On Mother’s Day she, my aunts, and my Grandma make an incredible meal for our entire family.  Appetizers, a main course with two types of meat, salad, several side dishes, homemade rolls, and dessert with good, hot coffee.  Eating out or being pampered was unheard of – she’d rather cook for the people she loves.

The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.

So much of who I am today is because of the woman my mom chose to be, day in and day out.  On the easy days and the tough days, too.  As each year passes, my awe and wonder grows at how she ever managed it all.  Three girls, my dad’s job that required lots of travel, volunteering at our school and at church, our activities, home made meals every night…I never once had Hamburger Helper or any other frozen or boxed dinner.

Recently, on one of my tough days, one where I wasn’t sure how I could juggle it all – I realized exactly how my mom did the impossible.

She did it with love.

Fresh Fruit Tart

My mom’s not a dessert person.  She’ll take a bite or two.  Maybe three if it’s really good.  I think this tart would get her to take four. The pecan crust is perfect with the light-as-air, lightly lemon cream filling.

We’ll see soon enough.  I think she’s coming to Dallas this summer for a visit. Nothing would make me happier.

This recipe is quite simple – the crust can be made and baked in less than 20 minutes.  You can make it the day before, wrap it in plastic wrap once it’s cooled, and refrigerate  it overnight. (Just a note – if you’ve never made pastry cream you might want to give it a practice run.  I mean it when I say don’t stop whisking!)

The filling can really be made of anything – chocolate mousse, lemon mousse, custard.  I used Opera Cream, a pastry cream based recipe we made in baking class last week.  It’s been adapted so that it’s refined sugar-free.  The recipe is in weight measures.  Pastry chefs don’t use cups.  They weigh everything to ensure consistent results.

Weighing Instead of Measuring

My hypothesis is that gluten-free baking can be made simpler if we baked by weight instead of by measuring.  A cup of brown rice flour weighs much more than a cup of tapioca flour.  It would be nearly impossible to substitute one for the other with good results.  The same goes for subbing a gluten-free flour for an all purpose, bread, or cake flour.

I’ve been using this precision scale for school and I love it – it’s compact, easy to store, and measures in grams, kilograms, ounces, and pounds.  If you don’t have a kitchen scale,  I highly recommend you buy one.  I use mine daily for everything from weighing pasta to making cake, even when I’m not at school.

I’m going to start adding weight measures to my baking recipes.  I hope you’ll join me as I venture out to test my hypothesis and see if, together, we can’t make more sense of baking gluten-free.

Happy Mother’s Day!  Any special plans or dishes you’re whipping up this weekend?

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Pecan Pie Crust
makes enough for one 8 inch pie crust

2 cups pecans
3 large medjool dates, pitted
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare an 8 inch tart or pie pan with cooking spray.

Place the pecans and dates in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until chopped.  Add melted butter and process until a dough forms.  Press into your pan.  Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until light golden brown. The crust will puff slightly. Let crust cool completely before filling.

Advance preparation: This can be made a day ahead of time, cooled, wrapped, and refrigerated overnight.

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Pastry Cream
makes about 1 1/2 pounds

16 ounces 1% milk, divided
pinch of kosher salt
1 1/2 ounces cornstarch
6 ounces eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, cubed
2 ounces agave nectar
zest from 1/2 of a small lemon

Gather and measure all of your ingredients before starting.  This is super important because you can’t stop once you start the cooking process.

You’ll also need to gather your equipment and prepare an ice bath to cool down the pastry cream. (Just put some ice in a bowl large enough to fit the bowl you’ll use to store your final product.) Other equipment you’ll need: a whisk, a spatula, a four quart or larger stainless steel sauce pot or sauce pan, a clean bowl to store the final pastry cream, and plastic wrap.

Now, let’s make this heavenly cream:

Put 12 ounces of milk and a pinch of salt into your sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, stirring with your spatula.  The milk will start to foam up so watch carefully.  If you don’t pay attention you’ll have a mess on your hands.  While the milk is coming to a boil, combine the remaining 4 ounces of milk and the cornstarch well with a whisk.  Add the eggs and vanilla to the milk mixture and whisk until combined.

Once milk comes to a boil, temper the egg and milk mixture by pouring about one third of the boiling milk directly into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.  Don’t stop whisking or your eggs will curdle.  Now, pour the tempered egg mix back into the milk, again, whisking constantly.  Brint this back to a boil while whisking.  Keep whisking.  Don’t stop or your eggs will cook.

As it comes to a boil, you’re going to see it start to look like scrambled eggs.  Keep whisking.  Don’t stop. The whisking keeps the eggs from scrambling. Once your mix thickens and comes to a boil, take it off the heat and immediately dump in the cubed butter while still whisking.  Don’t stop until all the butter is melted into your pastry cream.  Add in agave and lemon zest.  Taste with a clean spoon – if you want it a little sweeter, go ahead and add more agave but do it quickly.

Turn hot pastry cream into a clean bowl, set on your ice bath, and put plastic wrap directly on the cream.  This will keep it from forming a skin.  Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap to protect it from absorbing any odors while in your refrigerator.  Place in refrigerator to cool compltely.

To make Opera Cream:

Let your pastry cream chill completely.  Whip 1 cup of heavy cream with 1/8 teaspoon powdered white stevia to stiff peaks.  Put two cups of pastry cream into a large bowl.  Use a whip to break up the pastry cream so it’s smooth.  Stir 1/4 cup of whipped cream directly into the pastry cream.  Fold another 1 1/2 cups into the pastry cream in two additions.  This is the consistency of a light mouse.  Total heaven.  This makes a very light filling.  If you want your opera cream to be thicker, use one part whipped cream to three parts pastry cream.

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Fresh Fruit Tart
makes 1 8 inch tart

1 baked pecan crust
4 cups opera cream**
an assortment of fresh fruit – berries, kiwi, grapes, and oranges
2 tablespoons no sugar added apricot or apple preserves
2 tablespoons water

Turn opera cream into pecan pie crust.  Spread evenly.

While washing and preparing fruit, put preserves and water into a small sauce pan.  Bring to a simmer to melt.  Strain if necessary to remove any pieces of fruit.

If using cut fruit, lay it on paper towels with the cut side down to absorb any juices that would otherwise mar the top of your tart.  Create an attractive pattern on the surface of your tart.  Brush with melted preserve mixture to give it an extra special shine and finished look. Chill before serving.

Notes:

Opera cream is a classical recipe used for pastry fillings.  Make a batch of pastry cream, chill it, then fold whipped cream into the pastry cream.  Detailed instructions are listed at the bottom of the pastry cream recipe.

When cutting this tart, use a good quality, sharp serrated knife and let the knife do the cutting.  If you press down into the tart, you’ll smash it.

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Delicious flaky gluten-free, sugar-free pie crust is not only possible.  It’s simple.  Really simple.  Not because I am a genius in the kitchen but because I found a great recipe, adapted it (barely), then made this fabulous apple tart.

One thing I’ve learned about gluten-free, sugar-free baking is to do new things in steps.  This makes trouble shooting a breeze because I can perfect each part as I go.  It takes patience and time but in the end it saves tons of money and results in less gray hairs.

So, first  I practiced the crust.  It turned out beautifully the first time.  In fact, it was so good that we just ate it plain.  I will confess that my Grandma Ruth taught me how to make a good pie crust when I was just waist-high so this wasn’t my first go-round.  If you’re a newbie pie crust maker, I’ll give you a few tips:

• The key to flaky pie crust is to use cold butter and make sure the crust is cold when it goes into the oven.  The cold butter creates steam when it hits the hot oven, which creates the flaky texture.
• Gluten-free crusts get gummy when they get a little warm so be patient and put it back in refrigerator for 10 minutes or so.
• Don’t overmix or overknead your dough.  It can get tough.
• I roll my dough out between two sheets of waxed paper.  It works just as well as parchment and, honestly, it’s much more price effective.  As you roll the dough out, the paper gets wrinkles in it.  No big deal – just lift the paper off, put it back down, and start rolling again.
• To keep the waxed paper from moving all over the counter, I cut it extra long and leave some hanging over the edge of the counter and then lean up against the waxed paper.  I might look silly but it works like a charm every time.
• Don’t add too much water to the dough.  You want it to stick together just enough.  It will look “shaggy.”  That’s the perfect consistency.
• Preheat the oven well in advance.  I let my oven hang out at the desired temperature for 15 or 20 minutes before putting anything in it.
• There are 3 types of pie crust makers:  the ‘make it by hand’ type, the ‘food processor’ type, and the ’stand-mixer’ type.  I fall into the latter category and my recipe is written accordingly.  You’ll have to figure out what works best for you, however making a gluten-free pie crust by hand just seems torturous to me.

The tart idea was adapted from my favorite – Ina Garten.  I am slightly ashamed to admit that I ate two pieces when it came out of the oven.  Joe and I had it for dessert that night, too, and we both went back for seconds.  Enough said.

Reminder:  Slightly Indulgent Mondays will be up on Sunday at 9 pm CST and there will be another great give-away.  Make sure to come back and link up your fabulous food made a little healthier!

This post is linked to:

• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
• Finer Things Friday at Amy’s Finer Things

Update 10/21/09 – This blog post has been submitted to The Gluten-Free Lifestyle Blog Carnival, hosted in November by Sustaining Health Holistically.

What are your best baking tips?  Let’s talk about it.

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French Apple Tart
serves 6 – 8
Adapted from Ina Garten

1 recipe flaky pie crust
2 – 3 Granny Smith Apples, depending on the size
juice of ½ lemon
1 – 2 tablespoons agave nectar
¼ teaspoon good quality cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter diced in small pieces
¼ cup all-fruit apricot preserves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make pie crust according to recipe.  Roll out the crust into a 8 x 10 rectangle between two sheets of waxed paper.  Use a kitchen ruler and a chef’s knife to trim the edges neatly.  If the dough is too soft to remove the cut edges, put it back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so.

Now comes the fun part.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Rip off a piece of parchment paper that will cover the baking spray.  Remove the top piece of waxed paper.  Place the parchment paper on top of the dough.  Turn the dough over and place on the prepared baking sheet with the parchment paper on the baking sheet.  Remove the top piece of waxed paper.  Smile.  You just made the perfect gluten-free crust.  Put the dough back in the refrigerator while you get the apples ready.

Fill a medium bowl with cold ice water and mix in the lemon juice.  This will keep your apples from browning.  Peel your apples and put them in the water.  Cut them in half, use your knife to cut out the stem and seeds, then use a melon baller to remove any remaining seeds if necessary.  Slice ¼ inch thick.  Keep the apples in the water until you’re ready to use them.

Place the apples diagonally on the pie crust, overlapping them slightly, starting with the longest length.  Work your way out in rows and fill in empty spots with a piece of apple cut to fit.  Warm agave in microwave for 15 – 20 seconds and brush over the apples.  Sprinkle with cinnamon – you don’t need to use it all.  Dot with butter, and then bake for 25 – 30 minutes rotating at the 15 minute mark.  The apples should be browned in spots and the edges of the tart will be brown too.  Don’t worry if the juices run and brown around the tart.  This is ok.

Mix apricot preserves with 2 tablespoons of water and heat in microwave for 20 seconds.  Brush over entire tart and return to oven for another 5 to 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Gently slide onto a large cutting board and slice into desired size.  Serve warm or at room temperate.

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Flaky Pie Crust
makes enough for a single crust
adapted from Gluten-Free Girl

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch
3 tablespoons sweet rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespooons cold butter
1/4 ice-cold water, or just enough to make the dough stick together
1 cold extra large egg
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon agave

Sift together white rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, sweet rice flour, and salt.  Place into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Working quickly, dice the butter into small pieces and place it evenly around the flour.  Turn the mixer on stir until the flour has a mealy texture and the butter has worked itself into chunks about the size of small peas.

Put ¼ cup water in a 1 cup glass measuring cup and add ice.  Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg.  Add the vinegar and agave to the egg and mix well.  Pour egg mix into the flour with the mixer on and stir just until incorporated.

With mixer on stir, drizzle water into flour mixture just until the dough starts to come together.  You can push the dough together with your hands, so don’t worry about loose pieces.  It needs to be just wet enough to stick together.

Turn dough out onto a piece of waxed paper.  Depending on what you’re going to make, shape the dough accordingly.  If you’re going to make a pie crust, shape the dough into a ball.  If you’re going to make a rectangle tart, then shape it into a rectangle.  Wrap in waxed paper, then again in saran wrap, and place in the refrigerator for several hours or up to one day.

Remove dough from refrigerator about 20 minutes before you want to roll it out.  Place between two sheets of waxed paper and roll into desired shape and about 1/8 inch thick.  If your dough cracks around the edges, just take a wet finger and repair the crack.

Enjoy!

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