Pies, Pies, Pies!

The past couple of weeks in class we’ve been learning about pies – a personal favorite of mine.  All the talk of pies reminded me of one of my most ridiculous and outstanding memories of pie.

It was a Saturday night.  Blender, myself, and a friend of ours (Big Mac we’ll call him) were sitting around after eating a delicious dinner prepared by Big Mac’s father.  Both of Big Mac’s parents are extraordinary in the kitchen, but on this particular evening, his father took the helm.  When Big Mac’s father cooks, you can expect something a little unusual, a little gourmet, or a little of both.   Tonight, he serves a braised elk roast with fresh pesto on angel hair pasta.  Delicious!

Ordinarily, Big Mac’s mother has plenty of delectable, homemade baked goods on hand.  She’s a master with flour and sugar.  However, tonight, inexplicably, she hasn’t prepared anything.    (This is before Blender and I become dessert masters in our own right, so it doesn’t dawn on us to hit the kitchen and whip up some sumptuous Lemon Squares or a mouthwatering Red Velvet Cake.)  Here we are, craving something sweet and determined to satisfy our need.  We can’t go without the most important meal of the day (dessert).  What can we do?

Luckily, Big Mac recently got his driver’s license.  We could send him to McDonald’s for some pies. It’s a distant second to the luscious homemade pies that we will later learn how to make in Ms. Ruble’s dessert class, but we’re desperate.  There’s one problem, though…   It’s 8:50 p.m.   Only ten minutes until Big Mac’s state-imposed driver’s curfew. We will need to work hard to convince Big Mac’s wonderful parents that it’s okay to let him go get the much-needed pies.   He is sure they’ll say no, but he heads downstairs to ask them anyway.

Anxiously, I sit with Blender on the couch waiting for Big Mac’s return.  We expect the worst but hope for the best.  We can hear Big Mac talking to his parents in persuasive tones, but can’t quite make out the words. It’s a tense couple of minutes –yes, teenage boys get that excited about food—, but suddenly we hear a yell from downstairs.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” yells Big Mac as he sprints upstairs.  Time is of the essence now.  He grabs his shoes and the keys to his ’91 Corolla, then snatches a ten dollar bill out of my hand and heads off, Blender yelling to him to get as many pies as possible.  Blender and I sit in Big Mac’s room talking, trying to kill time until we’re united with those sweet, delicious, second choice  pies.

A McDonald's Apple Pie

Finally, Big Mac returns, McDonald’s bag in hand, FULL of pies (18 to be exact), both cherry and apple.  We barely remember the amazing elk dinner we enjoyed less than an hour earlier, and we tear into those pies like we haven’t eaten in days.  We hardly notice that the pie crust isn’t flaky and the fruit filling is thick and gummy.  Before long we have to slow down.  For those of you who don’t know, 18 pies is a whole lot of pie.  To my surprise, we only have a few pies left at the end of the frenzy, and all of us are able to go to bed with our sweet tooth satisfied!

-Cupcake

Pies & Nostalgia

This week in Desserts we continued to dive further into the world of pie baking with “Blind Baking”. A technique of utmost importance for many cold-filling pies which need to be added separately, before baking, “Blind Baking” was a valuable skill to have learned. When our instructor walked out of the pantry with a huge bag of pinto beans in one hand and scissors in the other, we all believed her when she said we were making bean pie. Some of us even muttered “Well it can’t be too bad.” or “That might even be good, with enough sugar…”

beans for weight!

Turns out we’d been duped, the beans were to be used for weight, to keep the center of the pie from swelling and ballooning out of the pie dish in the intense heat of the oven. They would be safely separated from our beloved pie crust by a thin, durable sheet of parchment paper that had been carefully folded and teased into the edges of our carefully crafted pie crust.

As we left for our next class after carefully popping our bean-filled pie crust into the oven, without a blindfold I may add, I couldn’t help but think of some of my first forays into the incredible world of baking. The careful laying of buttery crust, pleasant scent of flour and fat cooking in the oven, and the crunch of perfectly baked, melt-in-your-mouth crust, brought back many of my childhood memories. From my grandparents house in Georgia to the kitchen of my own house, I enjoyed the miracles that the kitchen had to offer.

Little Blender

As my mother sorted though various forgotten photo albums that had been buried deep in a closet, I recognized and enjoyed many of the photos she found. This one, above, was particularly reminiscent of the past few weeks in our baking elective. I am photographed, laying the finishing touches on some truly homemade apple pies. I had, with my aunts aid, carefully mixed the dough, eventually arranging it in each of the small pie dishes. I next filled them with what I am certain was my own take on my grandmother’s apple pie filling, but probably with a lot more sugar.. .With leftover dough I moulded tops for the pies and place them in the oven. I only wish I had a photograph of the finished product, glistening with the yellow glow of butter and steaming from holes in the top of the crust.

It's all in how you hold your tongue...

Now I can’t wait for dessert class this week, as we will be finally filling our blind baked crust with, hopefully, chocolate mousse. Depending on how much time we have left in our course we may work on other more difficult pies and tarts, which will be sure to bring back many memories from my childhood which were carefully crafted in a kitchen and will forever rest in my mind.

Always remember to pre-wash your utensils!

-the Blender

 

Blind Baking–No Blindfolds Necessary!

When I first heard that we would be blind baking, I had this vivid image of putting on a blindfold, fumbling around the kitchen in search of a rolling pin, and praying not to burn myself while precariously placing the pie plate in the 450º oven…

You probably should NOT bake like this...

Thankfully, the name “blind baking” is a misnomer.  Instead of baking without the key sense called vision, blind baking actually translates to “baking a pie without the filling” for those non-baking speakers.

Note: no filling in the pie crust!

Last week we made crusts using both shortening and butter.  In fact, shortening gives the crust a good texture, and butter gives the crust a delicious taste.  So to get the best of both worlds, we had already done the shortening-butter combo to get the perfect looking and tasting crust. This week we opted to make an all butter crust to maximize the delectable flavor.  I have no complaints—the crust still looked pretty, and shall surely taste even better.

In order to craft this tasty crust, we pulsed two cups of flour and one teaspoon of salt together for ten seconds.  We then added the butter and pulsed ten times individually, and finally we added the water.  When you add the water, a magical thing happens (this is my favorite part…): the mixture combines into dough.  In the high school curriculum, all four grades are studying the importance and the powers of water—and turning a floury mixture into sticky dough is definitely one of them.  Just sayin’.

The mixture magically turning into dough with the help of a little H2O

Considering the fact that we all are now crust-experts, we easily floured, rolled, and flipped the dough until it was a circular shape two-inches wider than the pie plate.  Now it was “Dough Meet Pie-Plate” time.  I personally believe that transporting the dough from the parchment paper to the pie plate with the help of the rolling pin is the most challenging aspect of crust-baking–but if you have magical powers that allow you to move the dough with a flick of your wand, all the power to you.

Seltzer Sayre Expressing Her Jealousy of Soy-Sauce Sawyer's Transporting Skills

After we placed and crimped the dough, we were ready to prepare for the blind-baking phenomenon.   We carefully covered the crust with a piece of the much-loved parchment paper, and then did something that I never imagined we would do.  We put BEANS in our pie. Skeptical onlookers from the photography class wondered who in the world would eat a dried-out pinto bean pie.  I sure wouldn’t.  However, despite what the non-bakers may have thought, we were actually using the beans to weigh down the parchment paper. Since we were baking with no filling, we had to put something in the piecrust to hold it down so that it wouldn’t bake into a weird shape.

Do not eat the beans!

By the time we put the crust filled with pinto beans (delicious sounding, I know) in the oven, it was almost time to pack up and head to our next class. But I couldn’t help thinking of all the different things we could place in the piecrust after it came out of the oven.  We could freeze it and save it, put a chicken-pot-pie filling in it, re-bake it with the strawberry filing that we made, or even fill it with chocolate mousse.  My vote is for the chocolate mousse. But just think—the possibilities of mouth-watering treats to make with a blind-baked crust are endless!

-Seltzer Sayre

Too many cooks in the kitchen? Nahhhh...

Pie Nostalgia… Recognizing Crust for Its True Worth

Get ready for a Soy-Sauce Flashback… “I remember my eighth birthday like it was yesterday. I was sitting up in my Great Aunt Carol’s kitchen, blushing after my entire extended family sang happy birthday to me. But my cheeks were also red from excitement… My Great Aunt Janet brought in home-made cherry, blueberry, strawberry, you-name-it-she’s-got-it berry pies, and she said I could eat as many as I wanted. Needless to say I had the bellyache of the century, but it was so worth it” …

Our Beloved Crust...

I honestly think that in assessing a pie, crust gets the short end of the stick. I know I’ve never considered crust to be all that important until after learning more about it in my baking elective. Here’s a step-by-step recipe for a tasty, home-made crust.

As always, preheat that oven before starting. Do not be fooled though! This time, the oven must be set to 450 degrees F. This ensures that the butter in the crust instantaneously melts, giving the crust its unique, flaky texture.

Baconater Pulsing Under My Supervision

Now let’s begin! Go ahead and pulse the flour and salt together in a food processor. (The salt is to enhance the flavor) A pulse is simply a solid push of the button, no more no less.

The Blender Preparing the Butter and Lard for... the Blender (Ironic?)

In this recipe, we chose to use both butter and lard chunks. However, depending on the baker’s preference, butter, fat, or lard can be used alternatively. Butter has a better overall taste, but shortening (or lard) does a better job of achieving the flaky texture and waxy feel. Considering our goal is to make the best possible crust, we compromised by using both butter and shortening to incorporate taste and texture. So now add in the butter and lard chunks (or whatever you choose to do) and pulse for ten seconds. The resulting mixture should have the texture of coarse sand, and the pea-sized chunks should be coated in the flour/salt.

Sophia Pizzeria and Lady Lettuce Achieve Perfection!

The time has come for the crucial moment of adding water. Although this step is seemingly insignificant, it proves to be more than crucial to the end result. Adding too much water will make the dough too tough, whereas adding too little will result in a dry, crumbly dough. Seeing as neither of these results are desired, I would again advise trying to find a balance. Add the water one tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough naturally forms into a ball.

Note! Make sure that the butter, lard, and water are ice cold! This makes sure that everything doesn’t entirely integrate, which provides the flaky texture.

Forrest the Blender Gingerly Places the Dough in the Plastic Wrap

With the dough ready to roll, take it out and place it in some plastic wrap. (Try to touch the dough as little as possible because we don’t want to melt the butter!) Mold the dough into a disk, then go refrigerate it for twenty to thirty minutes.

Chef Ruble Demonstrates the Parchment Method

After the chilling period comes the physical workout! (I don’t lift much, so it proved to be a bit of strain…) Take two sheets of parchment paper and sprinkle flour on them. Be wary of how much flour you use; too much will dry out the dough, but too little will make it stick to the paper. Now put the dough in between the two sheets. This is one way of preventing the dough from sticking to the counter. You could also flour the entire counter, but the risk of tearing the dough is minimized with the parchment method. You can also hold the parchment paper in place with your waist against the counter. Flipping the paper could be a little difficult though. Don’t be afraid of getting a little flour on yourself… I practically looked like a ghost when I was through! As FDR once said, “the only thing to fear is fear itself!”

My Shirt Predicts the Outcome of the Crust...

With our fears behind us, arm yourself with a floured rolling pin. Gradually make diagonal and horizontal dents in the dough disk. These will help you spread the dough out later. Now use your rolling pin and spread the dough outwards and to the sides. Every now and then flip the paper to even the dough out. You’re aiming to have a level circle of dough that extends about two inches past the pie plate. Have fun with your rolling, but don’t get too crazy! I like to think of the process as somewhat therapeutic… kind of like knitting. (You wouldn’t believe my knitting skills!)

Intense Concentration

After calming yourself down with the rolling, it’s time for some stress to build back up! Trying to put the dough on the pie plate is among the most stressful moments of making the crust. It only determines how good your pie is going to look. With that in mind, steady your shaking hands and roll the circle of dough around your roller. Then, in a fluid motion, drag and drop the circle over the pie plate. I like to think of this as a copy and paste command in a word document… (Geek integration for the win!)

Seltzer Sayre Poses With Our Masterpiece!

This part of the process is for all you artists and perfectionists out there. To make your pie crust look beautiful, you can crimp the edges. I used the two-finger-one-finger-pushing-from-opposite-directions method, but there are many other ways to do this. Another wise person once said, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” … So be creative and take a risk! (Even if your pie is “ugly”, at least it will taste good!)

Finally, to prevent ruining all of your hard work, please use a pie shield. This will protect your beautifully crimped crust from burning!

Crust Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup cold butter, chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons ice cold water
• 1 egg and 1 teaspoon heavy cream for egg wash

Would you care for a slice of pie?

Guess whats on the menu for today?! That’s right: PIE. And not just any pie at that, but the one and only (drumroll please)…..Strawberry Sour Cream Pie!! Last week, our class embarked on the journey of pie making, a tricky art that must be taken on with care. Now, I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love pie! I have always grown up eating the “traditional” pies such as pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, apple pie, and key lime pie, but who knew there was such a thing as STRAWBERRY PIE! Before this, I had never had strawberry pie, so as you may guess I was super excited to make something new, and since strawberries are one of my favorite kinds of fruit, I knew it had to be amazing.

We started off by making the crust for the pie (not only a challenging yet fun first step, but also one of the best parts of the whole pie!) To make one pie crust, the ingredients are:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt (this enhances the flavour)
• 1/4 cup cold shortening (some prefer to use lard)
• 1/2 cup cold butter, chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons ice cold water
• 1 egg and 1 teaspoon heavy cream for egg wash

To make the crust, pulse the flour and salt together to combine. Then add scoops of shortening and pulse into the mixture so it has the texture of coarse sand (or for about 10 seconds). Next, add in the chunks of butter and pulse until the butter pieces are no longer larger than small peas (about 10 pulses). Add the minimum amount of water and pulse on low. If the dough remains crumbly and does not come together, add another tablespoon of water. Add as little as is required to enable the dough to be rolled into a ball. Form the dough into a disk (without handling it too much), wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

After our dough was done refrigerating we took it out and boy was it hard! At first it almost felt as solid as a rock, but no worries it soon became a little softer allowing us to work with it. Once it is ready, roll disk of dough out  to around 2 inches larger than your pie plate (using parchment paper to roll it out on will help it not stick) and transfer it, situating it in the plate. Fold the excess dough around the edges and crimp, trimming where necessary.

The finished pie crust!

Once the pie crust is done, it is time to start making the pie filling!

The filling for the pie is simply the recipe as follows:

• 1 qt. fresh strawberries
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup sugar, reserve 1 tablespoon (make sure it is granulated sugar, NOT powdered, although it won’t kill you granulated sugar will taste better overall)
• Dash salt (and just a dash too, salty pie does not taste good, trust me from experience)
• 1 cup sour cream (not fat-free)

To make the filling start by preheating the oven to 450 degrees F.  Hull and wash the strawberries, slice them in half and then set aside.  Sift flour, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl.  Add sour cream and blend until nice and creamy.  Gently fold in the berries but making sure you don’t over-mix.  Pour fruit into pie shell and spread to edges without packing down! There should be some spaces throughout the filling.  Once you have done all this, sprinkle the top with the last tablespoon of sugar.

Making the pie filling

Yum, things are starting to smell pretty good around here! The pie is almost done! Now it is time for the oven! Bake the pie for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. (Sometimes it helps to leave the oven door open so the oven does not get to hot) and then bake the pie an additional 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Broil the pie for 2-3 minutes to brown up the top. Allow it to cool completely before cutting, and serve with fresh whipped cream or even ice cream.

Finished Product

Finally, we are done!! What a trip that was! The time has come to indulge ourselves in this delicious pie.

Eating the Pie!

A perfect combination of sour and sweet all wrapped up into a little slice of wonderful. After cutting the pie and eating our fair share we had to decide what to do with the leftovers. We all thought about it and came up with a solution! How about delivering them to our hard-working teachers throughout Woods Hall, and so that is exactly what we did. A bunch of us each got a plate and headed down the hill ready to serve our work. We successfully delivered all our pie to the very appreciative teachers, it was definitely a big hit!

Enjoy! – Sophia Pizzeria