Nicky Ryan
Craving all the fluffy texture of lemon meringue pie but want to try something different? This gluten free cherry pie is tart but oh so sweet, with a syrupy filling encased in a crunchy biscuit crust. The pie is then topped with delectable peaks of light meringue, resulting in a dessert that’s a delight to the eyes and a treat for the tastebuds. Go on, give this gluten free pie a try. It’s as easy as, well, pie!
Ingredients
Method
To make cherry filling; put cherries in a sieve over a bowl to drain. Reserve juice. Put cherries, zest and sugar in a large saucepan and cook on medium, stirring, until sugar dissolves.
Blend cornflour with ⅓ cup reserved cherry juice until smooth then pour into cherry mixture. Discard remaining juice. Stir until combined. Cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes, or until thickened. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool.
Meanwhile, to make biscuit base, preheat oven to 180°C. Invert the base of a 22cm springform tin so the side with the ‘lip’ is underneath, then brush base and sides with melted butter. Put biscuits in a food processor and process until crumbs form. Pour in 125g melted butter and process until combined. Tip crumb mixture into tin.
Use a straight-sided glass to press mixture evenly over base and 4cm up the sides of tin (dust glass with extra cornflour if sticking). Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Stir egg yolks through cherry filling, then pour over biscuit base. Put tin on an oven tray. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until filling is set but still soft if pressed. Allow to stand for 1 hour to cool slightly.
To make meringue; put eggwhites and sugar in a medium heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir until sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes.
Transfer mixture to the small bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 7-8 minutes or until firm glossy peaks form. Fill a piping bag fitted with 2cm star pipe with meringue, and pipe on top of pie. Serve with cream on the side (optional).
We used gluten free Kids Faces Vanilla Cookies by Orgran, from health food stores. You can use a similar biscuit. Some biscuits may require less butter to form the right consistency when processing to form crumb. Add butter gradually until crumbs sticks together when pressed between fingers.
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