Berry Panna Cotta Pie (AIP & Paleo)

Last weekend, we celebrated Independence Day (aka the 4th of July) in the US. The holiday sort of sneaked up on me, after a busier-than-average June, so I did not have time to concoct a new AIP patriotic dessert this year. I planned to make the patriotic panna cotta I posted last year (actually, it’s one of my most favorite, easiest AIP desserts because you really can substitute almost any fruit you like). At the last minute, I had an epiphany to make the panna cotta into a pie by first making an AIP pie crust (I used a recipe from my friend Martine at The Paleo Partridge), then filling the baked/cooled shell with berries & adding the panna cotta custard liquid. 

The results were spectacular! The pie tasted very reminiscent of the fruit tarts I use to make in my pre-AIP/paleo days & are something that I really miss.  I remarked to my husband, as we sampled the pie, that it tasted so “normal.” Martine’s crust was almost like a short bread cookie, very similar to the pate sucree I use to make for all my tarts. The creamy coconut filling wasn’t overwhelmingly coconut-y & pared so well with ripe berries & the almost buttery crust. I had to pinch myself that the dessert was completely AIP!!

Though I hadn’t intended to do a blog post on this pie, the reactions to the image I posted on Instagram were so great that I thought a post would be nice to make the recipe easier to find (and let’s be honest, more pin-able, since I can’t keep track of recipes very well unless I can pin them to Pinterest). I believe this crust/fruit/panna cotta custard combination would work well with fruits other than berries (peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, apples, pears, figs... etc) when berries are no longer in season. If you try another fruit variation, please post a picture on Instagram & tag me (@lauravein) in it!

Berry Panna Cotta Pie 

yields 8 servings, or one 9 inch pie  

1 recipe Sweet & Savory Pie Crust from Eat Heal Thrive 

250 g (approximately 2 cups) berries or other fruit of choice (I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries & raspberries)

1 recipe of Panna Cotta custard 

1. Make the sweet & savory pie crust according to the directions on Martine’s web site. The only changes I made were to skip piercing the bottom of the crust before baking (I didn’t want the filling to run out later) & to bake it 5 minutes longer because I didn’t want to risk the crust getting soggy from the filling. 
2. While the pie shell is cooling, prepare the berries, cutting them if desired. Place the fruit into the bottom of the cooled shell. 
3. Make the panna cotta custard according to the directions--Omit the vanilla for elimination phase AIP. Set the berry-filled pie shell onto a sheet pan for easier transport, then carefully pour the custard over the fruit. 
4. Allow the pie to chill until the custard is set, approximately 2 hours. Let the pie sit at room temperature at least 10 minutes before serving. Refrigerate any leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator. The pie is best consumed within 24-36 hours, or else the crust begins to get soggy.