Amy Green’s Sugar Free Gluten Free Fabulousness

To celebrate Celiac Awareness month, I am signing the praises of other gluten free bakers and chefs that are doing their part to make our lives all the more rich with their very specific talents. There are so many incredibly talented gluten free individuals out there and for this week’s post, I’d like to honor the masterful Amy Green of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.

For those of you that have to adhere to a sugar and gluten free diet, then look no further than Mrs. Green’s cookbook, SS & GF. She is the leader in this very rarified field of gluten free baking and her recipes really are incredibly simple, just as the title of her book suggests. If you are reading this then the likelihood that you yourself are gluten free goes without saying, so you will hopefully be nodding in agreement when I say that to make gluten free baking extremely simple is a daunting task and Mrs. Green does is with aplomb.

I had a very difficult time choosing a recipe, so I literally picked up her book, allowed my left thumb to cascade through the pages as I gently bent the cover of her cookbook back, closed my eyes, and as my thumb came to a screeching halt, I opened my eyes to see what recipe my hands chose and it was her Chocolate Cream Pie on page 152.

When I went to my pantry to get my pie pan, however, I realized it was still at my mother’s house so I had to use my 9” tart pan that has a 1” depth. To increase the strength of the crust, I went ahead and doubled the walnut crust recipe by ½ so that I could get a nice thick, uniform crust that would not only be visually beautiful but would be able to stand confidently on it’s own once my tart ring was removed.

I kept the proportions of the filling exactly the same and then just set to work. I was blown away with the simplicity of the ingredients and the instructions; it was a total delight to whip up her gorgeous chocolate cream pie, and as you can see from the pictures below, all the more enjoyable to eat!

Amy, thank you for your inspiring talent, your gentle kindness (which is evident just from reading her blog) and above all, the immeasurable good you are doing for the gluten free community.

Amy Green’s Chocolate Cream Pie

¾ cup low fat milk
2 ¼ teaspoons unflavored gelatin
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon instant decaf coffee granules
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 handful carob ships, grated or finely chopped
1 8 or 9-inch Walnut Pie Crust (see below)

Walnut Pie Crust

2 cups walnut halves
3 large pitted majooli dates
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
pinch of salt

First make the crust. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch tart pan or pie pan with non-stick.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the pecans and dates until finely chopped. Add the melted butter and process until a dough forms. Press the dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown. The crust will puff slightly. Let crust cool completely before filling.

For the filling:

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and sprinkle it with the gelatin. Let sit for a few minutes to soften the gelatin, then heat the mixture over medium –low heat and stir in the agave. Whisk in the cocoa powder, vanilla, and coffee granules. Let the mixture heat until it nearly boils, then remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until cooled and slightly thickened. It should be the consistency of runny pudding. Don’t chill it too long or it will be too thick to incorporate the whipped cream.

While the chocolate mixture is cooling, whip the heavy cream using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until the chocolate mixture has cooled and thickened.

Stir one-fourth of the whipped cream right into the chocolate. Fold the remaining cream into the chocolate in 2 or 3 additions, adding more when the previous addition has started to incorporate. Once you add the last of the cream, sprinkle the carob chips over the mousse and fold them in. Resist the temptation to stir. Just keep folding until the mousse is homogenous. Turn into the cooled pie crust, cover and chill for several hours or overnight.

Serves 8-12