Master of the Pie

[mishalak]

My pie actually came out very good. I am not yet a total master of pie making, but I am getting better and better with every one I make. I'm well past the cardboard stage to a light flaky crust. Now all I need to do is get better at manipulating it to be pretty. Perhaps just a scosh too much lemon juice in my filling, but even I cannot find fault with it. It is a very good recipe, partially of my own invention. Props to America's Test Kitchen for the recommendations on using tapioca for the thickener for the filling and the proportions on the pie dough.

Mishalak's Peach Pie Filling
5 cups sliced up fresh Colorado Peaches
3-4 tablespoons quick tapioca
¼ cup sugar
½ cup honey (estimate)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon fresh ground allspice
½ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
A little salt

All amounts are estimates aside from the peaches. I didn't precisely measure how much lemon I squeezed or honey I spooned out. And as I said my taste tells me that I had a bit too much lemon. Though it was totally tasty.

Comments

[qingting.livejournal.com]

what's your recipe for pie dough? i used to make wonderfully flakey crusts when I was a teen in IL, but since in CO, my crusts are stiff. I tried many things to adjust, but eventually gave up making pie. I'd like to try again. Please share. ;-)

-jude

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I've used several. I've always thought the flake is in the technique. I used American Pie Dough for Fruit Pies from the cookbook "The Best Recipe". I'll quote the relevant bits.

2½ cups flour (all purpose)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar (I left most of this out)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ¼ inch pieces. (¾ cup)
8 tablespoons shortening, chilled (½ cup)
6-8 tablespoons ice water

"1. Mix flour, salt, and sugar in food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, tossing to coast butter with a little of the flour. Cut butter into flour with five 1-secnond pulses. Add shortening and continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter bits no larger than small peas, about four more 1-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl."

I don't use a food processor like they use. Imagine me dismissing this as making too large a mess. The important bit is when cutting in the fat that bits are left. They say large pea size; my mom and I always describe them as thumbnail sized. Just cut it in (with knife, fork, or that specialized tool). After sprinkling ice water over the mixture in a medium bowl use a spatula to combine it with a folding motion. Why a spatula? So it won't warm up the mixture. Being cold is a critical bit so the fat doesn't just melt into the flour. It needs to form layers between the flour.

So just fold and press with the spatula long enough to get it to stick together and no more. If it warms up too much put it in the fridge with a cover to cool down again. This is why after combining you must wrap it in saran wrap and put it in the fridge. It is a good idea to rest the dough and it can't be left out to warm up, it has to roll cold.

Looking over my words I'm not sure I can follow them... Maybe we should just get together and have a mutual cooking class.

[gomeza.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmm.

I need to bake more.

[neonnurse.livejournal.com]

When the season comes round, if you bake an apple pie, you might experiment with adding some cinnamon schnapps. I canned some apples one year when I had Copious Spare Time and added 1/4 cup schnapps to the syrup. Those made some seriously good pies!