I have a confession to make.
I have a secret love affair with fruit pie.
Like not a joke. If I could choose one food to live off for the rest of my life, this might be it. Slightly sweet, tangy soft and gooey fruit filling stuffed inside a double crust. I mean a double crust, come on. That is like a huge no-no in the health community, right?
Double the crust = double the calories.
Who’s counting anyways. This isn’t a diet show here, this is just quality ingredients done right.
Can someone give me an Amen to that?
Besides, its fruit pie. It’s not like you eat them everyday….you may just dream about it as I do.
Speaking of eating pie everyday. There was one time in my life that I ate a few too many pies. Not that they got old, because that never happens with fruit pie, but in sympathy of myself being pregnant. Perfectly legal, I would say. Besides it was peach pie in an oatmeal crust, not a double, with a crumble on top. Those days were dreamy and they may be coming back with this beauty.
So in honor of this long and beautiful memorial day weekend I bring you raspberry rhubarb pie with a double (grain-free) crust, and a fraction of the amount of sugar. Speaking of sugar, the pie is sweetened with only 1/2 cup coconut sugar. Period. That is the whole shebang. Now you would think that with rhubarb you need to amp that up ten fold but honestly 1/2 cup is quite sufficient. The nice thing about coconut sugar is its brown sugar like flavor that allows you to use less with the same benefit.
I’m also going to claim that we can put this pie and healthy in the same sentence. I’m really going there and it feels so good. Besides, rhubarb is a digestion super star, packed with lots of healthy fiber working to help with gastrointestinal disorders, including constipation and colon cancer. We should ALL aim to get more fiber in our diet and this rhubarb full pie helps do just that.
Look for stalks that are sturdy and strong, much like celery. The darker and deeper red colored stalks are the sweeter they will be. Whatever you do, do NOT eat the leaves of the rhubarb plant. They are extremely high in oxalic acid, which is poisonous at such elevated levels. It’s memorial day week, rhubarb is growing like weeds this time of the year so say hello to a little tart raspberry rhubarb pie and kick back and enjoy the sunshine.
- Crust:
- 1¾ cups almond flour
- 1¾ cups tapioca flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 8 Tbsp butter
- 2 eggs (saving 1 Tbsp egg white in separate bowl)
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 2 Tbsp icy cold water
- Filling:
- 4 cups rhubarb, chopped
- 2 cups raspberries
- 2 Tbsp tapioca starch
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- To make crust, mix almond flour, tapioca flour and salt.
- Grate cold butter using a cheese grater.
- Using your hands mix in butter with flour.
- In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and add vinegar. Whisk with a fork.
- Add in icy water and pour into dry ingredients.
- Mix until just incorporated and separate into two bowls. Wrap in cling wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to roll.
- In a large bowl, mix chopped rhubarb, raspberries, tapioca starch, coconut sugar and lemon juice.
- Roll out dough on parchment paper until ¼ inch thick. Place one crust in pie plate.
- Add in filling and roll out second pie crust to ¼ inch thick. Place over the top and flute the crusts together, removing excess crust. Brush with and egg white wash (egg white + splash of water) and bake for 45-60 minutes.