BIRTHDAY PIE!

This post is an ode to Pie.  Flaky, rich, homemade pie!

It's the end of January and for my family that means it's time to celebrate birthdays.  My Mom and my sister, Abby, are another year older and to commemorate the occasion I made two very different pies.  Abby requested Pumpkin, and Mom wanted Apple Tart Tatin.  Although their baking processes are very different, they both require a basic pie dough for the crust.

How to properly make basic pie dough:

 Start with flour and salt in a medium size bowl.

Cut butter and lard/shortening into small cubes. Make sure it is cold to ensure flaky crust.

Quickly work the cold butter and lard into the flour using your thumbs to create a course meal.

It will look similar to Bisquick at this point.  Make sure there are no large chunks of fat because during baking it will melt out and create a large hole.  Also, do not over work the fat.  Keep it fluffy and dry.  If it starts to feel wet, you have gone too far and will have a tough crust.

Make a well in the middle of the mixture and slowly work it in.  When it is all incorporated, dump it out onto a flowered surface and kneed it together into a ball.  Try not to over do this step.  You want to have little ribbons of fat dancing through your dough.

 Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.  This makes it a lot easier to work with when rolling it out.

 Make sure before you start rolling that the ball of dough is in the shape of a circle or whatever shape of the pan you will be using.  Start round to end round, etc.

 Roll out the dough to about 1/8 " thick and 1" larger than the pie plate or tin.

Place the dough in the plate or tin and flute your edges.  I did the pumpkin pie using the "feed the bird" technique.  Pretend your left index finger and thumb are a birds beak and your right index finger is a worm. ;)

Your shell is now ready to go.  Fill and bake however you desire.

Here is how mine turned out.

My beautiful sister with her beautiful pie!

This is Apple Tart Tatin.

 This is more of a rustic pie that begins cooking on the stove and then bakes in the oven.

 My Mom loved it!!

There you have it.  Just follow these easy instructions and your next pie will be a great success, just like mine. :)

 xoxo

Morgan

   

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