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Crash Course in Pies
Feb. 2010 Rhonda Hair (801) 280-4253Tips for making pie crust:*Use all-purpose flour or pastry flour, not bread flour. Bread flour will make the crust shrink worse.You can substitute out some flour for whole wheat or nut flours. Make it plain the first couple times.*Butter gives the best flavor but doesn’t hold shape as well, shortening gives more tender flakiness &dough is easier to handle, lard is the flakiest. You can use a combination.*Everything has a pro and con- decide what’s most important to you- flakiness, shrinkage, flavor, speed,whatever. It doesn’t have to be perfect unless you’re trying to prove something….*To measure water- bottom of meniscus (the curved skin of the water )is what should be at themeasuring line.*If you get big bubbles in the crust when it bakes, afterwards press down gently with a kitchen towel;the bubbles will settle.*To make ahead: The baked crust can be stored at room temperature, wrapped tightly in aluminum foil,for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to a month. Thaw before using.
Basic Pie Crust
– modified BH&G recipe- makes 1 crust1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour, stirred & spooned in 1/3 c.shortening or 6 T. cold butter, in ¼” slices¼ tsp. salt ¼ c. cold water- you may not need it allCombine ¾ c. of the flour, the salt, and shortening or butter. Mix with a beater or food processor about30 seconds, or until it makes a paste and just starts to clump. Add remaining flour and mix or pulse justuntil evenly distributed, 4-6 quick pulses. Sprinkle with water, a fourth at a time, and lightly mix until itholds together when you grab a handful. If you don’t need all of it, that’s good. Form into a ball, flattenslightly, cover with plastic wrap, and chill 30 minutes or up to 2 days. Or wrap really well and freeze itfor a couple months. Chilling the dough helps the gluten relax, re-firm the fat, reduce stickiness, and itkeep from shrinking as it bakes. Roll out on floured surface, rolling from center outward, sprinkling withflour as needed to keep from sticking. Lift and rotate dough a few times to keep it from sticking to thecounter. The less you handle it the more tender it will be- the dough likes COLD and QUICK. Liftwithout stretching the dough and fit it into the pan. Trim ½ “ from edge- scissors are your friend!- foldedge under, make a pretty edge, chill again if you want to give it the best chance of not shrinking, and bake if needed. To ‘blind bake’, prick the bottom of crust, line with foil, fill with something heavy like beans, wheat, or pennies, and bake at 450 degrees 5 minutes. Remove foil and weights, and bake 5-7minutes or until golden. Cool on a rack. You can reuse the weights, and the beans/wheat can still becooked/ground and eaten.
Basic Pie Crust
makes 4-5 crusts5 c. flour, stirred & spooned to measure1 1/3 c. shortening or 3 sticks cold butter, sliced1 tsp. salt¾-1 c. cold water 1-2 Tbsp. sugar, opt.Combine 3 cups of the flour, the salt, and shortening. Mix to form a paste, stir in remaining flour just toevenly distribute. Sprinkle in water 1 Tbsp. at a time, tossing lightly, until it holds together when yougrab it. Form into 4 balls, flatten, wrap, and chill. Roll out and fit to the pan without stretching thedough.
 
Easy Pat-In-the-Pan Pie Crust
-
from Cook’s Country magazine1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour1 stick butter (8 oz), softened but cool2 Tbsp. sugar2 oz. cream cheese, softened but cool¼ tsp. saltCoat a 9” pie pan with cooking spray. With an electric mixer, beat together butter and creamcheese until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Add flour, sugar, and salt and mix 20 seconds more or until the texture of coarse cornmeal. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat until large clumps start toform, about half a minute. Set 3 Tbsp. of dough aside to use for top edge. Evenly press remainingdough onto bottom and up sides of the pie pan. On a floured surface, roll each tablespoon of reserveddough into an 8” rope, place around top edge, and make your fluted edge. Wrap in plastic and chill atleast an hour. Prick crust with a fork and bake at 325 degrees until golden brown, 35-40 minutes. Coolon rack.
Easy pat-in-the-pan pie crust
 
times 4
5 c. flour1 lb. butter (4 sticks), softened but cool½ c. sugar1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese, soft but cool1 tsp. saltFollow instructions above, reserving ¾ c. dough.
Crumb Crusts
:1 ½ c. graham cracker crumbs ¼ c. sugar 5-6 Tbsp. melted butter Stir together crumbs and sugar, mix in butter. Press firmly and evenly in a 9” pie pan. Chill 1 hour OR bake at 375 degrees 6-9 minutes, til edges are brown (and it smells wonderful).
Chocolate Crust
: use 1 ½ c. crushed chocolate cookies (take out crème filling), don’t use the sugar inthe crust recipe.
Gingersnap Crust
: use all gingersnap crumbs or part gingersnap, part graham. Leave out sugar.
Vanilla Crust
: use crushed vanilla wafers, leave out sugar.
Breadcrumb crust:
use dry breadcrumbs, increase sugar to 1/3 c. You’d never know!
Nut crust:
add 1/3 c. finely chopped pecans, almonds, walnuts, or other to any crumb crustUse a blender to crush the cookies/crackers, or a cereal box liner or big ziptop baggie and a rolling pin.
Shortbread crusts
:1 c. flour1/3 c. butter ¼ c. sugar or ½ c. powdered sugar1/3 c. finely chopped nuts, opt.Mix together and press in pie pan, bake about 15 minutes at 375 degrees.
Chocolate Shortbread Crust
: melt an extra 2 Tbsp. butter, stir in 2 Tbsp. sugar and 2 Tbsp. cocoa.Add to everything else.
Meringue for pies:
for 1 pie
3-4 egg whites1 tsp. vanilla¼ tsp. cream of tartar (this makes it fluffier)6-8 Tbsp. sugar (6 for 3 whites, etc.)Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla. Whip to soft peaks, then add sugar 1 Tbsp. at a timewhile beating. Swirl on top of pie, bake at 450 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
 
Stabilized whipped cream-
will not go runny
½ pint whipped cream (8 oz)½ tsp. vanilla2 Tbsp. sugar 
or
¼ c. powdered sugar1 tsp. Ultra Gel OR 1 tsp. unflavored gelatinIf using Ultra Gel, stir it with the sugar, then add cream and vanilla and whip until stiff. Spread or pipeonto pie. If using gelatin, put it with a tablespoon of water, let it sit a minute to soften, then microwavefor 12 seconds to dissolve it. Whip cream, sugar, and vanilla until they start to thicken a little, thenslowly pour gelatin in while still beating. Whip until stiff.
Basic Cream Pie
- makes 1 (9”) pie
2 ½ c. milk 
or
1 c. + 12 oz. can¼ c. cornstarch
or
½ c. flour 
or
2T c.s. & ¼ c. flour ¼ tsp. salt5 large egg yolks
or
3 yolks + 1 whole
or
2 whole eggs2/3 c. sugar1 ½ tsp. vanilla2 Tbsp. butter, cut in 4 piecesHeat milk in a saucepan on med-hi heat, stirring occasionally. When it is nearly simmering, in amedium-sized bowl mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Whisk in the eggs until smooth. When themilk is simmering, gradually whisk some of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, enough to heat up theeggs. Put this mixture back into the simmering pan, then reduce heat to medium and whisk constantlyuntil 3-4 bubbles break the surface and the mixture is thickened, about a minute. Remove from heat andwhisk in vanilla and butter. Pour into a baked and cooled crust, cover with the plastic wrap on thesurface (this prevents a ‘skin’ forming on your filling), and chill at least 3 hours.
Basic Cream Pie
- makes four 9” pies or five 8” pies
10 c. milk 
or
4 c. + 4 (12) oz. cans1 c. cornstarch
or
2 c. flour 
or
½ c. c.s. & 1 c. flour 1 tsp. salt20 large egg yolks
or
12 yolks + 4 whole
or
8 whole2 2/3 c. sugar2 Tbsp. vanilla1 stick of butter, cut in ½” piecesFollow directions as above, but when you’re done, pour into 4 pie crusts, or split into different bowlsand make your new flavors. If you like to measure, this gives you 3 ¾ c. filling per pie.
Pie ideas: each is for one pieVanilla Cream Pie:
exactly as written, top with meringue or whipped cream.
Banana Caramel Pie
: ooh, so many possibilities! (1) drizzle bananas with caramel topping before putting filling on top. After covering with cream/meringue, drizzle more caramel on. OR (2)put bananas on bottom, stir 4 crushed Skor bars into filling. Save a little bit of them to put on top of thecream/meringue for garnish. OR (3) Cook a can of sweetened condensed milk until thick and brown-cover with boiling water for 2 hours or open & microwave for about 6-7 minutes. Slice bananas on bottom, cover with this caramel, then put on filling. Or leave it off and just do the caramel and bananas.Top with whipped cream and a bit more caramel.
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