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Recipe for Cherry Pie, taken from Grace Cheetham’s Simply Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Recipes (out now)

I find that gluten-free pastry needs to contain more moisture than the normal kind, making it sticky and hard to handle. But if you use a chopping board and work quickly, you can even make a fully-encased pie like this one.

Serves 8–10
Preparation time 25 minutes, plus making the pastry and nut cream
Cooking time 1 hour

INGREDIENTS
dairy-free margarine, for greasing
1kg/2lb 4oz cherries, stoned
100g/3½oz/heaped ½ cup fruit sugar or caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp cornflour
rice flour, for rolling the pastry
1½ recipe quantities Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (see below)
1 egg or egg yolk, beaten
½ recipe quantity Cashew Nut Cream (see below) or soya cream (optional), to serve

SWEET SHORTCUST PASTRY
Makes enough for 1 x 20cm/8in tart tin or 4 x 10cm/4in tartlet tins
Preparation time 10 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling

75g/2½oz/heaped ¹⁄₃ cup rice flour, plus extra as needed
75g/2½oz/²⁄₃ cup gram flour
50g/1¾oz/scant ½ cup ground almonds
50g/1¾oz/scant ¹⁄₃ cup fruit sugar or caster sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum
80g/2¾oz chilled dairy-free margarine, diced
1 large egg, beaten

1. Sift the flours and xanthan gum into the bowl of a food processor and blend well. Stir in the almonds and sugar. Add the dairy-free margarine and blend until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and blend for 20–30 seconds until the mixture comes together to form a sticky dough. There should be a little extra moisture at the base of the bowl. If it is too dry, gradually add 1–2 tablespoons chilled water. If too sticky, add a little rice flour.
2. Shape the pastry into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

CASHEW NUT CREAM
Makes about 650ml/22fl oz/22⁄3 cups
Preparation time 10 minutes, plus at least 12 hours soaking

300g/10½oz/scant 2 cups cashew nuts

1. Put the nuts in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak at room temperature overnight or for at least 12 hours.
2. Drain and rinse the nuts thoroughly, then put them in a blender. Add 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup water and blend for 10 minutes or until smooth.

CHERRY PIE INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and grease a 23cm/9in pie dish with dairy-free margarine. Put the cherries, fruit sugar and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20–25 minutes until the cherries have softened. Put the cornflour and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Stir the cornflour mixture into the cherries and cook for 3–4 minutes until the juice thickens.
2. Liberally dust a chopping board with rice flour and set aside one-third of the pastry. Roll out the remaining two-thirds of the pastry into a circle slightly larger than the pie dish, to allow enough pastry for the sides, and trim around the edges to neaten. Be careful as the pastry will still be slightly sticky. Put the pie dish, face-down, on top of the pastry, then, holding the board and pie dish together, turn them over to drop the pastry into the dish. Ease the pastry into place, pressing down carefully to remove any air pockets. Neaten the edge, using a sharp knife, then pour the cherry filling into the pastry case.
3. Dust the chopping board again with rice flour and roll out the remaining pastry into a circle very slightly larger than the pie dish, to allow enough pastry to press down at the edges. Using a pastry brush, brush the rim of the pastry already in the pie dish with water. Using a spatula, ease the pastry onto the top of the pie and press down around the rim with your fingers to seal and crimp the edge. Brush the top with the beaten egg, then, using a sharp knife, cut a small cross in the centre of the top pastry to let the steam out during baking.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is a rich, golden brown. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then serve hot, drizzled with cashew nut cream, if you like.

Taken from SIMPLY GLUTEN-FREE AND DAIRY-FREE by Grace Cheetham, available now in hardcover priced (£14.99 / US$ 19.95)

Picture © William Lingwood/Duncan Baird Publishers 2011