Gluten-free, Vegan Peach & Vanilla Pie
Ingredients:
Pie crust:
- 400g Super Sourdough flour mix
- 250g plant-based butter/margarine
- 100g brown sugar
- 12g gluten-free baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp apple sauce
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
Filling:
- 1 carton of Alpro vanilla custard
- 200g canned peach in syrup-approx.
- 100g apricot jam
- 5 nectarines
- couple drops of pink and orange food colouring gel (optional)
Decoration:
- Dr. Oetker mini wafer flowers (optional)
- 3 tbsp apricot jam (for the glaze)
- 2 tbsp peach syrup from the can (for the glaze)
Method:
1. In a deep bowl we whisk or sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. We cut up the chilled but not cold butter into cubes and work it into the flour mix until it forms a dough. We add the applesauce and the vanilla extract and knead those in too. We pour the lemon juice/apple cider vinegar bit by bit until the dough is slightly sticky but still workable. If it's too wet we can add a bit more flour; if it's too dry and falls apart we can add more liquid. When it's the right consistency we roll it into a ball, wrap it up in cling film to prevent it from drying out, and place it into the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes.
2. While the dough is cooling we prepare the pie filling. Opening the can of peaches, we save the liquid in a glass or cup - we will use it for both the custard and the glaze later. We cut the peaches into small cubes or slices. We wash the nectarines and slice them thinly, placing them on a plate. We open the carton of custard, and pour about 1/3 of it into a small bowl. We add about 2-3 drops of pink food colouring gel and 1-2 drops of orange to give it a nice peach colour; alternatively we can just leave it as it is if we prefer the vanilla yellow. We can also mix in 1 or 2 tablespoons of the peach syrup from the can to give it a little extra flavour - taking care not to make the mixture too thin, otherwise it can make the pie soggy.
3. Once our pie dough is chilled enough, we take it out of the fridge. To ensure the finished pastry can slide out from the tin easily we mark and cut out the bottom of the pie form from baking paper and place it at the bottom. Using our hands we gently press the dough into the form, taking care to fill out the small ridges on the side of our tin (if we have them). Since it's a glutenfree dough and it can become sticky easily, it's a good idea to place a small bowl of water nearby and wet our hands every now and then to make working with it easier. When our pie form is filled, we cut off the excess dough at the top of edges to make it nice and even; we can save any extra dough that's left over by wrapping it back up and putting it in the fridge. Using a fork, we 'dock' the pastry (poking holes into the bottom) to ensure steam can escape.
4. To avoid a soggy bottom, we blind bake (pre-bake) our pie crust before we add the filling. To do this, we will need some baking paper and some pie weights, alternatively rice or dry beans. We preheat the oven to Gas mark 5/ 180°C, place the appropriate size of parchment paper on top of the crust, and fill it lightly with our chosen weight. We bake it for about 20-25 minutes.
5. When the blind baking is done we take our pie out of the oven, remove the weights with the help of the baking paper and start adding our layers one by one (The pie itself stays in the tin). The first layer is going to be the apricot jam - we spread it evenly on both the bottom and the sides with the back of a spoon. This is going act as a moisture barrier between the crust and the other fillings and help us avoid a wet crust. Next we add the chopped peaches, and after we pour the custard on top. As our last step we take our nectarine slices and arrange them in our preferred decorative pattern by gently pressing them into the custard.
6. We put our now-filled pie back into the oven for another 10 minutes with the same oven settings. While it continues to bake we make a glaze by mixing the apricot jam and the peach syrup together. We take out the pie, gently brush the top with the glaze and put it back for 3-5 minutes until golden brown on the crust. We take out and let it cool down fully before we cut it. We serve it with the wafer flowers sprinkled on top. For storing we place it into an air-tight container in the fridge to stop it from drying out.
Recipes by Mirella Niebl