Long Absences...and Gluten-Free Cranberry Pie

Well...it's been a while. Actually, it's been nearly two weeks. Bleh. How time flies when you're having fun. Oh, wait. Fun? Nope. Surgery. And not the kind you bounce back from quickly. The kind that leaves you flat on your back, in a narcotic-induced stupor for one-and-a-half straight weeks. Grrrr.

Those of you who know me well, know that bed rest isn't exactly my thing. I'm more of a "let's get going" and "are we there yet" type of girl.  Being forced into a stationary position doesn't exactly bring out the best in me, to which my husband can attest.

However, being active is exactly how I got into this situation. I've run for fitness and fun off and on since I was a kid. As it turns out, my body, in particular, my hips, were not made for running. Though I probably would have had trouble eventually due to a congenital malformation in my hip joints, years of running and soccer pulverized the cartilage and bone leaving me creaky and permanently gimpy over the course of the last few years.

Two arthroscopic surgeries (and 7 screws) later, and I'm (hopefully) on the road to recovery. It has certainly been an uphill battle. This last surgery was a lot more complicated than expected. More damage to the joint, a terrible reaction to anesthesia, and a 4-day migraine that led to two trips to the ER, rendered me practically useless for the last 12 days. A few days after surgery, my surgeon showed me pictures of what was left of my cartilage-not much. Because there was so much damage, he was a heck of a lot more guarded about my full recovery than he was before surgery. Bummer. He didn't, however, completely rule running out, so I'm optimistic that I'll at least be able to enjoy shorter distances by late spring. Fingers crossed.

Anyhow, enough about bones and cartilage. Since I can't run, I've turned to baking to lift my spirits. Not great for my waistline, but at least it's good for my mood.

Well, in all honesty, I still haven't baked anything- I'm lying on the couch with my leg on a pillow. But, I baked this pie for Thanksgiving, and I made myself promise I'd get it up on my blog in time for the holidays. Baby steps, right?

The basic recipe is my grandmother's. As I've written before, she was THE pie expert. Every Thanksgiving, she'd make two pies, always the same: pumpkin and cranberry. Though I loved her pumpkin pie, I literally salivated for the cranberry.

The composition of the pie is similar to some rhubarb pies. The cranberries are incorporated in a sweet, loose custard that cuts the tartness of the berries just a little, and turns the filling ruby-red. A hint of vanilla adds depth and sweetness to the cranberry flavor, and a buttery, flaky crust sprinkled with sugar enhances the tartness of the berries.

The filling of this pie is naturally gluten-free, so the crust was my only concern. Anyone who has been baking gluten-free goods for a while knows that duplicating a gluten-containing pie crust is nearly impossible. Chemically speaking, gluten-free flours don't bind to each other the same way. As a result, you see a lot of pie recipes online with no upper crust, or cute little leaf cutouts or other nonsense. What they don't tell you is that these crust recipes are so brittle that you most often need to pinch and prod them into pie dishes with your fingers.

I wanted a crust that I could roll out reasonably well, and that I could actually form into an upper lattice. It didn't come easily. In fact, I think it took four or five Thanksgivings before I finally got it right. Because crusts don't have leavening, the major factor regarding high altitude was the amount of moisture (in this case, ice water) that I had to add to the crust. I've come to the conclusion that the amount of water you have to add changes with the weather, the altitude, and weather or not you're wearing stripes- basically, you have to add whatever it takes to get the dough to bind. That, and you can't treat the crust like it's gluten-containing counterpart. However hard you try, you WILL need to modify your technique just a little.

I created the dough in my food processor just as I would a gluten crust. First, I added the dry ingredients and pulsed a few times to thoroughly mix things together. Then I added small cubes of cold butter, straight from the fridge (cold means really cold in this case!)

Next, I pulsed the processor until a "course crumb" texture was achieved.

Now here's where it got tricky. My recipe called for 1/3 cup of ice water to bring the dough together. 1/3 cup didn't do a thing. I ended up adding six additional tablespoons (very carefully, and tablespoon by tablespoon!) to this particular batch - must have been wearing the stripes. When the dough finally stuck together, I formed it into a ball on some parchment. My crust recipe actually makes two crusts, so I divided the dough, and chilled it for an hour in the fridge. You can skip this step, but beware, you will have a hard time working and rolling out the crust.

Once the dough was chilled, I rolled it out between a piece of parchment (on the bottom), and a piece of plastic wrap (on the top). Gluten free doughs are often intrinsically more sticky than gluten-crusts, and if you sprinkle too much flour on them while rolling, they will become dry and brittle - plastic wrap is a better way to go. After rolling to about 1/8-inch thickness, I inverted the parchment onto my pie plate, patted the crust into place, gently pricked it with a fork a few times to prevent bubbling, and sprinkled it with some sugar for good measure. Not 100% perfect, but here's what I got:

Next, in went the filling, and all that was left was the lattice crust. I rolled out the other half of the dough, and with a pastry cutter, cut about 8 thick strips - I was running out of time by this point, so I went for the rustic look. I formed a lattice with the strips, popped it in the oven, and after an hour or so, I was greeted with this beauty:

We all prefer our cranberry pie chilled, so into the fridge it went. After enjoying our Thanksgiving dinner, the pie everyone was waiting for was sliced, and served with a scoop of vanilla-bean ice cream. Yum!

Recipe:

Gluten-Free Crust:

2.5 cups finely-ground flour blend (I used Pamela's Artisan Blend)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

Approx. 1/3 cup ice water (or as much as necessary to bring dough together)

Filling:

2 cups chopped cranberries

3 eggs, beaten until light

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tsp vanilla (or almond extract)

Directions: In a food processor, pulse dry ingredients until combined. Add chilled butter, and pulse just until course crumbs are formed.  Do not over-mix! Slowly add ice water until dough comes together. Turn out on parchment and form a ball. Divide into two disks, wrap each in plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour.  

While dough is chilling, make filling. Combine beaten eggs, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla, and stir until combined. Fold in cranberries.  

Next, roll out crust. Roll out between parchment and plastic wrap to 1/8-inch thickness, and invert into pie plate. Leave a large border around edge of crust. Prick bottom gently with fork, enough to leave indentations, but not pierce crust. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Pour in filling.  

Roll out crust for top of pie. Can either be complete crust (with slits for venting) or as I made it, a lattice. If making a lattice, cut strips, and weave over top of pie until covered. Pinch bottom and top crusts together at edge and crimp. Sprinkle with additional sugar if desired. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour, or until crust is golden and filling bubbly.  

Sea level modifications: you may need less water to form the crust, but that will depend more on humidity than elevation. Decrease baking temperature to 350, baking time is the same.