The Secret To Perfectly Set Pie Is An Underrated Ingredient

A common way to close a holiday feast is with one — or more — delicious fruit pies for dessert. But you can't just pile a bunch of cranberries on top of raw dough and throw it in the oven, unless you want a soup-like dish of runny fruit. To thicken up your pie filling without diluting flavor, instant tapioca is the way to go. 

Look for tapioca flour (also sometimes labeled tapioca starch) in the baking section of your local grocery store. If you can't find the flour, you can grind the granules of instant tapioca into a fine powder and mix it into your pie filling. Let the mixture to sit for 10 to 20 minutes, as the tapioca fully dissolves into the filling. The tapioca gelatinizes while baking — you'll know it's fully activated when the center of your pie is bubbling. If you have the patience (and the timing works out), let the pie settle overnight before slicing for the best consistency.

The tapioca will gelatinize clear and glossy (unlike cornstarch or wheat flour), showing off the colors of your pie, plus will maintain its consistency at room temperature as it's passed around the table. Tapioca's unobtrusive taste also won't muffle the flavor of your fruit — it will preserve it. Common thickening agents like flour or cornstarch can throw a blanket of blandness over your pie. If you're wondering what tapioca is made from, it involves extracting the starch from cassava root.

Ratios matter in baking, and luckily if you're looking to use tapioca flour instead of your usual thickener, this swap couldn't be easier. Use a one-to-one ratio when swapping cornstarch or wheat flour for instant tapioca. If you are grinding tapioca granules into flour and want to prepare a larger amount, you can use a food processor or blender instead of a spice grinder. And while tapioca is the perfect gluten-free gelatinizing agent for the filling of many fruit-based holiday pie recipes, it can also work for your pie crust. If you're making your own pie crust but want to make it gluten-free, consider using tapioca flour in combination with other gluten-free flours, like almond flour. 

Another benefit to using tapioca flour for thickening pie filling is that it holds up well to freezing. If you plan on making holiday pies or other baked goods to store for a while in the freezer, tapioca flour is your best bet.