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What is a proper gluten free Thanksgiving without some lovely gluten free pie? And what is that pie without just the right gluten free pie crust? Making pie means asking Very Important Questions this time of year. Should you blind bake the crust before filling it, or shouldn't you? Which crust recipe is best? I'm here for you, with my version of The Right Answers. We have made quite a bit of gluten free pie on this blog, and there is even more in my books, but I have been getting lots of pie questions lately. So let's take some time out for a simple pie: gluten free custard pie. The filling is a simple but delicious custard, and it gives us a chance to talk about gluten free pie crust.
The recipe below is for a single pie crust. If you're making a double crust pie just double the recipe. Whatever you do, most of all I recommend NOT processing your butter until it's the size of the proverbial “small peas.” That almost always leads bakers to overprocess the butter. And that means your pie crust will not be light and flaky. Light and flaky pastry, gluten free or not, comes from cold chunks of butter surrounded by flour. When the cold butter hits the heat of the oven, it expands and puffs out the flour around it, creating a light and flaky pastry or crust. It's a little bit of chemistry, and it depends most of all upon architecture. So don't overprocess that butter!
You'll see that, for this pie, a do blind bake the crust. All that means is that I bake the crust at a higher temperature (375°F) for 10 minutes before filling it and completing the baking. The reason for that is that this is a custard pie. For that custard filling to set up properly, it needs to be baked at a much lower temperature (325°F), and for quite a while (about 45 minutes). And 325°F just isn't the right temperature for a pie crust if you want it to be light and flaky. So, we blind bake. But for a double crust fruit pie, like apple pie, I generally don't blind bake the bottom crust.
If you have other Thanksgiving pie questions (or just other Thanksgiving questions in general), ask them in the comments below. I know many of you have emailed me with your burning questions and as much as I want to answer them all individually, I'm (as always) woefully behind on answering blog emails as they do tend to pile up and Thanksgiving is less than a week away. I do my level best to respond to everyone, but since time is of the essence, for now ask below!
Gluten Free Custard Pie
Ingredients
- 1 recipe gluten free pie crust
- 2 cups (16 fluid ounces) milk
- ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- ⅜ cup (54 g) gum-free gluten free flour blend (36 grams superfine white rice flour + 12 grams potato starch + 6 grams tapioca starch/flour)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 (75 g) egg yolks at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Coarse sugar (like Sugar in the Raw) for sprinkling
- Freshly grated nutmeg for sprinkling
Instructions
- Make the pie crust dough according to the recipe instructions, through and including blind baking the crust.
- Allow the blind baked crust to cool briefly while you make the filling.
Make the custard filling.
- In a medium-size heavy-bottom saucepan, place the milk, sugar, flour blend and salt, and whisk to combine well. Have the egg yolks set beside the stove in a deep, medium-size bowl. Bring the milk mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Slowly drip the hot milk mixture down the side of the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly. This tempers the eggs (brings them up to a higher temperature gradually) so they do not scramble.
- Return the entire mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens (about 2 minutes). Stir in the vanilla. If there are any lumps at all in the custard, smooth it out in a blender (I always have lumps – and I’ve tried it every which way – so I always blend the custard).
Assemble and bake the pie.
- Pour the smooth custard filling into the blind-baked pie crust. Tap the pie flat on the counter to burst any air bubbles in the custard. Sprinkle the top of the custard filling evenly with coarse sugar and freshly grated nutmeg.
- Place the pie on a baking sheet and in the center of the preheated oven. Lower the heat to 325°F, and bake, undisturbed, for about 45 minutes or until the pie jiggles slightly when shaken from side to side and/or a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The jiggle should be a structured one (like Jello), not a loose one. The filling will bubble and puff as it bakes, but settle as it cools.
- Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature before placing in the refrigerator to chill until firm (at least 2 hours and up to overnight). Slice and serve chilled.
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Katie Kaminski Sharon says
Where can I buy unflavored whey protein isolate?
Jennifer says
I ordered mine from amazon. When I did a general search for it though I found some at GNC and other ‘vitamin’ type stores. Make sure you get one labeled unflavored and not ‘natural’. I picked up a ‘natural’ one at whole foods and when I read the ingredients ‘natural vanilla’ was one of the ingredients. Thankfully I read it before buying it. I wouldn’t want my garlic bread sticks or pizza to taste like vanilla…natural or not.
Anneke says
This will work http://www.amazon.com/Foods-Whey-Protein-Isolate-Packaging/dp/B0015AQL1Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1385319718&sr=1-1&keywords=now+foods+whey+protein+isolate
Candice says
Perfect timing! I’m attempting my first GF pie crust for thanksgiving and I wanted a good recipe. I really appreciate you explaining the chemistry behind how it all works. I think it makes it easier to understand how to get a good result:)
And I got a notice that my new cookbook would be arriving on November 30!! I better get my ingredients in order! Congrats on all the press for your new book!
LyttleO says
Nicole, when you developed the bread recipes for the book did you use your Mock Better Batter that you include in the recipes as High-Quality All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour or did you use the actual Better Batter flour?
karen says
That looks incredibly awesome Nicole! And I am over the moon this morning after receiving this email from Amazon, oh Yeah! : Hunn, Nicole “Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread: (Biscuits, Bagels, Buns, and More)”
Previous estimated arrival date: December 13, 2013 – December 17, 2013
New estimated arrival date: December 03, 2013 – December 05, 2013
Need A Nap says
Not a question, but congratulations on being featured on Yahoo Shine today!!
http://shine.yahoo.com/photos/gluten-free-thanksgiving-recipes-rock-slideshow/-photo-2717246-195300998.html
Jennifer Sasse says
Yahoo!!!! Congrats!
RW says
This looks great!! Can’t wait to try it. LOVE Most EVERthing you have recipes for:) Just and odd ? Do you know where xantham gum comes from? I had no idea it was bacterial fermentation of the same stuff that causes black spots on brocolli and other veggies in that family. Or it is made synthetically with chemicals. That doesn’t sound too healthy, I was disappointed to find that out. What alternatives are there for it?
John Lachett says
I love, love, love that this is so very close to my “old” pie crust recipe.
I do have a chemistry question though. The addition of the baking soda is an ingrediant that I have seen in some wheat flour crusts and have never really understood why. My pie crust (which was my mother and grandmothers and so on and so forth) doesn’t call for it. Is it there for extra lift? Just curious.
I’m headed to TX for Turkey day and we’re cooking so it’s gonna be a GF delicious day thanks to you!
Gobble Gobble!
Your GFF,
John L
Nichole Boyd says
Thank you for the pie recipe, just what I was trying to find for next week! I will need to make my pies the day before and they will have to survive a 4 hour car trip on Thanksgiving morning. Will this crust still be good the next day if kept refrigerated/ in a cooler? So many GF breads are best served fresh so I am a bit nervous about this. Thank you for all the time you put into these wonderful tips and recipes!
Jennifer Sasse says
Thank you for the pie crust recipe. I will give it a whirl for all the pies I have to make next week. As for thanksgiving questions all I’m really concerned about is my stuffing and drying out the bread before hand and getting the spices right. I do not make a fancy stuffing and I used to just by the pre-packaged bread croutons that were already seasoned. I also need to make a lot and it has to travel 1.5 hours. I usually put it in the crock pot but I’m not sure how the GF bread will hold up – I guess we’ll see.
As far as those bread sticks – OMG. LOVE THEM! I noticed on the parents recipe it mentioned something about “hoagies”. Do we split the dough into 8 pieces to make hoagies and 12 for breadsticks?? Also can I stuff these with cheese? My kids have been begging for cheese stuffed breadsticks – I’ve tried a couple of times with different recipes – epic fail every time.
Thanks for all you do!!! Happy Friday!
Richard A Schmitt says
The single pie crust recipe is very helpful, and me personally always feel really grateful when you answer those burning questions we have
Even more so when you reward us with more recipes! Thank you Nicole, I’m looking forward to your new Bakes Bread Book!
Donia Robinson says
I’ve never been much of a pie person. In the great pie vs. cake debate, I’m on Team Cake (or just Team Frosting). However, those breadsticks you snuck in there a the end look AWESOME! What a happy Friday – 2 recipes from you! ;)
Jennifer Sasse says
I agree with you Donia – I’ve never been a pie person. I just don’t care for the crusts. Though I am in charge of making the pies this year – which is odd, I know. I’m making 1 crustless pumpkin (for me), 1 pumpkin with crust, 1 pecan with crust, and 1 chocolate chip cookie crusted ice cream pie (request from the kids). :)
Michelle says
I am always Team Cake, but I do love a good pumpkin-sweet potato pie with rum whipped cream. That ice cream pie sounds yummy!
Donia Robinson says
Team Cake is very under-represented at holidays. Sure, we have it at birthdays, but why not at Thanksgiving at Christmas? Let’s start a movement, Michelle.
Jennifer says
I’m very much team cake too. I’m making an apple spice cake for Thanksgiving. I always make it for myself since I do all the work and think I should have a sweet I actually enjoy. But there’s never a piece left so even all my ‘team pie’ family members end up eating cake too. In addition to the pie…so I think it’s really just one of those ‘if you make it they will eat it’ things.
Nicole, the bread sticks look great. :) I’m going to try them using the Ultratex again. Ever since I’ve had a little taste of dough I can actually touch again I’m like a crack addict now…needing another dough fix. ;)
Jennifer Sasse says
Is ultratex the same as expandex?
Jennifer says
It’s a different brand of Modified Tapioca. I’ve seen them use it on the Food Network challenge type shows. It’s supposed to be a lot stronger so I used half the amount. In another post, Nicole said she contacted both companies trying to get info about the make-up of each for comparison but they didn’t share the info since it’s proprietary.
I don’t mind experimenting so I went ahead and got the Ultratex to try.
Tonight I used it again in the bread stick dough mentioned above. I don’t know if it’s OK to post a picture or not but this is what it looked like. It smells like yeast dough. Looks like it. Feels very close to it. I’m not going to do the actual bread sticks until tomorrow for supper though.
( Nicole, I know you worked very hard on your formula using specific ingredients. I don’t want to cause you any headaches by talking about a different product. It’s cool if you need to delete it.)
Michelle says
Great plan, Donia! Maybe I’ll make a really decadent cake at Christmas. Or maybe a chocolate trifle. Mmmmmm…. chocolate….
Jennifer Sasse says
Um, we do have cake at christmas- baby Jesus bday cake!