Erin Jeanne McDowell, baking knowledgeable and Food52 Resident, isn’t any stranger to creating pies. She’s written an entire e book on the topic (known as, actually, The Guide on Pie), graced our
Bake It Up a Notch movies with hours of useful recommendation, and shared her recipes—together with her well-known All-Buttah Pie Crust—on our web site. And in this month’s episode of her present, Erin’s again with much more ideas, all geared toward serving to you good your pies all through the autumn and vacation season. Moderately than specializing in a particular recipe or methodology, Erin goes by means of the three major varieties of fall pies (pecan, pumpkin, and apple) and troubleshoots widespread points that happen with each. That method, you possibly can nonetheless attain to your tried-and-true household recipe—however perhaps this yr, you’ll be sure you keep away from a soggy bottomed pie crust or a cracked floor in your custard filling. Listed here are 5 of our favourite takeaways from Erin’s video.
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1. Use Pie Weights Appropriately
It’s widespread information that, when par-baking a pie crust, it’s vital to weigh it down with dry beans, pie weights, or one other heavy, heat-proof materials. What I didn’t know is that these weights mustn’t simply cowl the underside of the crust—they need to additionally go all the way in which up the edges, filling the pie dish fully. “We’re not solely attempting to overwhelm the bottom of the crust in order that it doesn’t puff up, we’re additionally attempting to overwhelm and assist the edges of the crust,” Erin says. It’s a trick that stops the pie crust from slumping and sliding down the edges of the pan throughout baking.
2. Seize a Kitchen Torch
“If you’d like a picture-perfect floor on the highest of your pie—completely clean and completely lovely—you need to name in your good friend, the kitchen torch,” Erin says about perfecting your pumpkin pie. “We’re going to make use of that on the floor, and the warmth is mainly going to attract bubbles to the floor and in addition assist to fully pop them. Ensure you don’t spend an excessive amount of time doing this—we need to be sure that we’re simply utilizing sufficient warmth to pop the bubbles, however not a lot that we’re lingering [with] any warmth that would begin to cook dinner the floor of our pie.”
3. Bake Custard Pies Low & Gradual
Custard pies, like pecan and pumpkin, observe a barely completely different set of pointers than their fruit-filled counterparts. Basically, custard pies have the most effective, silkiest texture once they’re cooked—and cooled—progressively. Which means baking them low and sluggish, and letting them cool fully at room temperature earlier than transferring them to the fridge. You’ll additionally need to account for carryover cooking throughout baking. “A correctly set custard pie will seem set across the exterior edge however will likely be barely jiggly in the direction of the middle,” Erin says. When you go away the entire thing within the oven until it’s fully set, the floor of your pie will likely be extra prone to crack because it cools.
4. Pre-Cook dinner Your Apples
“The important thing to attaining a pleasant, crisp backside crust on a fruit pie is to manage the juiciness of your fruit filling,” Erin says, “and my favourite method to try this is by pre-cooking the filling.” Not solely does simmering your apples over the range rid them of extra moisture—it’s additionally a step you are able to do just a few days prematurely. Simply retailer the cooked filling within the fridge till Thanksgiving.
5. Or, Macerate Your Filling
When you’re set on utilizing uncooked apples to your pie filling, Erin recommends this trick, developed by Rose Levy Beranbaum: Combine the sliced apples with a portion of the sugar, and let it sit for at the very least an hour (and as much as a number of). Macerating the apples with sugar on this method attracts out their moisture, making them much less prone to trigger a soggy pie crust. Don’t throw away the surplus juice, both. As an alternative, simmer it over the range till it’s lowered considerably. Then, combine the concentrated apple syrup again into the filling earlier than baking.
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