Food and drink

Desserts

Pies

Making pie crust, for some reason, is among the most enigmatic and poorly explained cooking techniques. The words "line a pie plate with pastry" are often enough to discourage most people from taking out a rolling pin, let alone questions such as "Why does the dough break everywhere when I roll it?" or "Why does my pie crust shrink away from the edges and burn in the middle?" It's only human to have the occasional failure with a pie, but hopefully the advice provided below will help you have a success nearly every time.

There are many types of pies and pastries, each one different in terms of method of preparation, flavor and texture. Once you understand the mixing, rolling and cooking, you need only enthusiasm to ensure you make good pies.

Food value of pies

Pastry dough contains a relatively high amount of fat. Pie fillings contain a large amount of sugar. For these reasons, all pastries have a high calorie content. Fruit pies and those with custard fillings contribute some minerals, vitamins and proteins. These nutrients will be found in the deep dish pies containing mixtures of vegetables with meat, poultry or fish. The focus of this article, however, is on desserts.

Uses of pastry and pies

As desserts, pies and pastries come in the forms of fruit, custard, and lemon chiffon pies, as well as tarts and turnovers.

Pie ingredients

Only four ingredients are required for plain pastry: flour, fat, salt and water.

Flour should not have a high gluten content because of the tendency of gluten to toughen the product. In general, the best type of flour for pastry is all-purpose flour, sifted once before measuring. Cake flour is not recommended and instantinized flour works well only in specially adapted recipes. Although not easy to work with, pastry flour may be used, but it should be noted that the baked pastry is often brittle. Use pastry flour only in recipes that specifically call for it.

One key point to remember is that if you have had success with a particular flour, use the same brand again, since different brands will produce a slightly different baked product.

Be certain to measure flour accurately, sifting it once before measuring.

Lard, butter, margarine or vegetable shortening are the fats typically used in making pastry. It is the fat that makes the pastry tender, flaky, and crumbly. The fat in pastry dough coats flour particles so that water can't reach them. This keeps the strands of gluten shorter, since only particles not coated with fat develop gluten. Although essential in the making of yeast doughs, fat makes pastry tough.

The shortest of all shortenings, lard makes excellent pastry. When flavor and flakiness are the prime requirements, as in puff pastry, for instance, butter is recommended. Keep in mind that such pastry is difficult to make without a lot of practice and it does not keep well for any length of time. For most types of pastry, do not use all butter because it does not have the proper shortening power and provides too much moisture.

Vegetable shortening is most often used when making pastry. While vegetable shortenings make a short pastry, they often do not make a flaky one.

Whichever fat is used, it must be well chilled before it is used. Usually 1/3 cup to 1 cup (75 mL to 250 mL) shortening is used.

For each cup of flour used, 1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) salt is required unless the fat or the shortening used is salted.

Water is most commonly used in making pie crust, but other liquids such as milk, cream, lemon juice or eggs are used in various recipes. For the best results, liquid used in making the dough should be very cold (but not iced). Lukewarm liquid has a tendency to soften the fat and to produce pastry that's too hard and brittle. The exception, of course, is hot-water pastry, which is made with very hot water and using a different method. In general, however, 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons (30 mL to 45 mL) of water are used for each type of flour.

Making pie crust

A good pie has a tender, flaky crust and is lightly browned. The final product depends on the ingredients used, the rolling of the crust, and the baking.

Measure once-sifted flour with the other dry ingredients placed in a bowl large enough to blend everything easily. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the cold shortening. Cutting in means to cut the fat into tiny particles as you combine it with the flour. The finer the fat cut into the flour, the more tender and crumbly the pie crust will be. Larger pieces of fat make the pie crust more flaky. Since tenderness and flakiness are sought, it's best to divide the fat called for in the recipe into two, cutting the first half into the flour as finely as possible and cutting the second half into bits the size of large peas.

Resist the temptation to mix the fat into the flour with your hands. This can warm the fat, preventing the formation of little pieces of fat and their even distribution throughout the flour mixture. Using a fork to mash the fat may make it too soft.

Adding the liquid can be the most troublesome step of all since flours vary greatly, with some absorbing much more liquid than others. Therefore, it's virtually impossible to give exact measurements of liquid needed to give a perfect texture. Understanding the desired texture requires experience: over time, you will learn to feel the correct texture.

Add cold liquid one tablespoon (15 mL) at a time, sprinkling it over the dry ingredients and mixing lightly with a fork. Push to one side of the bowl any little clumps that form and sprinkle in more liquid until the entire mixture is lightly moistened. Stir it only enough to make a shapeless mass. Avoid making a ball of dough in the bowl since this would require the addition of too much liquid. Ideally, the dough should be soft, semi-dry, and moist enough to hold together when worked with the fingertips. It should not be sticky.

Turn the dough onto a floured board and form it into a round ball. If any dough falls away from the mass, moisten it with a few drops of water until it clings to the rest of the ball.

In general, pastry doughs made with lard or vegetable shortening are ready to be rolled out. However, doughs made with butter should be chilled in the refrigerator for 4 to 12 hours prior to their being rolled out. Chilling firms the butter and produces a flakier crust.

Rolling the dough is an important step and many pies have been ruined at this stage. Avoid using too much flour on your pastry board, table, or counter. Similarly, avoid using too much flour on your rolling pin. Excess flour can harden the best of doughs. Though not essential, a stockinette covering the rolling pin may help.

Begin by cutting off a piece of dough large enough for a crust and shaping it into a semi-flat round. Use the rolling pin to stretch it out to a flat, round sheet. Roll from the center of the pastry outward, in all directions. Never roll completely across, from end to end. Doing this will surely harden the finished product.

When necessary, you can lift the pastry to add more flour to your work surface but avoid turning over the dough. If some corners break, stick them back together using your fingers. Once you have finished rolling, you can transfer it to your pie plate by gently placing the rolling pin on the dough at one edge and rolling the dough onto the pin. Place the rolling pin over one side of the pie plate and unroll the dough over it.

Fit the pastry very loosely into the pie plate. Avoid trying to smooth it, since this will cause shrinkage when baking.

If filling an unbaked crust with custard, use a fork to prick the crust all over. Then brush the inside with one egg white lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon (5 mL) cold water. Chill the crust for 30 minutes, then sear it in a preheated 450°F (230°C) oven for 5 minutes. Doing this will prevent the bottom crust from becoming soggy. Cool the crust fully, then fill and bake it according to the recipe.

In recipes that call for a single crust that is baked then filled when cooled, prick the crust all over with a fork, then brush it with a mixture of 1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon (5 mL) cold water. Chill 1 hour, then bake, cool and fill.

Avoid pouring a hot filling such as custard or a cooked pudding into a cooled shell. Allow it to fully cool before filling.

In the case of fruit pies, it helps to coat the bottom crust with 1 teaspoon (5 mL) each of flour and sugar. Once the pie is filled, sear it in a preheated 450°F (230°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to that specified in the recipe for the remaining cooking time.

Generally speaking, all wet pies should be seared in a preheated 425°F (220°C) oven for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 350°F (180°C) and avoid overcooking.

Unfilled, single shells should be baked quickly in the center of the upper rack of the oven. Double-crust pies, on the other hand, should be baked on the bottom rack, allowing the bottom crust to set faster.

Finishing pies

Fluting means to pinch the edges of pastry together along the rim of a pie. This creates little folds at regular intervals. Fluting can be done using the fingers or with a knife handle, and it can be as simply or as fancy as desired. Another way to flute the edges of a crust is with the tines of a fork pressed into the dough along the rim. Not only do these finishing touches make the pie more attractive, they also serve to seal together the upper and lower crusts of a double-crust pie so the filling won't run out. In a single-crust pie, fluting gives more stiffness to the edge and prevents its shrinking away from the rim as it bakes.

To make a lattice top, prepare pie dough for a two-crust pie and divide it in two. Roll out half and fit it into the pie plate. Roll out the second half of the dough and cut it into strips 1/2 inch (1 1/4 cm) wide. Fill the lined pie plate, then lay half the pastry strips over the filling about 1 inch (2 1/2 cm) apart, turning back every other strip. Place a strip of dough across the filling at right angles to the first strips, then return the folded strips to their first position. Now, turn back those strips that were flat when the first cross strip was placed. Lay a second strip across the filling and return the folded strips to a flat position. Continue this process until the opposite edge is reached, producing a basket weave lattice.

Cut the strips even with the edge of the pie plate, folding the lower crust over these ends and pressing together tightly. Bake this as you would a two-crust pie.

You can add crispness, glaze and a rich color to the top crust of a two-crust pie by brushing the top crust or lattice top with 1 egg white, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons (10 mL) cold water and 1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) sugar. If you prefer, you can simply brush with cream or milk instead.

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