Low carb pie in Greek Goes Keto universe is slightly different from Keto creations but it still can find a place on any Keto Mediterranean table. We simply call it low carb because we use a bit more of the nuts and seeds than usual.

Maybe you have noticed that we love to experiment around flourless recipes. Well, this one could not fall into that category but it’s equally exciting. The smell from the oven will bring you back to happiest moments of your childhood!

Making a Low carb pie for everyone

Let’s be honest, we love serving our Keto creations to our non-Keto friends and family members. We especially enjoy the surprise on their face when they realise that Keto and low carb creations taste equally good as the standard “carby” desserts.

Naturally, we know that in many cases they actually taste better! However, this low carb pie is an example of a good balance of flavour, texture and healthy ingredients. But as with all our creations, it should never replace a meal. A dessert is a dessert and should be eaten after a proper Keto meal!

A tribute to Émile Gerbeaud and childhood memory

The star of my childhood was a pie or a cake called “Žarbo kocke”. This was a phonetical transcript of the last name Gerbeaud that belonged to the most famous pastry chef from Hungary.

This pie or cake was invented by a Swiss chocolatier named Émile Gerbeaud (pronounced Zserbó in Hungarian and Žarbo in Southern Slavic languages). Gerbeaud moved to Budapest in 1884 and famous Café Gerbeaud got the name after him.

Soon after it was introduced, the layered cake with crust and a mix of nuts and marmalade filling became a hit all over southern Europe. Although the original recipe calls for the apricot we would use rosehip or cornelian cherry marmalade which would give even richer flavour and festive look.

No chocolate but meringue topping

The Gerbeaud inspiration served for the filling, but I decided not to use chocolate for the topping. In fact, I will not make things complicated with three or four crust layers. Let’s leave that for a propper Ketonisation of Gerbeaud cake. We will make a classical pie with crust, filling and topping. The decision to top our low cab pie with meringue gave the fluffy and flakey effect! Quite joyful!

Choice of nuts and berries

You can use some other nuts, but pecans seem to be tastier and the content of oxalates is a bit lower than in walnuts. When it comes to berries, I simply had to use cornelian cherries. Besides their unmatchable flavour, you can read all about their health benefits in the article we published a year ago.

Their seductive aroma, tartness and freshness brought this pie to another level of gourmetism. You can use raspberries, cranberries or red currant to mimic this explosive effect.

Old-fashioned patience

Arm yourself with determination and patience and prepare all the ingredients in advance. Ideally, you will ground your own flour from sesame seeds and coconut crumbs. Also, you will toast and ground your pecans and mash your berries into a nice paste before starting.

You could use a low-carb berry marmalade (those without added sweeteners and artificial ingredients) and you could use industrial sesame flour or pecan flour. But this will not make your pie any better or tastier! So, let’s just get to work! 😉

Low-carb pie with pecans and red berries

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Recipe by Roberta Kapsalis Course: Keto dessertCuisine: Low CarbDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

minutes

Calories

132

kcal

Ingredients

Metric US

Crust
3 whole eggs
3 yolks
80g (2,3 oz) sesame flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
1 tbsp butter (we used sheep butter)
1/2 tsp sea salt
8 drops liquid stevia or monk fruit extract sweetener*
1/2 tsp grouns cloves
Filling
90g (3 oz) toasted ground pecans
120g (4,2 oz) mashed red berries of your choice (we used cornelian cherry, you can use raspberries or cranberries)
8 drops liquid stevia or monk fruit extract sweetener*
3 yolks
1 tbsp natural rum aroma
Topping
3 egg whites
8 drops liquid stevia or monk fruit extract sweetener*
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or a pinch of citric acid

Directions

First lightly toast the pecans and ground them in a food processor.
Mash the berries into a purée also in a food processor.
Separate yolks from the egg whites making sure you have 3 yolks and three whites for the crust, three yolks for the filling and 3 whites for the topping.
Mix 3 yolks with melted butter. Add sesame and coconut flour, sweetener, salt and ground cloves. Work the mixture with your hands. Now beat the 3 egg whites with an electric mixer into a meringue. Gently mix the meringue with the previous mixture by folding it with a silicone spatula.
Grease a ceramic pie pan with some coconut oil and transfer the crust mixture in it. Using a spoon, spread the mixture all over the bottom and sides of the pie pan.
Place the pie pan in the oven at 180ºC (350ºF) and bake it for 20 minutes.
Mix the ground pecans with the puree of berries and the sweetener. Add the rum extract. Now beat the remaining 3 egg whites together with apple cider vinegar and sweetener into a firm meringue.
Remove the crust from the oven and fill it with the filling. Top it with meringue and make waves with a fork like in the photo.
Return to the oven and bake for another 60 minutes at 100ºC (200ºF).
The pie is ready when the top of the meringue turns golden. Remove it from the oven and cut when it cools down a bit.

Notes

*If you don’t have concentrated liquid sweetener and would like to use a blend of Stevia or Monk fruit with Erythritol, use 2 tablespoons in each layer)
This pie is equally tasty if you serve it cold or warm.