Gluten-Free Vegan Sour Cherry Pie

If there's something you must know about Hungarians is that we love our sweets filled, especially with poppy seed and sour cherry. (Or even with poppy seed AND sour cherry). We have 3 trees in front of my parents' house and my best childhood memories are connected to these trees and somehow they all include some good climbing as well. So naturally, the love for sour cherries is in my veins. I make smoothies from it, sweet and cold soups, compote, and yes, you guessed it! I even fill my pies with it, as a true Hungarian. I created this version of the traditional Hungarian sour cherry pie, but of course in a gluten-free and vegan way, and this is way more healthy. Hungarian kitchen is not the best for the waist or for the arteries, but luckily we have many products and innovations in our modern ages that help to adapt ancient recipes to our modern world. Note: sour cherries are also known as tart cherries, often taken in juice form for its many health benefits. They're available in the frozen section of many grocery stores.

sour cherry pie on a plate with a fork next to a white flower

Gluten-Free Vegan Sour Cherry Pie

Recipe Type: Sweets

YIELDS 1 pie

PREP TIME 20 min

COOK TIME 50 min

TOTAL TIME 01 hour 10 min

350g all-purpose gluten-free flour
100g coconut cream
150g vegan butter or margarine
a pinch salt
12g baking powder
5–6 tbs brown cane sugar
1 flax egg
1200g pitter sour cherries (fresh, canned or frozen)
50 ml (if needed) water
20g vanilla pudding powder
2–3 tbs powdered sugar
6–7 tbs cornmeal or ground rice

Directions

1. Drain the sour cherries if you’re using canned or frozen ones (defrost before) and keep the liquid.

2. Mix together all the pie crust ingredients in a large bowl: flour, coconut cream, margarine, salt, baking powder, cane sugar and flax egg. Leave it in the fridge to rest, meanwhile make the filling.

3. For me, the cherry liquid became about 250 ml. Heat it up in a smaller pan, mix in sugar and vanilla pudding powder. Make sure the mixture is smooth and cook it over low heat until the mixture thickens. Let it cool, then mix in the sour cherries.

4. Remove the dough from the fridge, divide into two equal portions and roll them out on a floured flat surface. Make both parts big enough to cover your baking tray. Place a wet parchment paper on the bottom of the baking tray, add the first layer of pie crust, tap the edges so they cover a bit of the tray as well (this will help to keep the filling in) and poke holes on it with a fork.

5. Sprinkle the layer with cornmeal, add the filling and cover with the other part of the crust. Sprinkle the top with brown cane sugar and place it back in the fridge.Preheat the oven to 170°C, once heated up transfer the pie from the fridge into the oven and bake for about 50–55 minutes.

6. Let it completely cool down before slicing, otherwise it might fall apart.

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Photo: Imola Toth