Pi Day

Growing up we didn’t eat pie unless it was Thanksgiving. It was typically pumpkin or pecan pie. Henry, on the other hand, had two grandmothers who made pies all the time. His grandfather told of how when he was working construction as a youngster he’d buy a pie and a quart of milk for 10 cents to eat for lunch. Oh how times have changed!

With pie having such a history in Henry’s family I knew early on I needed to learn how to make one. My first pie was a store bought crust and canned blueberry filling. I assembled it, baked it, and called it homemade. I knew it wouldn’t work long-term. So I set about learning how to make a real homemade crust and got busy picking and freezing fresh fruit to make my own filling.

Somewhere along the way, I found this crust recipe. It was in Gourmet, Bon Appetit, or Epicurious magazine. It’s been so long I can’t remember which one, but my husband is forever grateful.

Measure two cups all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 5 tbsp sugar in a bowl. Stir a little to mix.

Cube up 1.5 sticks of butter, add it to the flour and mix it with a pastry cutter. Some people use a food processor at this point. I used a fork before I purchased a pastry cutter.

Cut the butter into the flour mix until it becomes coarse crumbs.

Beat an egg in a separate container… add 2 tbsp milk

Add the egg and the milk to the flour mixture

Mix it together with a fork until it starts sticking together.

At this point, I suggest removing your rings for you must get your hands dirty.

Work the dough with your hands until it comes together in a smooth crust. If the dough is dry you can add a little more milk. Once I start massaging it with my hands it comes together nicely.

Form it into a disk

Split the disk into two.

Wrap them in plastic wrap and flatten a little bit (I find they chill quicker flattened)

Stick them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. (you can leave them in there overnight if you need to)

When you’re ready for the dough take it out and let it sit until it’s firm, but not too difficult to roll.

Here is where I might change your life. Or you might roll your eyes and say, “I’ve been doing it this way for years.”

To roll my dough I put down a piece of wax paper and throw some flour on it. Then I place the disc on the wax paper and throw some more flour on it before covering it with the plastic wrap I used to refrigerate it. Then I begin rolling. Every once and awhile I take the dough off the wax paper and plastic wrap and add flour to prevent sticking.

I switched to a marble roller a few years ago. The difference is amazing. There are few things I’d spend a lot of money on…. a marble roller is one of them. There’s no comparison to a wooden one.

I use my pie plate as a measurement to see if the dough is big enough.

To transfer the dough, I put my roller in the middle of the dough on top of the plastic wrap and then gently separate the dough from the wax paper. You can gently brush off some of the flour by hand.

I then gently lift the dough over to the plate using the roller as a shelf.

Once in the plate, I take the plastic off the top of the dough.

Once it’s in there, you can stretch it a little if you need to.

Poke it with a fork to allow the steam to escape without puffing up the dough. We poke it pretty much all over the bottom. Some folks bake the crust for a little bit here to get it started on it’s cooking. I do not. Not sure why, I just don’t.

Instead I take an egg and separate out the white part. You can do this by working the yolk back and forth between the shells over a bowl.

Or you can pour the egg into your hand like a strainer and toss the yolk into the sink.

Brush the white all over the bottom crust. The protein in the white is supposed to create a barrier on the crust keeping it from getting soggy. It works for me that day, but my crust gets soggy by the next day.

Now you are ready to put your fruit into the crust. Most recipes call for 4-6 cups fruit, one cup of sugar, a little flour or cornstarch and a little lemon juice. I use 4-6 cups fruit, 1/2 cup sugar, two heaping spoons (the kind we eat cereal with) of flour and leave out the juice. I like to taste the fruit…. I’ve never had any complaints my pies aren’t sweet enough. Some recipes also call for pats of butter on top the fruit. I do not use butter.

Repeat the steps above for the top crust. Before transferring it to the top of the pie, make sure to give it some sort of opening to allow steam and bubbling fruit to escape.

When you put the top crust on the pie, trim the extra to within about an inch from the top with scissors. Seriously, just use the scissors. It’s fast, easy, and makes everything uniform.

After the dough is trimmed, fold the two layers together into the rim of the dish. If it gets too thick, you can rip some of the dough off. Use it to make another area thicker if necessary.

There are several decorative methods for the pie edging…

I flute it with by pushing my finger between my thumb and forefinger on my opposite hand.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes. Some people start the temp up higher for 15 minutes then back it off for the next 30. I just cook it for an hour. Sometimes it’s not quite done so I cook it longer, but many times an hour does it.

And remember to put it on a cookie sheet. I’ve never had a fresh fruit pie not leak. The tray will catch any of the drippings and save you clean up in your oven later.

Let it cool so it firms up… or eat it warm and let it fall apart like a cobbler in your bowl.

P.S. If your outside crust is browning faster than your bottom crust is cooking, you can put tin foil over the sides to keep it from burning. Don’t cover the whole pie, just the outer crust. It takes me about 4 pieces of 2 inch strips to cover the sides.

Pie crust recipe:

2 c. all-purpose flour

5 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c (1.5 sticks) butter, cubed

1 large egg

2 tbsp milk

Blend flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add cubed butter. Cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse meal. In a separate bowl, beat egg and add milk; add the egg mixture to the dry mixture. Mix with fork until moist clumps form. Gather dough into a ball. Divide into two balls. Flatten into disks and cover. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight. Let sit at room temperature about 15 minutes or until firm but soft enough to roll.

Fruit-pie filling:

4-6 cups of fruit

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour