flour blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

Apple Crumb Pie

Apples are a favorite American fruit, and they are the main ingredient in America’s favorite pie.   This crumb topped pie is easier to construct than a two-crust pie. I gave you the amounts for a 9-inch pie; I myself generally make it 10 inches; use 9-10 cups sliced apples and higher end of amounts of sugar, tapioca and spices.  Bake this bigger pie for 55-60 minutes.

I like to use 2-3 kinds of apples in my pie; my favorites include golden delicious, Cortland, Pink Lady, Empire, Rome or Ida apples but if you want to use one variety my favorite is golden delicious, and they generally are apple perfection, great flavor and hold their shape without any crunchiness. They also play well in pies made with other baking apples like Empire, Ida Red, Rome to name a few. Just skip Red Delicious; only for eating raw and their texture doesn’t hold up in a pie.

I generally make my own crust but you can use a Bob’s Redmill GF crust mix; pretty decent if a bit trickier to roll out than my usual homemade crust. Definitely a good choice when you don’t have the time for a scratch pie crust. I always use my homemade crumbs. They are easy to make and taste the best!

I put this pie together in a few steps; make the crust dough; put it in fridge to chill while I peel, slice and cut up the apples. I also throw together the crumbs before rolling out the pie; you don’t need to rinse the mixer bowl from the crust then.  If you plan to prebake your crust those ten minutes of baking the empty pie crust are also a good time for making the crumbs and preparing the apples too! I generally move an oven shelf to the very bottom of my oven and that helps the bottom pie crust bake fully.

Note that I love using coconut palm sugar in place of brown sugar as it is lower on the hypoglycemic index which is better for your pancreas if you are avoiding sugar. I am pre-diabetic, so I have switched to coconut palm sugar whenever possible for that reason and it is working great for me! It has a lovely caramel flavor too!

Each step is fairly easy, but the results are spectacular.  Of course, you could buy a readymade unbaked crust but this roll out crust I prefer to use is really tasty: my mom never believed it was gluten free!  This disbelief of hers was proof of the great flavor and texture of this particular basic gf pie crust.unbaked-apple-crumb-pie

It goes without saying that this pie is great with a slice of vanilla ice cream.  Fall is the best season for apple pie as they are fresh and full of juicy flavor.   Be seasonal whenever possible when it comes to fruits, and you will get the best taste in your fruit-based desserts.

Apple Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 Tbsp. King Arthur Basic GF blend or the brown rice flour mix at bottom of my 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

Directions: Spray a nine-inch pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour. Set aside.

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.

Roll out the flattened ball into a 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 the pie pan, be sure to center it.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.

Filling:

8 cups thin apple slices from 8-9 medium-large sized apples, I like a mixture of yellow delicious and at least one other cooking variety; red Rome, Jonathan, empire, Courtland, or any tart apple you like to bake with. Note: I have made it just with Cortland or with Golden Delicious apples; excellent pies! Peel apples, quarter, cut out core, slice into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Place apple slices in a large bowl and sprinkle top with 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Mix the following dry ingredients in a small bowl and then pour over the apples and mix up with a big spoon.

¼ cup brown sugar or coconut palm sugar (my new fav sub for brown sugar)

3-8 Tbsp. granulated sugar (3= pretty tart, 8 if you like it sweet)

2 Tbsp. minute tapioca or tapioca flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

A good sprinkle of ground nutmeg

A small sprinkle of ground ginger (optional)

Directions: After you mix up the apples and topping then heap the apples in your uncooked pie crust.

Crumb topping

Directions: 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

Finishing directions: Sprinkle the top of the pie with crumb mix; use as much as you like.  I like about 2/3-3/4 of the mixture.  Up to your personal taste…  Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 50-60 minutes until bubbly and the crust is light brown.  You can cover the pie loosely with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes.  I bake my pies at the lowest possible level shelf, so my crust gets crisp but if you have issues with soggy bottom crusts; prebake your crust for 10 minutes; then fill and bake immediately.

Cool the pie at least 3 to 4 hours before serving at room temperature.

Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

The crust and crumbs are from Annalise Roberts’ great cookbook: Gluten-Free Baking Classics. My filling is slightly different.

Originally posted February 2015. Revised slightly and updated for this 11/1/24 post.

Peach Blueberry Crumb Pie

In eastern Pennsylvania we are still in blueberry season, and I was craving a great late summer pie.   The resulting pie was delicious down to the last slice.

blueberry peach pie 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.

I used a lot more peaches than blueberries; the proportions are up to you. To peel peaches; heat 3 inches of water to a boil, drop the peaches gently in 3-4 at a time and poach them 1-3 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.  Bonus: no peeling required!

GF Blueberry Peach Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (King Arthur Basic GF blend or use the recipe at the bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. 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

Directions:

Spray 9 or 10 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.

crust

Filling:

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

1 cup fresh blueberries – rinse and place in medium bowl

Mix with:

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. quick tapioca

Add and stir in

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

blueberry peach pie filling

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.

blueberry peach pie unbaked

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.

blueberry peach pie, done

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 there are a couple of choices; you could bake it empty at 375 degrees for ten minutes before filling it with the fruit. Choice 2: I bake pies on the rack at the very bottom of my oven which gives me perfect pie crust; 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