Pie Crust!

I have been recruited by my mom to make a few pies for this year's Thanksgiving dinner. She let me know a couple months in advance in order to give me some time to practice.

I've made them under her supervision before and have an especially good crust recipe. I think it will work out okay as long as the humidity in the house isn't bad on the day I want to make them. (I'm a bit nervous, though... She is the pie expert and I am not much more than a novice!)

I am going to make two cherry pies and one strawberry pie. I've never had strawberry pie before, but I love strawberries so I'm sure it will be good. That will be a "surprise" pie as she only asked for cherry ones. She is making pumpkin, blueberry, and apple pies.

I'd really like to do a unique design on the pie crusts. I was thinking of using one of my chicken cookie cutters (yes, I have several of them) to cut out a chicken shape on the crust. I'd also like to try the lattice design.

What do you guys do for your pie crusts? Post pics of your cheffing prowess or just describe what you do.

The most important thing is to keep the crust chilled while working on it. I use chilled water, put it in the freezer after mixing, and put it back in the freezer after putting in the shell before baking. I also use real butter mixed w/ butter flavor crisco works good for a flaky crust.

I always thought that the fall leaves on the rim of the pie crust looked good. Maybe a row of little chickens on the rim would be soooooo cute.

Williams and Sonoma have great leaf shaped pie crust cutters!!!! I am the pie lady in our family, so I am going to order some asap

I bought my leaf cookie cutters at the Homegoods store.
I agree it really makes them look pretty and you can find some inexpensive pretty pie pans around too.
I bought some in gold, orange and a reddish brown for my fall pies and with the leaf cutouts on top they really look nice.
Good luck and have fun with it.

I don't do anything special to my crust to make it work, I think the most important thing is that it's not too dry and not too moist. It has to be flexible but not sticky. The recipe I use is so simple I don't even remember the measurements. Let's see....

I think, per two layer pie, it's:

1 c flour

1/2 stick butter (I'm pretty sure I usually use a whole stick, fattening, yes, but it's soooo flaky....then again, I don't remember for sure, I usually just add butter till I think it looks right.)

1/4 tsp salt

Water (I add water till it's just the right dough consistency, I don't know how to describe it....Almost like Sculpy clay, where it's pliable but not sticky....I don't know!)

Mix the flour and salt together, then add the butter. Work the butter into the crust till you get a crumbly, cornmeal-y mix. Then add water. I start out with about 8 tablespoons, then mix it up a little to see if I'll need more. Add water a tablespoon at a time.....

Sorry if this is so vague, I usually don't measure stuff anymore. Thought I'd share anyway, I'm pretty sure these are the right measurements....LOL! Everyone LOVES my crust, BTW, I am the official pie baker of the family. I have no choice in the matter....

For my strawberry pies, I first cook the pie crust and then put a mixture of cream cheese with about a teas. lemon juice and powdered sugar to sweeten on the bottom and then put the strawberry mixture on top and do not put a top on the strawberry pie. Hope that helps?

For one of the tablespoons of water I substitute vinegar - flaky crust is guaranteed....agree with keeping everything cold.....do not over work....

I never bother keeping anything cold, even in 80 degree weather, nor am I very fussy about humidity, # of roll-outs, etc. But then I don't make real pies per se--I make tarts.

Tart crust recipe:
1 volume flour, preferably pastry flour but all purpose works OK
1/3 volume butter, preferably really good butter but any will do in a pinch
1/4 volume ground nuts, grind in clean coffee grinder. For strawberry or blueberry tarts, almonds are good. For apple, I prefer walnuts or pecans. Any shortbread recipe can be used instead, too.

Mix till crumbly, then add one egg and a tablespoon of water. Knead until it makes a ball. Do not roll it, just pat it into a circle and then press it into a greased tart pan and poke w/fork. Bake @ 400F for 15 minutes or till lightly brown.

Filling: Make 1 custard recipe per 6-7" of pan diameter, double the recipe for a deep-dish pan--1 egg, 3/4 c. whole milk or light cream, 2 tbsp. sugar, dash salt, vanilla or cinnamon or whatever flavoring you like, whisk together well.

Cook fruit if it seems to need pre-cooking. Or marinate in brandy, for cherries. Add sugar to taste. I don't add much, maybe 1/4 c. to regular peaches, apples. More to sour cherries, obviously. You have to taste the fruit and sort of guess how much to add.

If fruit is still fresh, slice/peel as needed and arrange in pretty pattern on shell. Pour custard mix over. Bake @ 375F until done. If you want it to look extra-pretty, melt some jelly and brush that over the fruit for the last 10 minutes to make it all shiny, but that's not totally necessary.

Do you have a big chicken cookie cutter, and a small egg cutter? You could do a big chicken in the middle and eggs around the edge. That'd be FUN! ~Tracy