Humble Strawberry Pie Beginnings.

Hello hungry friends! And welcome to The Girl Who Cooked for Herself.

I do believe that good things spring from humble beginnings. So it's quite appropriate that my first post is a recipe that took me over 24 hours to complete.

 What started off as a few planned hours of strawberry picking & pie baking with my gluten-sensitive, dairy-free boyfriend turned into a 2-day project. However, despite unfamiliar crust territory and oven malfunctions (eek!), I was finally able to serve up my very first post. And this pie was definitely worth the wait (and sweat).



Mmmm, humble pie.



Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Strawberry Rhubarb [Humble] Pie

Ingredients:
Gluten-Free Pantry Perfect Pie Crust Mix (available at your local WholeFoods or Wegmans)
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tbs white sugar (optional)
10 tbs cold, unsalted butter, in small pieces (to make this dairy-free, I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
10 tbs butter-flavored vegetable shortening
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbs cold water
3 tsp cider vinegar
5 cups of strawberries, sliced
1+1/4 cup rhubarb, sliced (I used 1 medium-sized stalk)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbs agave nectar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg yolk (for glaze)


Preparing the crust: Being new to gluten-free baking, I followed the instructions on the package of Gluten-Free Pantry Perfect Pie Crust Mix... Combine mix, baking powder, and white sugar and cut in butter and shortening until pieces are the size of large peas. You can cut in the butter using either a large food processor, a pastry blender, or a fork & knife. Combine 2 eggs, water, and vinegar and then combine with the mix. Form into a ball and chill for 1 hour. Later divide dough in half and flatten into 2 separate discs on wax paper. Chill for an additional hour. When you are ready to begin baking, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and "roll out" one of the discs to line the pie dish. I found this gluten-free crust to be somewhat stubborn, so instead of rolling it out, I laid the dough inside the baking dish and pressed it out to the edges with my fingers. I used the same technique for "rolling out" the top crust layer as well.

For the filling: Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, cornstarch, brown sugar, agave nectar, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir gently and try not to drool. (so simple!)

Pour the filling into the crust-lined pie dish and cover with the top layer. Trim & crimp edges and cut 4 slits in the top layer for ventilation. Brush top of pie with 1 egg yolk and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt if you like your desserts salty-sweet! Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until golden brown (cooking time may differ based on how hot your oven runs). If you don't have a silicone pie crust shield, I would suggest protecting the edges of your pie with some foil to avoid a burnt crust.


I highly recommend you serve this pie with some vanilla ice cream (or coconut/almond milk ice cream if you're dairy-free)! Anything cold & creamy goes perfectly with the sweet berries & tart rhubarb.

Enjoy my friends! And please check back often for some more recipes. I promise to post a little something for everyone.

Love, Amy