bakingcornstarchpiesubstitutions
I made a some pies a couple of days ago. The recipe called for cornstarch and it thicken the filling after it came out of the oven. The only thing is I could taste a bit of the cornstarch when I was eating the pies. I would just use less of it but I am afraid of making my pies to runny without the cornstarch.
Is there an alternative to cornstarch to thicken the pie filling or should I just use less and hope I still use enough?
If you have oven safe noodle bowls (ceramic, not plastic) then line them, as you describe with the foil, but do not remove them from the bowls. Bake your pie in the lined bowls, then remove the finished pies, with their aluminum "pan" intact. Or just make pasties...no pan required.
As you indicate you don't have oven safe bowls and it must be a pie, I decided to experiment, using the double foil idea. I have heavy duty foil. I used a double layer and lined a noodle bowl making sure that there was plenty of foil out past the edge. I then pressed another noodle bowl on top of the two sheets of foil to make sure all is acting as a unit. While the top bowl is still in place, crumple up the excess foil, making a rim. This is what will give you the strength you need. I would then take the top bowl out, and line the now stable foil pie tin with your pie pastry. Fill the pie and if there is a top crust, finish the pie. You can now take the pie out of the noodle bowl and bake it as usual, although I would certainly do it on a baking sheet.
The double foil is much stronger than you'd expect, but the stability comes from the rim you build with the excess foil hanging over the edge.
Here's the finished bowl with the two molding bowls.
My coconut cream pie recipe uses milk (2 cups, whole milk gives a creamier flavour), 6 eggs, 1 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons of gelatin (and coconut of course). It doesn't go like jelly, it has more of a silky consistency.
You divide the milk thusly:
Once the custard is made (i.e. sugar whisked into egg yolks, hot milk poured in after tempering), simply whisk in the gelatinised milk. My recipe then calls for cream and the egg whites to be folded in (after cooling) to lighten the whole thing.
Best Answer
There are several alternatives, but the most common I know of are tapioca flour and arrowroot powder/flour.
That said, most cornstarch substitutes aren't appropriate for pies, because they break down under high heat. The only substitutes for corn starch that I'd use in a pie are potato starch and tapioca. Tapioca powder can be hard to find in some areas though; I usually get it at Asian grocery stores.