Perfecting Pies 2018

Perfecting Pies

Mint Culinary Studio 2 West Park Ave, Suite #2 DuBois, PA 15801 www.MintCulinary.com

Perfecting the Pie Crust

French Pastry Basics

Pâte Sucrée: The French term for “sugar dough,” referring to a sweet, rich and crumbly pastry dough made by the mealy dough mixing method. Example: Fruit Tart Shells

Pâte Sablée: The French term for “sand dough,” referring to a sweet, rich and crisp pastry dough made by the creaming method. Example: Cookie Dough

Pâte Brisée: The French term for “broken dough,” referring to a pastry dough made by the flaky dough mixing method and the high ratio of fat to flour, resulting in underdeveloped gluten. Example: Pie Dough

Pâte Sucrée, and Pâte Sablée offer a finished product similar to pie crust dough (Pâte Brisée), but contain more sugar and incorporate eggs or egg yolks into the recipe. The mixing method, and addition of egg to the batter, makes this dough more forgiving. When making pie crust dough, there is a delicate balance of fat, moisture and mixing method needed to achieve optimal results.

Pâte Brisée, the Short Pastry Dough The perfect pâte brisée is tender, flaky, crumbly, and rich, at the same time. French and British versions of pâte brisée contain only four ingredients—butter, flour, salt, and water.

American Pie Crust or 3-2-1 Dough Using the proportions, 3 parts flour: 2 parts fat: 1 part liquid American pastry versions introduce small amounts of sugar, sometimes substitute cream or whole milk for water, and may call for an acid, such as vinegar, lemon juice, wine, or vodka as a means to shorten the gluten strands during the mixing process in order to yield a flaky crust.

Perfecting the Pie Crust

The Ingredients

ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR – Gives structure to pastry

Shelf Life 6 months to one year in the freezer if stored in tightly sealed plastic containers or if tightly wrapped. It will keep for only a few months if stored in a cabinet. Due to the presence of the wheat germ, resulting in an unsaturated oil content that is higher than refined flour. The potential for rancidity is greater if whole-wheat flour is kept for long periods and particularly if it is not stored under refrigerated conditions. It is best to store whole-wheat flour in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer.

How To Store Flour must be kept cool and dry. All flours, even white flour, have a limited shelf life. Millers recommend that flours be stored for no more than 6 months. The main change that occurs is the oxidation of oils when flour is exposed to air. The result of this is rancid off flavors. During hot weather, store flour in the refrigerator.

Flour should be stored, covered, in a cool and dry area. This prevents the flour from absorbing moisture and odors and from attracting insects and rodents.

Freezing flour for 48 hours before it is stored will kill any weevil or insect eggs already in the flour.

Do not store flour near soap powder, onions or other foods and products with strong odors.

Throw away flour if it smells bad, changes color, or is invested with weevils. Flour is always readily available so it should only be brought in quantities that will last a maximum of two to three months. It is better not to mix new flour with old if you are not using the flour regularly.

If freezer space is available, flour can be repackaged in airtight, moisture- proof containers, labeled and placed in the freezer at 0 degrees F. If flour is stored like this, it will keep well for several years.

Keep whole wheat flour in the refrigerator the year around. Natural oils cause this flour to turn rancid quickly at room temperature.

*Put a bay leaf in the flour canister to help protect against insect infections. Bay leaves are natural insect repellents.

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Gluten: The primary protein in wheat that provides structure and flavor. It is composed of two partial proteins called glutenin and gliadin which link together when hydrated to form gluten. Flours contain different amounts of gluten and must be chosen carefully to achieve desired gluten development. The higher the protein, the more gluten the flour contains.

The main components of gluten serve different purposes: glutenin provides elasticity to the dough, while gliadin provides extensibility and volume to the dough. Its role in baked pastry is to only hold the dough together once liquid is added. Over mixing a pastry dough will lead to a dense, tough and chewy end product!! In bread and yeast risen doughs its role is to form very strong bonds to give volume and chewiness to the baked good.

How to Measure:

• Sprinkle it into your dry-cup measure (the one that measures exactly a cup at the top)

• Scrape off the excess with a straight edge.

A properly measured cup of flour weighs 4 1/4 ounces.*

Flour Weight Conversions

1 oz. 28 grams

1 pound 454 grams

2.2 pounds 1 kilogram (kg)

*http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/measuring-flour.ht

Perfecting the Pie Crust

FAT – Fat surrounds the flour molecules and prevents too much water from coming in contact with the flour and forming excess gluten. Fat is called shortening because it “shortens” the strands of gluten.

The term “shortening” refers to any fat used in baking—butter, margarine, vegetable oil, lard, and, vegetable shortening. Shortening takes its name from the fact that fat by its very nature coats the protein molecules in flour, making it difficult for them to combine and create that stretchy material called gluten. Any gluten strands that do form are “shortened,” (rather than lengthened, as is the goal with fat-free hearth breads).

Lard The best lard is known as “leaf” lard which comes from the fat around the kidneys of a pig (like suet which comes from the equivalent place in a cow or sheep). However, most lard found in grocery stores is rendered (melted and clarified) from pork trimmings. It tends to be milder in flavor and more homogenous in texture. Both are 100% fat and are softer and oilier than other solid fats. Because of its large crystalline structure, it works exceptionally well in biscuits and pie crusts, but won't create as fine a grain in cakes as butter, margarine or shortening. Lard is somewhat soft even when cold, so when making a pie dough, some of the fat coats the flour, inhibiting much of the gluten development. The remaining fat, which stays in larger flakes, melts at a slightly higher temperature than butter, keeping the layers of flour and water separate. This also allows what little water is in the dough to turn to steam and separate the layers further. This is what creates a piecrust's flakiness. Because of its characteristic structure, lard makes the flakiest crust possible.

• Pros: Has a wide workable temperature range and is not nearly as soft as shortening within that range. Creates very tender, flaky crusts.

• Cons: Good quality lard is hard to find. The stuff sold in supermarkets has a very porky aroma, which makes for very porky- tasting crusts.

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Butter Butter is made up of several types of fats; slightly more than half is saturated, a bit more than a quarter is mono-unsaturated and the remainder is polyunsaturated. It also contains some cholesterol, but it also contains some calcium, potassium and lots of Vitamin A. The melting point of butter is just about at body temperature, which is why it has such a wonderful “mouth feel.” Butter has another attribute that is key in baking; it’s taste. Good butter is very firm which means it will hold more air in creaming which will help leaven cakes and it will create a flakier result in a pastry.

In making pie crusts, butter, with its lower melting point, is often used in conjunction with shortening, providing wonderful flavor, and because of its lactose “milk sugar,” it enhances the browning of the crust When working with butter in piecrusts, biscuits, laminated doughs, anything where butter must be “rubbed” into the flour, everything must be kept cool. If the butter is overworked and warm, too much will melt into the flour, changing the texture. It is also about 8o% fat with the rest mostly water, so more butter and less water may be needed if substituting butter for lard or vegetable shortening.

• Pros: Excellent flavor, forms distinct, large flaky layers.

• Cons: Butter melts at a relatively low temperature It's also got a relatively high water content (about 15 to 17 percent), which can cause excess gluten to form and turn your crust leathery if overworked.

Shortening: Vegetable shortening is made from vegetable oils and is thus 100% fat. To make this fat solid at room temperature, these oils have been “hydrogenated,” chemically treated to change some of their polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids. This also gives it baking qualities necessary for many recipes as well as to prolong its shelf life. Unfortunately, hydrogenating the vegetable oils transforms something that was nutritionally a “good” fat into one that's not. Shortening does make pie crusts that are almost as flakey as those made with lard. In a pie crust dough in which the pieces of fat are layered into the flour, shortening serves as a buffer between flour and any liquid that is added to hold it all together. As the crust bakes, the water turns to steam, forcing the flour/shortening layers apart and holds them apart until it melts, by which time the crust is set. This produces the classic tender, flaky piecrust.

• Pros: Very easy to work with, produces crusts that are extremely tender.

• Cons: It has no water . It's also soft over a wide range of temperatures, greatly increasing your chance of overworking.

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Liquid – provides moisture needed for the development of gluten and productions of steam.

Ice Water The most readily available and cost effective option! The amount of water may very based on humidity of kitchen. Cold water helps keep fat from melting.

Vodka/Lemon Juice/Vinegar: Replacing a small amount of water (2 tsp.) with an acids or vodka helps inhibits gluten development, leading to a crust that is flakier and easier to work with.

Salt – provides flavor and provides minor tenderizing effects on gluten.

Kosher (Style) Salt The texture and shape of kosher-style salt is lighter and more delicate than a typical fine grain salt. It dissolves quickly and evenly into foods during cooking, and melds well with other flavors. It is believed that this style of salt took on the name “kosher,” because the unique texture and shape are useful in the process of koshering meat.

Table salt Uniformly shaped crystals make table salt the best choice for baking, where precise measurements are critical.

Seas salt Sea salt is obtained directly through the evaporation of seawater. It is usually not processed, or undergoes minimal processing, and therefore retains trace levels of minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium and other nutrients. The minerals add flavor and color to sea salt, which also comes in a variety of coarseness levels.

Salt Conversions* Table Salt Coarse Kosher Fine Sea Salt Coarse Sea salt Canning & Salt Pickling Salt ¼ tsp. ¼ tsp. ¼ tsp. ¼ tsp. ¼ tsp. 1 tsp. 1 ¼ tsp. 1 tsp. 1 tsp. 1 tsp. 1 Tbsp. 1 Tbsp. + ¾ tsp. 1 Tbsp. + ¼ tsp. 1 Tbsp. 1 Tbsp. ¼ cup ¼ cup + 1 Tbsp. ¼ cup + 1 tsp. ¼ cup ¼ cup ½ cup ½ cup + 2 Tbsp. ½ cup + 2 tsp. ½ cup ½ cup ¾ cup ¾ cup + 3 Tbsp. ¾ cup + 1 Tbsp. ¾ cup ¾ cup 1 cup 1 ¼ cups 1 cup + 4 tsp. 1 cup 1 cup 2 cups 2 ½ cups 2 cups + 2 Tbsp. 2 cups 2 cups *http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/salt-conversion-chart

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Mixing By Hand Ensure butter/shortening/lard is chilled and water is cold Measure all ingredients, cut butter into 1/2-inch cubes

Combine flour + salt Cut or “dressage” (rub) butter into flour, until fat it ‘pea size’

Slowly add liquid, just enough for dough to come together, butter pieces should still be visible

Shape dough into disks, tightly wrap with plastic wrap Chill dough – at least 2 hours or overnight

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Using the Food Processor Ensure butter/shortening/lard is chilled and water is cold Measure all ingredients, cut butter into 1/2-inch cubes

Combine flour + salt in food processor, pulse to combine

Add cubed butter, pulse until butter is pea-size.

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Slowing add liquid, pulse until small clumps begin for form but butter is still visible

Turn dough onto plastic wrap, shape into disk and wrap tightly

Chill dough – at least 1 hour or overnight

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Rolling Dough On well-floured surface, roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness, turning tough 1/4- turn each roll, liberally dusting with more flour as needed

Using rolling pin or folding method, transfer dough to pie plate, trim excess

Finish by crimping edges or adding a decorative boarder

*Tip: Chill unfilled pie crust 1 hour, or freeze for 30 min, before filling or par baking to ensure decorative edge keeps shape

Perfecting the Pie Crust

For Decorative Pies

Lattice Tops

Use cookie cutters for festive cut outs Chill shapes before applying Brush dough with egg wash to secure Thoroughly chill decorated crust before filling/baking

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Egg Wash For Shine!

The part of the egg you use and liquid you add to your egg wash will determine the finished look of the pie crust. The basic rule of thumb is 1 tsp of liquid per egg. Experiment with adding spices to your egg wash, such as cinnamon or nutmeg, for added flavor and added color.

For this result: Make an egg wash with: Shiny whole egg, salt Faint Shine whole egg, milk Matte, golden-brown whole egg, water Shiny, golden-brown egg yolk, water Shiny, golden-brown egg yolk, salt Shiny, dark egg yolk, cream Crisp, pale egg white Matte, golden-brown heavy cream or half & half Faint shine, golden-brown olive oil

Adding Flavoring to Crust:

Stir into the flour before mixing: } 1 tsp. cinnamon } 1 ½ tsp. citrus peel } 2 Tbsp. finely chopped nuts } ½ cup shredded cheese } 1 tsp. celery seed

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Just a few more…

Make and freeze pie crust ahead of time o Baked Crusts – 4 months o Unbaked Crusts - 3 months

Always remember to vent the top of a two-crust pie

Fruit pies are best when eaten within 1-2 days but can be kept up to four days

Cold ingredients produce the flakiest crust. Be sure to use very cold fat. In warm weather, it helps to chill the flour ahead.

Cut the fat in until your mixture resembles small peas or gravel. The more you incorporate the fat past that point, the less flaky your crust will be.

Cook pies on foil lined baking sheet. When pie begins to over brown, pull up foil and wrap edges

If you are making a double crust pie, it helps to have a little extra dough for the bottom crust. Divide the dough in two, making one part slightly larger than the other.

Roll your pastry on a sheet of lightly floured wax paper. Invert the pastry right over the pan, or filling, and peel the paper off.

You can patch tears in pastry by pinching or pressing it back together. Large gaps can be patched with trimmings cut from the overhanging dough.

Don't stretch the pastry when you are lining a pie pan with the bottom crust. Rather, ease the pastry into the pan, gently tucking it into the bottom crease.

Chill crust before baking also reduce the risk of crust “shrinking” while baking

Perfecting the Pie Crust

joannE.’s Decorative Pie Crust

Makes enough for 1 decorative (top & bottom), deep-dish pie

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. sugar 12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes 1 egg yolk ¼ cup ice water

Procedure

In a food processor combine flour, salt, sugar and butter. Plus mixture until dough resembles the top of an Etenmann's Crumb Cake™. Add yolk and slowly add the water one tablespoon at a time and continue to pulse food processor until dough resembles a coarse meal. Divide dough into two disks, one slightly larger than the other (for bottom crust), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

**For a shiny golden brown crust, whisk together 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp water and 1 pinch of salt. Brush top of pie before baking.

Perfecting the Pie Crust

3-2-1 Basic Pie Dough

Makes enough dough for one double-crust pie or two single-crust pies.

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 1 Tbsp. sugar (optional) 1/2 tsp. salt 8 oz. (16 Tbsp.) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch chunks 1/2 cup ice water

Mixing by hand Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl . Cut in, using a pastry blender, or using your hands, work in butter chunks until the size of small peas and the mixture looks mostly uniform.

Gradually add water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until dough comes together.

Divide the dough in half, handling it as little as possible, and shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Using Food Processor In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers (if necessary, add remaining 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Do not over-process.

Transfer dough (still crumbly) onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into 2 disks; wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

Dough can also be tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator before using.

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Rustic Fruit Galette

2 cups assorted fruit 2 tablespoons sugar ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon starch Recipe for 1 9-inch pie crust 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 375°F

Toss fruit with sugar, cinnamon, lemon, and cornstarch in a medium sized bowl.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicone mat, or lightly butter a baking sheet. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the pie dough to a 12- inch round of even thickness.

Arrange apple slices in center of dough round, fold up edges: Place rolled-out pie dough in the center of the lined or buttered baking sheet. Arrange the fruit in center leaving a 1 1/2 to 2 inches from the outside edge of the dough. Fold the edges of the pie crust up and over so that circle of the filling is visible.

Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with granulated or coarse sugar is desired.

Place in the middle rack of the oven. Bake at 375°F for 40-50 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned and the filling is bubbly. Cool on a rack for an hour before serving.

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Orange Custard Pie

2 cups whole milk 1 cup heavy cream 3 large eggs ⅔ cup sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 ½tablespoons grated orange zest 1 ½tablespoons orange juice ⅛ teaspoon table salt 1 prebaked 9-inch pie shell

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat milk and cream in medium saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming, about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, orange zest, orange juice, and salt in medium bowl.

Heat prebaked pie shell in oven until hot, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk steaming milk and cream into egg and cornstarch mixture in slow, steady stream. Return egg and milk mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, scraping bottom of pan, until custard begins to thicken and forms a ridge on tip of spoon when bottom of pan is scraped and spoon is lifted (see illustration below), 6 to 8 minutes. (If using thermometer, stir occasionally until custard reaches 160, then constantly.) Leaving pie plate on oven rack, pour custard through a fine mesh strainer and into hot pie shell. Bake until custard has set around edges but jiggles slightly in the center when shaken, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature, 2 hours. cut into wedges and serve.

TECHNIQUE How to Tell When the Custard is Done Scrape along the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or spatula; when a bit of custard adheres to the edge of the spoon, your custard is done.

Filling the Pie Shell The hot filling needs to go directly into a hot prebaked pie shell. The prebaked pie shell can be made ahead, but it should be heated in a 375-degree oven until hot, about 5 minutes, before the custard filling is poured into it

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Joanne’s Apple Pie

Makes 1 9-inch Pie For Filling: 4 lbs. honeycrisp apples or your favorite baking apple, peeled cored & sliced (about 8 cups) 1 cup packed brown sugar 3 Tbsp. corn starch 2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon 2 tsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. vanilla ½ tsp. salt

For Pie: 1 9-inch prepared pie crust (top & bottom) 1 egg yolk 1 tsp water

Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 425.

Combine all ingredients in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 8 minutes. Stir apples, microwave 4 additional minutes, stir. Sugar should be melted and liquid thickened. If needed microwave additional 2-3 minutes.* Let filling cool completely.

Roll out bottom pie crust and gently press into pie dish. Add prepared and cooled filling. Place top crust on filling and cut 4 3-inch slit in center for ventilation or arrange crust in lattice design, roll and crimp edges. Whisk together egg yolk and water. Brush edges and top crust with egg yolk wash. Chill pie for 15 minutes before baking.

Place pie on preheated baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°, bake additional 45 minutes, or until juices are bubbling and crust is golden brown.

*Can also be done on stovetop. Using a large saucepot, cook over medium heat until sugar has melted and juices have thickened.

Perfecting the Pie Crust

Blueberry Pie

Filling: 3/4 cup sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup cold water 5 cups fresh blueberries, divided 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 9-inch pie crusts

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and water until smooth. Add 3 cups blueberries. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.

Remove from the heat. Add butter, lemon juice, vanilla and remaining 2 cups berries; Stir until butter is melted. Let cool until room temperature or in the refrigerate overnight.

To make pie:

Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 425.

Roll out bottom pie crust and gently press into pie dish. Add prepared and cooled filling. Place top crust on filling and cut 4 3-inch slit in center for ventilation or arrange crust in lattice design, roll and crimp edges. Whisk together 1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water. Brush edges and top crust with egg yolk wash. Chill pie for 15 minutes before baking.

Place pie on preheated baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°, bake additional 45 minutes, or until juices are bubbling and crust is golden brown.