Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes before inverting it onto a serving platter or wire rack. Let it cool for another 15 minutes before carefully removing the pan. Cool for another 10 to 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Chapter Seven
PIES
Once you have a good crust, you can make a wide variety of pies. This chapter provides a recipe for an excellent, all-purpose gluten-free sugar-free crust, along with two variations. These crusts are very versatile. They’re great for fruit pies, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie, and you’ll find recipes for all of those fillings in this chapter. Or you can prebake them and use a precooked filling, as in the
Vanilla Cream Pie
and its variations. To up the ante, we’ve even included a recipe for a chocolate crust. For a truly special dessert that will grace any festive table, try using the chocolate crust for pecan pie or any of the cream pies. Here are a few tips on the pie recipes in this chapter:
• Because various brands of nut flour, levels of grind, and types of nuts absorb liquid differently, you may need to adjust these recipes. If you find that your piecrust dough is more dry and crumbly than described, feel free to add more milk until it becomes pressable.
• Use a glass pie pan so you can see the bottom of the crust to make sure it isn’t overbrowning.
• Fruit pies are tricky for people with diabetes or anyone counting carbs because fruit has natural sugar. Luckily, it’s also full of fiber, which helps lower its glycemic index. These recipes were specifically created with diabetics in mind, so that everyone can enjoy a slice of pie.
• Happily, the pie fillings in this chapter are vegan-friendly and can be made with powdered egg replacer.
• We recommend cutting these pies into 8 to 10 slices. That yields a reasonable serving size that most people can enjoy regardless of dietary restrictions.
• Store leftover pie in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Chocolate Piecrust
MAKES ONE 10-INCH PIECRUST
This piecrust is a great choice for cream pies, especially
Chocolate Cream Pie
. Who says you can’t have chocolate on chocolate?
1 cup (4 oz / 113 g) almond flour
¼ cup Splenda or Stevia Extract in the Raw, or 2 tablespoons New Roots Stevia Sugar
¼ cup (0.75 oz / 21 g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
½ teaspoon baking power
¼ cup (2 oz / 57 g) salted butter or margarine, melted
6 tablespoons unsweetened chocolate soy milk or other milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon liquid stevia
If you’ll be baking the crust before filling it, preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Lightly mist a 9- or 10-inch pie pan with spray oil.
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, Splenda, cocoa powder, and baking powder and whisk until well mixed. Add the butter, milk, vanilla, and liquid stevia and stir with a large spoon for 1 to 2 minutes. The dough will be stiff and playdough-like (see
Using Texture as a Guide
).
Put the dough in the prepared pan and lightly mist the top with spray oil. Spread the dough with your fingers, pressing it in an even layer to line the pan. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork to help prevent bubbles and air pockets. If you’ll be filling the pie before baking it, it’s ready to go.
If prebaking the crust, cover the edges with aluminum foil, then bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for 7 more minutes, then remove the foil and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and firm to the touch.
Almond-Pecan Piecrust
MAKES ONE 10-INCH PIECRUST
Here’s our favorite piecrust. It’s a flaky treat that you might be tempted to eat like shortbread cookies (and who are we to stop you if you want to do that?). The two variations below are close contenders; the only difference is substituting hazelnut flour or coconut flour for the pecan flour. Once you’ve mastered this recipe, or one of its variations, use it as a template for creating your own versions. When deciding which flours to use, consider how their flavors will work with the filling. Beyond the sweet fillings included in this chapter, you can also use these crusts for quiches and other savory pies. Enjoy!
1 cup (4 oz / 113 g) almond flour
¼ cup Splenda or Stevia Extract in the Raw, or 2 tablespoons New Roots Stevia Sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup (2 oz / 57 g) salted butter or margarine, melted
3 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk or other milk
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
If you’ll be baking the crust before filling it, preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Lightly mist a 9- or 10-inch pie pan with spray oil.
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, pecan flour, sweetener, and baking powder and whisk until well mixed. Add the butter, milk, and vanilla and stir with a large spoon for 1 to 2 minutes. The dough will be stiff and playdough-like (see
Using Texture as a Guide
).
Put the dough in the prepared pan and lightly mist the top of the dough with spray oil. Spread the dough with your fingers, pressing it in an even layer to line the pan. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork to help prevent bubbles and air pockets. If you’ll be filling the pie before baking it, it’s ready to go.
If prebaking the crust, cover the edges with aluminum foil, then bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for 7 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until the dough is firm to the touch and just starting to brown.
VARIATIONS
Almond-Hazelnut Piecrust:
Substitute hazelnut flour for the pecan flour.
Almond-Coconut Piecrust:
Substitute coconut flour for the pecan flour. Denene loves this one and believes that this is the most versatile piecrust of them all.
Maple-Pecan Pie
MAKES ENOUGH FILLING FOR 1 PIE
This pie, which features the wonderful flavor combination of pecans and maple, is always a hit. Do not chop the pecans too small. It’s best to have a mix of large and medium-size pieces, which tend to float to the top of the pie, whereas finely chopped pieces usually sink. For those who can’t eat sugar, this is a very special treat—even more so with a scoop of sugar-free vanilla ice cream on top!
3 eggs (5.25 oz / 149 g)
5 tablespoons (2.5 oz / 71 g) salted butter or margarine, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon liquid stevia
1 cup Splenda or Stevia Extract in the Raw, or ½ cup New Roots Stevia Sugar
2 cups (7 oz / 198 g) pecans, coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Have the piecrust ready.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar-free maple-flavored syrup, butter, vanilla, and liquid stevia together until thoroughly blended. Add the Splenda and whisk gently just until well blended; don’t whisk so much that the mixture gets foamy. Fold in the pecans.
Put the crust on a baking sheet and pour the filling in. Cover the edges of the crust with foil to prevent burning. Bake for 30 minutes, then carefully rotate the baking sheet and bake for about 25 more minutes. Remove the foil and bake for about 5 more minutes, until the center of the pie is set and springs back slightly when pressed gently and a knife inserted into the middle of the pie comes out clean.
Let the pie cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Keep refrigerated.
Apple Crumble Pie
MAKES ENOUGH FILLING AND TOPPING FOR 1 PIE
There is nothing like a good old-fashioned apple crumble pie, so we wanted to create a gluten-free, sugar-free version for this book. You can use any type of apples, but in our opinion slightly tart varieties with low a glycemic load, such as Granny Smith or pippins, yield the best results. Denene has found that Fuji apples, for example, contain too much sugar for some diabetics. You can peel the apples if you like, but we recommend leaving the peel on for added nutrients and fiber. This pie is delicious on its own, but even better with sugar-free vanilla ice cream.
