This was going to be just cherry pie, but then I had a few raspberries left over, and a plum, and a peach, that were all on there last healthy leg. So, it became a party in the pie filling.
It’s still a cherry pie, but the extra fruit gave it a slightly fuller flavor and texture. I’m using a crust made out of almond flour (this means it’s gluten-free), and I make the filling separately from the crust and then combine the two at the end for a quick finishing bake. This technique preserves the pie crust and avoids burnt edges since honey and almond flour tend to bake quickly. It also allows me to thicken the filling naturally – by cooking off some of the moisture.
Oh, the plate is messy because this was my second slice. I ate the first slice and then realized I didn’t take a shot of it yet.
Cherry Pie
Pie filling
- 2 pounds of cherries, pitted (fresh or frozen; I used Bing and a few Rainer)
- 1 cup of assorted fruit, optional (raspberries, blueberries, apples, and plums are good, or just more cherries)
- 1/4 cup of lemon juice
- 3/4 to 1 cup of honey (depending on how tart the cherries are)
Crust (top and bottom):
- 3 cups of almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1 egg
- Make the filling ahead of time, since it will simmer for up to an hour.
- Place the fruit, honey, and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer the fruit soup for at least 30 minutes (I usually do this up to an hour) to thicken the filling (remove moisture).
- And now for the crust. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine all the ingredients in a food processor, or combine them well by hand. The butter will still show in the dough. Separate the dough into two balls, and wrap one ball in wax paper or plastic and place in the refrigerator.
- Place the other dough ball on a nonstick surface, such as parchment
paper, on the top and bottom of the dough ball and roll out the dough
with a hand roller so that it can fit into a pie dish (8 or 9 inches in
diameter). Lift the crust up using the paper edges and place it in the
pie dish. Alternatively, you can place the pie plate over the crust and
flip the paper, crust and pie dish over, and then smooth out the crust
in the pie dish. - Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, or until browned. Take out and cool the crust.
- Place the cooled cherry filling in the pie crust.
- Take the second dough ball and roll it out so it fits over the pie
filling and crust. Along the edges, cover the previously baked bottom
crust with the new top crust to prevent the bottom crust from browning
any further. - Place the pie in the oven at 310 degrees F and bake for 15 minutes,
or until the center of the top crust is slightly brown. Try not to let
the edges of the top crust burn. You can cover the edges with foil to prevent them from burning. - Enjoy!
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Oh my goodness!! As soon as it cools down I am baking this! Looks wonderful
Hope you are doing well!
Doing great – hope you are too! I know what you mean – I haven’t cooked in a few days.
My son is following the DAPS diet which eliminated grain, baking soda and baking powder. Do you know a recipe for bread which could be used for sandwiches and toast?
By the way, your parmesean crackers are delicious!!!
Fran
Sorry not ‘DAPS’, it’s GAPS
Hi Fran. Wow, that’s a tough one. I can’t seem to find a “real” bread recipe that doesn’t use baking soda. Try this one: http://scdrecipe.com/recipes-bread/skillet-pita-bread/
I have been looking for a pie crust recipe. Found you on Pinterest.
One question…can I use Stevia instead of honey?
I made this for my son’s birthday with fresh tart cherries that we had picked locally. I think perhaps the fact that they were fresh and tart (instead of frozen sweet cherries) affected the recipe – I let it simmer for 2 hours and although some liquid evaporated, they never thickened down to anything close to a pie-filling texture. I finally added in some grassfed beef gelatin, which helped. By that point, it was past midnight, so I decided to refrigerate the pie with the top crust rolled out and bake it the next morning. Because the filling was so cold, the middle of the top crust never really baked/browned – even with an extra 15 min baking time, although the edges got pretty dark (I did cover them halfway through). I’m sure that if I had followed your recipe without those changes, it would have turned out beautifully, and the flavor was fabulous despite the little bumps in the process. Thank you for the GAPS friendly recipes!!