North Fork

Simple pleasures…

North Fork has a beach that looks like it belongs in a love story. Time feels slowed down and it’s the perfect spot for a classic New England summer. That is when we went, but I think it would also be a nice place to visit in the early fall.

We loved the quiet pebbly bay beaches for sunning and calm water to swim in, interrupted only by the need to grab a bite to eat, with a sweet car drive or bike ride to get food. There is Love Lane Kitchen for lobster rolls, peach picking at Wickham’s, the freshest oysters washed down with rosé in the little town of Greenport, Fork and Anchor for a quick lunch by the Lavender Farm, Orient Country Store for cold drinks and gluten free cakes, North Fork Table and Inn for dinner.

On the way in, we went through Sag Harbour, with little car ferries that go over the water. On the way out back to Montauk, we drove through the fork and stopped by Briermere Farm for their famous fresh blueberry and cream pie, my favorite kind for summer. I decided to re-create the pie, but one that was gluten and dairy free. This is what I came up with, though not as sweet and indulgent as Briermere, Andrew agrees it is just as good. The crust is in the same way splintery and I’ll definitely be making more things using whipped coconut cream.

Gluten Free and Vegan Blueberry Whipped Coconut Cream Pie

For the crust:

1 ¼ cup brown rice flour

¼ cup sweet rice flour

¼ cup almond flour

½ cup tapioca starch

2 tablespoons coconut sugar

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 sticks of vegan earth balance ‘butter’, cold and cut into small pieces

4 to 8 tablespoons cold water

For the filling:

2 cans of coconut milk

3 tablespoons coconut sugar, honey or agave

large pile of fresh blueberries

The night before making the pie, take the two cans of coconut milk and put in refrigerator.

Whisk together all the flours, tapioca starch, sugar, xanthan gum, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Place mixture in a food processor and drop in the small cut up butter pieces a few at a time. Mix until no large pieces of butter remain. Transfer back into bowl and stir in 4 tablespoons of water (add more water if necessary, one tablespoon at a time, if the mixture is too dry). Divide dough in half and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for one hour. Remove the dough and let it come to almost room temperature.

Heat oven to 375. Grease a pie pan and set aside. Place dough on a lightly gluten free floured surface. I find gluten free doughs do not do well rolling out, so I roll out as best I can until it forms a rough circle shape, then carefully transfer it to the pie pan and press the dough into the pan for a uniform shape all around. Decorate edge as you like. Blind bake the crust for about 30 minutes until it turns a nice golden color. Let it cool and then place in the refrigerator until it is cold (I found that the pie crust is actually better when left in the fridge overnight).

When you are ready to make the filling, take out the coconut cans from the refrigerator. The cream from the coconut milk will have risen to the top and collected – scoop this cream out and put in a bowl (save the milk for other purposes) along with sweetener of your choice. Whip until soft peaks form. Scoop into pie shell, place in refrigerator and let cool. Once it has firmed up, top with as many fresh blueberries as you like. x

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