Strawberry and Almond Pie

When we were in Switzerland on our summer vacation I ate the most zingy, wonderful, yummy pie ever: Walliser Apricot Pie. Seriously, that was one of the best pies i've ever tasted in my life, so sweet, yet zingy and fresh.  Sweet because the filling is made with grated almonds and the apricots made it fresh and zingy. And my kids were looking at my plate with sad little faces. Because of course this was a 'gluten-pie'. So I promised them to make something similar when we got home. Time flew by and now apricots are out of season. Bummer. But the supermarket is stocked with peaches and nectarines instead. And my kids loathe peaches and nectarines. Yeah, really.... 

So when I woke up with the urge to bake, I suffer from acute Obsessive Compulsive Baking Disorder (OCBD) sometimes, I decided to try and make this wonderful pie with strawberries, because my kids adore strawberries.  

It looks a bit messy, but trust me, it tastes wonderful!

A tip before you start: 
This pie is made with a standard recipe for pie dough, but with gluten free ingredients  And usually (when you make this with normal flour) you would make the dough and store it in the fridge for a while and then roll it out. With gluten free dough that will become one huge disaster, because the dough will break and crumble underneath your hands. And you don't want that. So i made the dough for the pie base and just pressed it into the pie baking tray with my hands, making sure it is even everywhere. That way you have no frustration, but end up with a yummy pie dough. I then put it in the fridge. 

Ingredients:
For the pie base

• 150 grams (5.5 oz)  of soft butter
• 220 grams (8 oz) of gluten free rice flour
• 5 tablespoons of finely granulated sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum

For the filling

• 180 grams (6 oz) of melted butter
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of powdered sugar
• 80 grams (2.75 oz) of gluten free almond flour
• 200 grams (7 oz) of finely chopped almonds
• 3 eggs (and the egg white that is left over from the egg yolks that you used for the pie base)
• 6 tablespoons of sugar
• about 250-300 grams (9 - 10.25 oz) of strawberries

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees centigrade/350 degrees fahrenheit.
• Butter a pie baking tray or a spring tin
• Mix the butter, rice flour, the granulated sugar, the egg yolks and xanthan gum in a bowl. 
• take out the dough and divide it over de base of the pie baking tray making sure it is even and the dough covers the side of the pie baking tray as well. 
• Put the pie base in the fridge for about 20 minutes while you make the filling,
• Mix the melted butter with the powdered sugar till it's all creamy and fluffy. Then add the almond flour, the chopped almonds, the eggs and the left over egg white and mix it to a fluffy, frothy substance. 
• Take the pie base out of the fridge and spoon the filling on top of it. It will look like this.

• Slice the strawberries in half and place them on top of the pie. Your pie will look like this.

• Put the pie in the oven for half an hour.
• Take the pie out of the oven, sprinkle sugar over the top and turn the heat down to about 170 degrees centigrade/ 325 degrees fahrenheit and bake for another 45 - 50 minutes. 
• If the centre isn't wobbly anymore and the pie is soft but firm take it out of the oven and let it cool before you slice it up to serve it with some whipped cream.

Enjoy!