Pie and Pastry Bible (23 page)

POINTERS FOR SUCCESS FOR FRUIT PIES

Make the dough the day before and let it rest for 1 hour refrigerated after rolling and shaping to prevent distortion and for the best shape.

If making the pie to eat the day after baking, decrease the cornstarch by 1 teaspoon.

Use dark heavy metal, ceramic, or Pyrex pie plates for the crispest crust.

For the flakiest crust with the most attractive border, preheat the oven for at least 20 minutes before baking.

For a crisp bottom crust, try baking directly on the floor of the oven for the first 30 minutes of baking, or on an oven stone set on the bottom rack.

The pie’s juices must be bubbling thickly all over to ensure that all of the cornstarch can absorb liquid and thicken the filling.

Single-crust pies need to have the edges protected from overbrowning after the first 15 minutes of baking; double-crust pies, after 30 minutes.

If the top of the pie is browning too much, tent it with foil, but be sure to make a steam hole in the center for moisture to escape so the crust stays crisp.

Allow the pie to cool on a rack to room temperature, or until barely warm, before slicing to ensure that the filling is set and will not run. This will take between 2 to 4 hours, depending on the thickness of the pie.

If you spray the pie pan lightly with nonstick vegetable shortening before lining it with the pastry, or if you grease and flour it, it is usually possible to slide out and unmold the whole pie after it has cooled completely. This makes cutting it easier and is better for both the knife and the pie plate! Greasing and flouring also gives a pleasant, slightly rough texture to the bottom crust.

STORING FRUIT PIES

Fruit pies are at their best the day of baking. The crust is most crisp and the filling most juicy with just a little desirable flow. Pies are especially delicious when eaten slightly warm; if they are hot, the filling will not hold together well.

Many fruit pies are still excellent in flavor and texture on the second and third day after baking. I keep them at room temperature and cover only the exposed fruit, so the crust does not become soggy. For open-faced pies, cover the fruit filling lightly with waxed paper. For pies with a lattice crust, cover only the cut openings with plastic wrap. If the weather is very humid, or if I am storing the pie in the country on a porch without screens, I cover the pie with a large inverted bowl.

WINDFALL FRUIT PIELETS

When a sudden windfall brings a very small amount of fruit your way, perhaps a perfect peach or a handful of wild berries or Concord grapes, and you happen to have some flaky pie dough scraps in the freezer, a pielet for two is the perfect solution for close-to-instant gratification. If you don’t have enough scraps for even an open-faced pielet, bake decorative cutouts (see page 14) and place them on the cooked or baked filling. Use a piece of foil with a 1-inch-long steam vent cut into the center, if baking the filling, to prevent it from drying.

FILLING AMOUNTS FOR STANDARD
4¼-
INCH PIELETS
For an open-faced pielet, there is room for a maximum of 13½ tablespoons of filling if filled right to the top, so a ballpark amount to calculate is ¾ cup of filling for each pielet. For a double-crust pielet, the fruit can be piled higher than the crust, so it’s fine to use 1 to 1½ cups. (Keep in mind that the fruit settles down to less volume after sitting with the sugar. One cup of apple slices, for example, becomes about
cup.)