Gluten Free Berry-Rhubarb Pie (Recipe)

 In honor of Pi Day this week (3.14) we made a pie! This is such a lovely pie, I really enjoyed baking it. The nice thing about berry pies is that you can switch out the fruit, so you can use raspberries instead of rhubarb, or blackberries instead of blueberries. Either way it’s delicious! I’ve tried a lot of gluten-free piecrust, but this one is by far the best looking and tasting one. I use a gluten-free flour called Cup4Cup (you can check them out at cup4cup.com). Hope you enjoy!!

Classic Pie Dough (recipe follows)

For one double-crust 9-inch (23-cm) pie

Pie Crust Recipe:

3 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

¾ cup ice cold water

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together.

Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss the cubes in the flour mixture to coat. Put the mixture in the bowl of a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the pieces of butter are the size of hazelnuts.

While pulsing in quick 4-second bursts, drizzle the ice water into the food processor through the food tube.

As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, remove it from the food processor and divide it into two equal balls. Flatten to a disk and wrap each disk first in parchment paper and then into plastic wrap. Refrigerator the disks until firm about 1 hour. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.

Filling:

4 cups (608 g) fresh strawberries hulled and halved (cut large berries into smaller pieces.)

4 cups (560 g) fresh blueberries

4 cups (400 g) fresh Rhubarb chopped thinly, and the stringy parts taken off.

Zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or you can use ¾ teaspoon of vanilla-bean paste.

1 cup (150 g) sugar

¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

Egg Wash: 1 egg and ¼ cup of water

Raw sugar, for garnish

Piecrust: 

Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C). Roll out half of the dough into a circle about 11 inches (28 cm) in diameter. Transfer it to a 9-inch (23-cm) pie plate. Trim the overhang to 1 inch (2.5 cm) and Blind- Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes then pull it out of the oven and let it cool while you make the filling.

Make the filling: In a large bowl, toss together the berries, rhubarb, lemon zest, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.

Just before adding the filling to the pie plate, toss the fruit in the dry ingredients. Beat the egg, and then add the water to it. Brush the rim of the bottom crust with the egg wash.

Roll out the second half of the dough into a circle about 11 inches (28 cm) in diameter, and carefully roll it-onto the top of the filled pie. Trim the edges and tuck the top crust over the rim of the bottom crust to form a tight seal. Crimp the edge into whatever pattern you like. Make an X- shape on the top of the piecrust, and then brush the top crust with egg wash, and sprinkle with the raw sugar.

Put the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, turning it halfway through. Lower the temperature to 350 F (175 C) and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes more, until the crust is golden and fully baked and the juices have thickened (you’ll see them bubbling out through the x-on the top).

Remove the pie to a rack to cool completely, at least 1 hour. This pie can be refrigerated for up to 1 week, covered in plastic wrap. Let it come to room temperature before serving, or warm it in a low oven.

It can be kept frozen for up to 2 months. Wrap it in plastic, then in foil, and let it come to room temperature before serving.

Enjoy!