Stone Fruit Patchwork Pie

Ripe peaches, dripping with juice, and plump sweet cherries, and (just this once) I threw in a few plums and apricots that were hangin' out in the fridge...it is a Stone Fruit Patchwork Pie, right?  This recipe was adapted from a recipe I have had for ages, but I had to update it to make it gluten free and vegan.  I passed the gluten-y version on to Angela to use, but this incarnation tastes just as fabulous.

Let me assure you, this may be the the most forgiving recipe I have adapted.  You can use whatever stone fruits you have on hand (peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, or nectarines) or some mixture of all of them.  I have made the pie with frozen fruit, in a pinch, but honestly, with cherries in abundance and peaches ripe for the picking, there is no excuse not to take advantage of the summer's bounty.

As an aside, this is also an awesome time to be putting up some of that bounty for winter, if you haven't already started.  This weekend I froze some cherries...

 (Why is it that once all the hard work is done, THEN the helpers show up?)

I also diced up peaches to make a couple of pints of peach freezer jam!

And then I settled down to make my masterpiece...

Stone Fruit Patchwork Pie

For the Crust:
1/2 c. oat flour (can use gluten free oats that have been whirled a bit in the food processor)
1/4 c. sweet rice flour
1/4 c. corn starch
1 tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c. ice water
1/2 c. tapioca starch (or cornstarch, if you prefer) for rolling out dough

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9 inch pie pan or a 9" x 12" rectangular cake pan.

1.  Mix the flours, corn starch, sugar, and salt in a medium sized bowl.  Cut in vegan butter (I used Earth Balance).

2.  Add the ice water and mix until combined.


Put the dough in the fridge while you prepare fruit.

Fruit Filling:
 4 c. stonefruit
3/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. cornstarch

1.  Peel and cut up stonefruit.

2.  Add sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch.  Toss well to coat fruit.

 3.  Pour into prepared pan.

Roll out the dough, using tapioca starch to keep it from sticking.

Cut into random shapes (a pizza cutter works well for this).  Take the pieces of dough and arrange over fruit.  Cook approx. 35-45 minutes, or until crust starts to brown.

This quickly became my family's favorite summer time pie, and it whips up really quickly, tastes amazing the next day, and stores well in the refrigerator.  What more could you ask for in a pie?

Gluten free pie crusts are notoriously obnoxious to move after rolling them out (since gluten is what makes things nice and pliable), but this patchwork top takes care of that problem nicely.  No more attempting to transfer a perfectly rolled crust only to have them crack!  You may decide to make all of your pies as patchwork pies.  I wouldn't blame you at all.