I have entered that period in my life where my friends have started to have babies, and our parties have turned from all night ragers to delightful afternoon events more focused on food and friends than getting sloshed. This means that I have started pinning and dreaming up recipes that are transportable, delicious and focus on fresh fragrant ingredients. My group of friends also has a wide variety of food issues, the most prevalent being gluten intolerance.
This weekend we celebrated the impending birth of another baby into the group and my contribution to the party fare were these delectable gluten free individual sized peach pies. The peaches were sitting on my table having been bought a few days earlier and put in a bowl to rippen. they had reached that perfect point and where begging to be used.
The idea of individual peach pies sounds delicious, less messy than a large pie that requires cutting and serving and i thought it would be pretty simple to pull a recipe from the internet. Not so. Fruit tarts are made with custard, and many gluten free flakey pie crusts are made with concoctions of flours that I did not really like the sounds of (too aromatic, not binding enough etc.) I actually made one batch that came out far too sticky and threw it away.
After all of my on the fly experimenting the recipe turned out amazing pretty great. This crust is flakey and crumbly, and super delicious.
Gluten Free Pastry Flour Mix (you can premix this)
1 cup Sourgum Flour (you may want to sift this but check your sifter if you don't have a gluten free one for any lingering flour and make sure you wash it well)
1 cup Brown Rice Flour
1 cup Tapioca Flour
1 heaping teaspoon of xanthum gum (add at time of use)
pour these into a large container with a lid and mix together, cover and store until use. will make 3 cups.
This mix is important, the combination of the weights and stickiness of the flours along with their mild flavours will give you a better crust.
Gluten Free Flakey Pie Crust (for 15 mini Pies or a double 9" Pie)
2 cups of the Gluten Free Pastry Flour Mix from above (retain remaining for flouring surfaces later)
3/4 cup of chilled crisco (vegetable based or lard based whichever is your preference) cut in to 1/2 in squares
4 tablespoons of ice water
1 teaspoon of salt
Using a pastry cutter, cut in crisco squares a couple at a time into flour until it resembles course crumbs. Once all squares have been added and the mix is crumbly add in 4 tablespoons of water one at a time. Using a fork press down on the dough, then scrape the bottom of the bowl mixing remaining flour in until the dough is mixed enough for the dough to form a ball. Divide the dough ball in half, one ball should be slightly larger than the other, if you are making mini pies the balls can be the same size. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Peach Filling
4-5 ripe peaches (peeled and sliced)
the juice of one small lemon
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon gluten free corn starch
24 tart tins (unless you are going to use a muffin tin with non stick spray but i find tart tins easier)
2.5" cutter
If you are making mini pies, slice your paches thinner than for a whole pie so that you can accomodate more slices in the tart tins. Slice the lemon in half, squeeze out the juice into a bowl so that you can easily pick out any seeds. Combine lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg with peaches. Stir until combined.
Now its time to combine all these things into pie! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out your chilled dough on a floured surface (remember to use the remaining gluten free flour mix) just as you would for a regular pie 1/8" thick. Then use your cutter to cut out circles for your tart tins. Shape the dough into place in each tin making sure to push it up the sides, ensure you have no tears in the bottom. Keep a glass of ice water on hand to mend any broken spots. Save 1/8 - 1/4 the dough for your tops depending on what style you would like to do. When you run out of the first ball, use the second. The tops can be much thinner than your bottoms if necessary. When you are not using your pastry store it in the fridge as you will find it becomes greasy and harder to work with as it warms.
When you have filled all your tart tins with pastry, it is time to dish out your filling! By this time it will be sufficiently gooey. Using a wooden spoon evenly dish out the filling ensuring that the filling is level or below the lip of the tart tins.
Now time for the tops! I used a heart shaped cookie cutter and rolled the dough out thin for my tops. You may choose to do lattice tops, or use your round cutter to make whole tops and cut vent slits in them so they look like regular pies. All that matters is that your pies have a way to vent. Vents are extremely important to allow the moisture to escape as the fruit cooks.
If you like you can use an egg wash on the tops by using one large egg and 2 tablespoons of water. beat with a fork and brush onto the tops with a silicone brush. Alternatively you can use olive oil. This will allow your pies to become a golden brown colour. I didn't use a wash on the batch pictured because I was in a hurry.
Cook in your preheated 350F oven for 35-40 minutes until brown. around the edges. The peach mixture will bubble and arc up. Do not be alarmed by this. It will fall as it cools.
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