Raspberry and Apple Pie With Ricotta Cheese Topping

So today is the Show Day public holiday here is sunny Brisbane. What better time to experiment with some gluten free short pastry and make the family a sumptuous Raspberry and Apple Pie. All up the pie takes about 1 hour to cook and comfortably serves 6 for dessert.

Please forgive the dodgy photos. Right at the end I put the pie under the grill to try and brown off the ricotta and coconut mix that I had on top. All I ended up doing was browning the edges of the short pastry. The pastry wasn't overcooked. It just looks it.

Ingredients:

• 30 grams of butter
• 1 x sheet of Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (gluten free). (This stuff is awesome)
• 500 grams of Raspberries
• 6 x small Red Delicious Apples
• 1 x tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup of Castor Sugar
• 1 x teaspoon of Vanilla Bean Paste

Pie Topping:

• A few drops of Vanilla Essence
• 200 grams of Ricotta Cheese.
• 1/4 cup of shredded coconut
• 50 x grams of Castor sugar

Method:

• Get a heavy base deep pan and add your butter, raspberries, cinnamon, Castor sugar and vanilla bean paste.
• Turn your cook top to a moderate heat and continue to stir your mixture regularly.

You have about 15 minutes to prepare your pastry shell:

• Spray your flan tin with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle it with rice flour.
• Take out a sheet of short crust pastry that you thawed 30 minutes earlier and use your upturned flan tin to cut a perfect circle the size of the tin itself.
• Spread the pastry in the tin, using your fingers to move the pastry up the sides of the tin.
• Cut out a circle of baking paper, place it in the center of the pastry and add some dry rice to the center to weigh it down.
• Blind bake the pastry for 6 minutes
• Remove the rice and paper
• Bake it again for another 4 to 5 minutes (till your exposed center is just brown)
• Take is out of the oven and set it to one side to cool. It's now baked and ready for the dessert filling.

Raspberry Filling:

• So back to the filling on the cook top. After around 15 minutes it will become quite watery as the raspberries break down to mush.
• Core, chop and peel you 6 small apples and cut them into wedges.
• Add the apple to the mix for just the last ten minutes. (They'll help to soak up the water too). You don't want them to get too soft. They are in the pie to give it body and texture.
• On a plate, spread out a liberal serve of shredded coconut and place it under your grill. Watch it carefully. You want to brown it, not start a fire in your kitchen. It should brown off in 30 seconds or so.
• Once your shredded coconut is browned off, remove it from the grill and add it to the raspberry mix on the stove. Stir it through, and the mix should become quite thick now.

Assembling The Pie:

• Once the pastry has cooled, add your shell, still in the flan tin on to a larger heavier baking tray (I used a heavy pizza tray).
• Pour in your raspberry and apple mix and slightly over fill the shell.
• In a small bowl, mix your ricotta cheese, Castor sugar, vanilla essence drops and shredded coconut so that it forms a thick creamy texture
• Spoon the topping over the top and spread it with a fork.
• Now return you pie to the oven for a further 5 minutes. (Let's face it all the ingredients are cooked. We're just re heating it).
• Now remove it from the oven and place it straight under the grill. To avoid my mistake of over browning the shell, spread a little bit of tin foil around the outside of the pie to protect those edges.
• Give it about 1 minute under the grill, just to brown off the ricotta. You should find the shredded coconut easily browns off.
• Once you have browned it off, carefully remove your pie from the flan tin and allow it to rest on a cooling rack for a few minutes.
• Slice up your pie with a large knife and impress your family and friends.
• Serve with a side of ice cream.
• Enjoy :-)

The Pastry Pantry makes the best range of Gluten Free Pastries that I have tried. Yes I can make my own, but honestly, their pastries are better and just more convenient to keep in the freezer. Click here to view their web site and a lists of stockists per state.