Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (330 page)
CRISP PIE CRUST POINTERS
For both single- and double-crust pies, two essential steps can assure a crisp bottom: bake your pie in a glass pie plate and preheat the baking sheet on which the pie will bake. Glass holds heat well and promotes better browning, and preheating the baking sheet jump-starts the baking of the crust. Before taking a pie out of the oven, lift up the pie plate and check to make sure the bottom is nicely browned. For a double-crust pie in particular, since the bottom crust is more likely to be undercooked (and therefore soggy) than the top crust, be patient and don’t pull the pie out of the oven too early.
And sometimes the crimped crust around the edge of the pie can get quite brown before the pie has finished baking. If this happens, simply wrap a piece of aluminum foil loosely around the rim of the pie. The foil will help to deflect the heat and prevent the rim of the crust from getting too dark or burning.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Adding cranberries to an apple pie can overwhelm the subtle perfume of the apples and shed a lot of liquid, making for a soggy bottom crust. We wanted to find a way to combine these two classic fall fruits so that the full flavor of both came through and the crust remained crisp. Cooking the cranberries with a little sugar in a saucepan allowed the berries to break down (whole berries delivered a sour burst in the mouth) and the cranberry juice to thicken, eliminating a soggy crust. Adding some orange juice to the pan helped to tame the berries’ tartness. Microwaving the apples until they just turned translucent kept them from turning too soft while baking. When we assembled the pie, we arranged the cooked cranberries and the apples in two distinct layers, allowing the flavor of each to come through clearly.
SERVES 8
You can use
FOOLPROOF
,
ALL-BUTTER
, or
CLASSIC DOUBLE-CRUST PIE DOUGH
for this pie. You can substitute Jonagold, Fuji, or Braeburn apples for the Golden Delicious apples. For more information on fitting pie dough, see
“FITTING PIE DOUGH”
. For more information on assembling double-crust pies, see
“ASSEMBLING DOUBLE-CRUST PIES”
.
8 | ounces (2 cups) fresh or frozen cranberries |
¹⁄ | cup orange juice |
1 | cup (7 ounces) plus 1 tablespoon sugar |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground cinnamon |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | cup water |
1 | tablespoon cornstarch |
3¹⁄ | pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced ¹⁄ |
1 | |
1 | large egg white, lightly beaten |
1.
Bring cranberries, orange juice, ¹⁄
2
cup sugar, ¹⁄
4
teaspoon cinnamon, and ¹⁄
4
teaspoon salt to boil in medium saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally and pressing berries against side of pot, until berries have completely broken down and juices have thickened to jamlike consistency (wooden spoon scraped across bottom should leave clear trail that doesn’t fill in), 10 to 12 minutes. Off heat, stir in water and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. (Cooled filling can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
2.
Meanwhile, mix ¹⁄
2
cup sugar, remaining ¹⁄
4
teaspoon cinnamon, remaining ¹⁄
4
teaspoon salt, and cornstarch together in large bowl. Add apples and toss to combine. Cover and microwave, stirring with rubber spatula every 3 minutes, until apples are just starting to turn translucent around edges and liquid is thick and glossy, 10 to 14 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. (Cooled filling can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
3.
While fillings cool, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 425 degrees. Roll 1 disk of dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto 9-inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Leave any dough that overhangs plate in place. Wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Roll other disk of dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter, then transfer to parchment paper–lined baking sheet; cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4.
Spread cooled cranberry mixture into even layer in dough-lined pie plate. Place apple mixture on top of cranberries, mounding it slightly in center. Loosely roll remaining dough round around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto filling. Trim overhang to ¹⁄
2
inch beyond lip of pie plate. Pinch edges of top and bottom crusts firmly together. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of pie using your fingers. Cut four 2-inch slits in top of dough. Brush surface with beaten egg white and sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
5.
Place pie on heated baking sheet and bake until crust is light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees, rotate baking sheet, and continue to bake until juices are bubbling and crust is deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes longer. Let pie cool on wire rack until filling has set, about 2 hours; serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
SHRINKING PIE CRUST PRECAUTION
Often when prebaking a crust, the crust will shrink away from the sides of the pan as it bakes. There are two tricks to prevent this. First, freeze the dough for about 30 minutes after it has been fitted into the pie plate but before baking. Second, use pie weights when baking. To make removing the pie weights from the baked crust easy, we line the crust with aluminum foil.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Meatless mincemeat pies have been around for more than a century and are about as oldfashioned as pies get these days. All too often though, these pies are made with jarred mincemeat filling, or if the filling is homemade, it is murky, boozy, and overly rich. To bring mincemeat pie into the modern age, we built a foundation of fruit flavor by cooking two kinds of apples— McIntosh and Granny Smiths—with butter, not suet. Golden raisins and currants paired well with the fresh fruit and spices, lending the filling a deep, earthy flavor. And since long cooking is essential when making mincemeat, we simmered the filling ingredients together with apple cider for about three hours, adding more cider as needed, until the mixture became dark and jamlike. Keeping the booziness in check was as simple as adding ¹⁄
3
cup of rum toward the end of the cooking time and letting it cook long enough to mellow its punch.
SERVES 10 TO 12
You can use
FOOLPROOF
,
ALL-BUTTER
, or
CLASSIC DOUBLE-CRUST PIE DOUGH
) for this pie. For more information on fitting pie dough, see
“FITTING PIE DOUGH”
. For more information on assembling double-crust pies, see
“ASSEMBLING DOUBLE-CRUST PIES”
.
1¹⁄ | pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¹⁄ |
1¹⁄ | pounds McIntosh apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¹⁄ |
1 | cup golden raisins |
1 | cup currants |
³⁄ | cup packed (5 ¹⁄ |
8 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
¹⁄ | cup diced candied orange peel (optional) |
1¹⁄ | tablespoons grated orange zest plus ¹⁄ |
1 | tablespoon grated lemon zest plus 3 tablespoons juice |
1 | teaspoon ground cinnamon |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground allspice |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground ginger |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground cloves |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
1¹⁄ | cups apple cider, plus more as needed |
¹⁄ | cup rum or brandy |
1 | |
1 | large egg white, lightly beaten |
1 | tablespoon granulated sugar |
1.
Bring apples, raisins, currants, brown sugar, butter, orange peel, if using, orange and lemon zest and juice, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves, salt, and 1 cup cider to simmer in saucepan over medium-low heat. Reduce to simmer and cook gently, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, until mixture thickens and darkens in color, about 3 hours, adding more cider as necessary to prevent scorching. Continue cooking, stirring mixture every minute or two, until it has jamlike consistency, about 20 minutes. Stir in remaining ¹⁄
2
cup apple cider and rum and cook until liquid in pan is thick and syrupy, about 10 minutes; let filling cool. (At this point, mincemeat can be refrigerated for 4 days.)
2.
Meanwhile, roll 1 disk of dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto 9-inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with 1 hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Leave any dough that overhangs plate in place. Wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Roll other disk of dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter, then transfer to parchment paper–lined baking sheet; cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3.
Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spoon mincemeat into pie shell. Loosely roll remaining dough round around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto filling. Trim overhang to ¹⁄
2
inch beyond lip of pie plate. Pinch edges of top and bottom crusts firmly together. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of pie using your fingers. Cut four 2-inch slits in top of dough. Brush surface with beaten egg white and sprinkle evenly with granulated sugar.
4.
Place pie on heated baking sheet and bake until crust is light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and rotate baking sheet; continue to bake until juices are bubbling and crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes longer. Let pie cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 4 hours. Serve.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
If the filling in blueberry pie doesn’t jell, a wedge can collapse into a soupy puddle topped by a sodden crust. But use too much thickener and the filling can be so dense that cutting into it is a challenge. We wanted a pie that had a firm, glistening filling full of fresh, bright flavor and still-plump berries. To thicken the pie, we favored tapioca, which allowed the fresh yet subtle blueberry flavor to shine through. Too much of it, though, and we had a congealed mess. Cooking and reducing half of the berries helped us cut down on the tapioca required, but not enough. A second inspiration came from a peeled and shredded Granny Smith apple. Apples are high in pectin, a type of carbohydrate that acts as a thickener when cooked. Combined with a modest 2 tablespoons of tapioca, the apple thickened the filling to a soft, even consistency that was neither gelatinous nor slippery. Baking the pie on a preheated baking sheet on the bottom oven rack produced a crisp, golden bottom crust. To vent the steam from the berries, we found a faster, easier alternative to a lattice top in a biscuit cutter, which we used to cut out circles in the top crust.
See “PREPARING TOP CRUST FOR BLUEBERRY PIE” illustration that follows recipe.
