S H AKE UP BAKIN G
Unexpected pie flavors put a twist on tradition
Who can resist pie? It’s such a happy dessert, nostalgic and in its own way innocent. To many, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a chorus line of pies. Pumpkin? Of course. Cherry? It’s a tradition at our house. But to my way of thinking, an additional pie should be different each year, a wild card meant to be a sweet surprise. Maybe something rich in chocolate or an appealing balance of berries. Perhaps nuts paired with maple syrup, the top alluringly bumpy and slightly crusty.
Let’s start with a crust lesson from Betsy Sanz, first-place pie baker for two years in a row at the Orange County Fair in Southern California. My story about Sanz’s pie lessons published more than 10 years ago, but her advice still rings true. Her pie philosophy emphasizes the significance of a great crust, a foundation she said is so important almost any filling could be fabulous in its company.
Recently, she told me she is attending law school and devoting much less time to baking. I suspect she will take it up again when time allows. Included here are recipes for her butter crust and four berry pie.
Merry Christmas!
Betsy’s Butter Crust
Yield: 1single crust for 9-inch pie pan
INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cups (1½ sticks) cold butter (cut the whole stick in half, crosswise), unsalted butter preferred
1 ½ cups all-purpose unbleached flour, divided use
¼ cup ice-cold water (plus a few more drops if necessary)
Cook’s notes: Make sure your bowl is completely dry. Keep ingredients and hands cold. The less you manipulate the dough, the flakier the crust will be.
PROCEDURE
1. Prep for later: Put a couple of ice cubes in a small glass of water and mix until the water is very cold; set aside. Place a smooth dishcloth on a smooth surface where you’ll roll out your crust (Sanz wrapped the cloth around a marble chessboard). Flour the cloth generously wherever the dough will be rolled out. Put your 9-inch glass (such as Pyrex) pie pan close by.
2. Mix salt, butter, flour: In large bowl of stand mixer, place salt, cold butter and 1⁄2 cup flour. Mix together using the paddle attachment by turning the mixer on low. When the butter is broken up a bit, add additional 1⁄2 cup flour. Mix on low speed a little more; mixture should not be creamy and butter will still be in fairly large pieces, but a little smaller than before. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the last 1⁄2 cup of flour and mix on low initially, then increase speed to medium-low. DO NOT let the mixture get creamy; it should always be floury-chunky. When the mix is ready for water, your (still cold) butter chunks should be on average the size of a pea — some a little bigger, some a little smaller.
3. Add water: Measure out 1⁄4 cup of your super-cold water (no ice cubes) and drizzle half of it evenly around your butter-flour mix. Mix on low speed. Add the last half of the water. Mix JUST until the water is evenly mixed into the flour — not more. The more you mix, the tougher the crust.
4. Remove the dough: Is dough stuck in your mixer paddle? Gently poke it out with a fingertip to make it fall into the bowl. Use floured hands on the side of the bowl to bring all the dough together with as little manipulation as possible. Make a ball of the dough, compressing sides, top and bottom as you go, tossing it gently between cupped hands. Gently try to eliminate major cracks in sides as you compress. Flour your hands and the dough as needed.
5. Roll it out: As you place the dough ball on your well-floured cloth, gently compress the top and sides simultaneously. Notice where cracks may be forming. Sprinkle with flour. With a rolling pin, roll slowly and evenly. If cracks at the edges begin to form, avoid rolling straight into them. Roll around them and gently over them in a perpendicular direction, and they won’t grow and split the crust. When you have a solid (no-crack) circle of about 14 inches and about 1⁄8-inch thick, trim the edges and do a final roll to make sure your crust is a consistent thickness.
6. Transfer crust to pan: At the edge of the crust closest to you, gently rest the rolling pin. Lift the edge of the cloth and begin to roll the cloth, crust and rolling pin away from you. The crust will roll up onto the pin if you’re holding the cloth tautly.
7: When about half the crust is rolled up on the pin, let the cloth drop. Take the opposite edge of cloth and in a swift motion, lift the far side of the crust onto the rolling pin. Gently hold the crust on the pin with one hand and with the other, lift the pin and position it squarely over the pie pan. Don’t let the pin quite rest on the pie pan, but slowly let the crust drop onto the pan. Gently press the crust to be flush with the inside of the pan. Trim edge, leaving 1⁄2inch overhang of dough.
Source: Betsy Sanz, Orange, Calif.
Betsy’s Four Berry Pie Yield: One 9-inch pie
INGREDIENTS
1½ cups granulated sugar
A pinch and a half of salt
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries; see cook’s notes
1½ cups fresh or frozen strawberries; see cook’s notes
1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blackberries; see cook’s notes 1½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries; see cook’s notes
1/3 cup raspberry liqueur, such as Chambord
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2butter crusts for 9-inch pie pan 3tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
1 egg white
Sugar or sanding sugar for sprinkling on crust
Cook’s notes: Use fresh or frozen berries. If frozen, let thaw enough to separate.
PROCEDURE
1: Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Fold in berries. Add liqueur, water and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens, stirring frequently, about 10-15minutes. Turn off heat and let cool for about 20 minutes. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2: Prepare 2butter crusts for 9-inch pie pan. Line a 9-inch glass (Pyrex) pie pan with a crust. Pour filling into bottom crust and dot with butter. For a steam vent, cut a small heart out of the center of the second crust. Top filling with second crust and crimp edges to seal. Brush top crust with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.
3: Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes. Avoid overbrowning by tenting browned crust areas with aluminum foil as pie bakes, or use a pie shield (a ring that fits over the edge of the crust after it has browned, but before the rest of the pie is cooked). Cool for about an hour before serving. Serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Source: Betsy Sanz, Orange, Calif.
Maple-Walnut Pie Yield: 8 servings INGREDIENTS
One 9-inch pie crust, overhanging edges fluted (crimped) or pressed with tines of fork
¾ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or more to taste
3tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1 ½ cups walnuts (halves or pieces)
For serving: whipped cream or ice cream Cook’s notes: If you prefer, coarsely chopped pecans can substitute for walnuts. If you like, use corn syrup instead of maple syrup.
PROCEDURE
1: Partially bake pie crust. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 375 degrees. Place pie pan on baking sheet and fit a piece of parchment or foil against crust; fill with dried beans or rice or pie weights. Bake 20 minutes, then carefully remove paper or foil and weights, and bake another 3-4minutes. You want the crust to be firm, but it doesn’t need to take on much color.
2: Increase heat to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper; place partially baked crust on top.
3. Prepare filling: Whisk syrup and brown sugar together in large bowl. One by one whisk in eggs, making sure each is blended before adding the next. Whisk in vanilla, salt and cinnamon, followed by butter. Add walnuts and stir with silicone spatula until nuts are coated. Place filling in crust, poking nuts down with the spatula.
4: Bake 5minutes. Reduce heat to 350degrees. Bake 30-35minutes but take a look at the crust after 10minutes — if it looks brown, cover with foil or a pie shield. Bake until it has puffed all the way to the center. It will rise high and crack, and that’s fine — it will settle itself down in minutes as it cools. Transfer pie to rack and cool to room temperature. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.
Source: “Baking With Dorie,” by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin, $35)
Easy Chocolate Pie Yield: 6-8 servings INGREDIENTS
1sheet of packaged pie crust dough, such as Pillsbury, refrigerated and rolled out 1½ cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 4tablespoons unsalted butter, melted but not hot
2 large eggs, beaten
¾ cup evaporated milk 1teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
For serving: sweetened whipped cream
PROCEDURE
1: Preheat the oven to 350degrees. Ease the pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate and crimp the edges decoratively, or use tines of a fork to partially flatten, making a pattern in the process. Gently prick the crust with a fork on bottom at about 4-inch intervals. Line the crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15minutes or until set. Remove the foil and weights and bake for about 5minutes longer, just until the crust is dry but not browned.
2: Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk the sugar with the cocoa powder, butter, eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla and salt until smooth. I do this in a stand mixer, beating the mixture on medium-high speed for 2minutes and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3: Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for about 45 minutes, until the filling
is set around the edges but a tiny bit jiggly in the center. To prevent crust edges from overbrowning, cover the crust edges with strips of foil halfway through baking, or use a pie shield (a ring that fits over the edge of the crust after it has browned but before the rest of the pie is cooked). Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool completely before cutting into wedges. Serve with whipped cream. The chocolate pie can be refrigerated overnight.