gluten-free cherry crumble pie

As I ran down the wooded trail, sunlight on my skin, my thoughts meandered toward the afternoon ahead of me. We had leftover Rainier cherries from our dinner at Dog Mountain Farm. A big bag of Bing cherries waited for me at home, a gift from Northwest Cherries, when they found we couldn't attend the day-long cherry tour they organized for last week. (We were so sad we couldn't make it, especially when we saw this post that Jenny Richards wrote about what she did with her 20 pounds of delectable cherries!) The color of those cherries glowed from the kitchen, miles away, as my feet carried me down the trail.

Crumble or pie? I love them both. Pie or crumble? Hm, such a difficult decision.

One of the reasons I love running is that ideas arrive fully formed as I make my way. I saw it before me: a pie crust bottom, a mound of fragrant cherries, and a crumble topping.

Cherry crumble pie.

p.s. I'm honored to say that this pie is being featured on the KCRW Good Food Pie a Day blog.


Cherry Crumble Pie

I've been working on our pie crust recipe since I published it back in November. One of the reasons I love baking gluten-free is that I can constantly fiddle and play, taking away eggs and changing flours. (One of the downsides of writing a cookbook is how long it takes to publish one. Some of the recipes in our book will feel old to me by the time they are printed.) Lately, I want to make everything simpler, as few ingredients as possible while still getting the ratio right.

This is my favorite pie crust, by far. We think you'll like it too.

(Oh, and this dough makes enough for 2 single crusts. You can use half here, then refrigerate the rest and make another pie the next day. Let the dough come to cool room temperature before you use it.)

I posted the idea for this on Facebook, and my friend Kim O'Donnel suggested almond extract instead of vanilla for the flavoring, since cherry pits have a subtle almond taste. And then our friend Carol Blymire recommended lime zest, her secret weapon with fruit. Ladies, we owe you a slice of this pie. Mighty fine.

Finally, some of you have been asking me to post the cup measurements along with the grams in these recipes. I'm not trying to sound mean, but I'm going to keep posting them in grams. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1) This is how I bake. It feels artificial to go back and re-measure the flours when this isn't what happens in our kitchen.

2) Grams are more precise than ounces. Cups are totally imprecise. Gluten-free baking deserves as much precision as we can give it.

3) Many of you want to substitute different flours for the ones we use, because of allergies or taste preferences. Keeping these recipes in grams makes that substitution much easier.

4) If you really insist on sticking to cups, there are online conversion tools, such as this one.

5) I really, really want you to buy a kitchen scale. Believe me, baking by weight will change your baking life. I'll do a post soon about this in particular. Every time I go to a thrift store, I see a kitchen scale. You can do it.

Finally, this cherry crumble pie is worth it. Make the leap.

Gluten-Free Pie Crust

115 grams superfine brown rice flour (Authentic Foods makes a great one)
115 grams potato starch
60 grams almond flour
60 grams cornstarch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
¼ teaspoon guar gum
½ teaspoon kosher salt
115 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and chilled
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Cherry filling

830 grams cherries, pitted (we used a combination of Bings and Rainiers)
60 grams Muscovado sugar (or dark brown sugar, if you wish)
½ teaspoon almond extract
juice and zest of 1 lime
zest of 1 orange
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Crumble topping

40 grams superfine brown rice flour
40 grams potato starch
30 grams almond flour
120 grams packed brown sugar
100 grams cornmeal (make sure it’s gluten-free)
50 grams oats (make sure there are certified gluten-free)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
115 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and chilled

Mixing the dry ingredients. Put the brown rice flour, almond flour, potato starch, and cornstarch in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until they are combined into one flour. Add the xanthan gum, guar gum, and salt and mix again.

Finishing the dough. Add the cubes of butter and mix until it is broken up into pieces about the size of peas. While the mixer is running on low, pour in 6 tablespoons of the ice water. Mix until the dough begins to hold together. Check to make sure the dough coheres but is not too wet. If it is still dry and crumbly, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of water.

Making the crust. Wrap the pie dough in plastic wrap (or in a bowl) and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Take it out and roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. This means you won't work any extra flour into the dough. Roll it out as thin as you can. When the dough has exceeded the size of the pie plate, lift the top piece of parchment paper and turn the dough upside down on the top of the pie plate. Drape the pie dough into place, gently.

If the dough breaks, don't despair. Simply lift pieces of the dough off the counter and meld it with the rest of the dough. Remember, there's no gluten, so you can't overwork the dough. Play with it, like you're a kid again. Crimp the edges with your fingers.

Poke some shallow holes in the pie crust with a fork, then place the pie plate into the freezer for at least 1 hour.

In the meantime, prepare the cherries and the crumble topping.

Making the cherry filling. Mix the cherries, sugar, almond extract, lime juice and zest, and orange zest. Add the cornstarch and stir well to combine. Set the bowl aside to let the filling build its flavor.

Making the crumble topping. Put the brown rice flour, potato starch, almond flour, brown sugar, cornmeal, oats, and cinnamon into the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix until everything is well combined. Add the butter and mix until the topping begins to clump.

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Blind-baking the pie crust. Take the pie crust out of the freezer and slide it into the hot oven. Bake until the crust is starting to firm and brown a bit, about 15 minutes. Take the crust out of the oven and reduce the heat to 375°.

Baking the crumble pie. Fill the pie crust with the cherry mixture, which will be mounded high above the crust. Pat the crumble topping onto the cherries until the mixture is covered. (Leave a few open patches as airholes for the pie.) Slide it into the oven. Bake for 50 minutes, at which point the crumble topping should be browned. Cover the top of the pie with tin foil and continue to bake until the cherry juice begins to drip over the sides of the pie plate, about 15 minutes more.

Remove from the oven and cool. Ideally, you would let the pie sit for at least 3 hours before you eat it. If that’s not possible (and understandable), just know the pie will be extra juicy when warm.

Serves…well, you decide. It’s a pie.