Baked fruit is all well and good, and I’m never one to turn down a bowl of stewed peaches (with ice cream, please) or applesauce dished out as a dinner side. But, put that fruit into a crust and you have the magic that is pie. That crust is all important. It must be golden. It must be the perfect texture, neither too hard to penetrate with a fork, nor so soggy that it sags. It must be flaky and yet hold together. The demands of a perfect crust can put off even the most avid cook. Never fear! I’ve put together a tutorial of my all-butter pie crust.
Baking making a perfect pie crust does take experience. Crusts require handling just so. Give it a try. Try it again. Don’t worry. Just do it. Even the mistakes are delicious, after all, butter and flour always tastes good.
The recipe is posted on my FAQ page, here. A version of it will appear in my upcoming Farmstead Egg Guide and Cookbook, out in March of 2014.
I want to hear about the pies you’re baking!
I also love to make pies. My favorite being a mix of three apples. Granny Smith, Cortland, and Rome. It’s a nice mixture of textures and tartness. Very delicious. I have been having a problem finding the Rome apples for some reason. I also love to have a big yellowware bowl full of them for the Christmas season. Their fragrance is delightful.
Old fashioned apple is my favorite. But I did make my first blueberry this year and it was quite tasty.
But my most favorite thing is taking all the left over bits of crust, lay them out on a baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake till golden brown. That smell is simply heaven to me.
And it gives everyone a little something sweet to eat while they wait for dinner to cook and pies to cool.
For Christmas eve with the family here, I bake traditional French Canadian tourtieres. They are pork pies, very delicious. I have to bake 3 now as the grandchildren are starting to enjoy them.
Can you email me your favorite recipe? I’ve never seen or tasted them.
Love to, could you send me your email address. I don’t do those other social networks.
If you click on the “contact Terry” rectangle below and to the right, it goes right through to email.
Crust-making is a tradition in our family. Among the women, I should say, because the men are pretty worthless. (This, too, is a tradition.) We’ve always made our crusts by hand, no food processors, handmade with lard in the old days (so I’ve heard), and now with vegetable shortening. I have been known to crack the tradition (other than with the worthless men part) and make -gasp- butter crusts… but this is a rarity. There’s very little call for pie outside of peach pie in summer, and pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year, I made an interesting apple-cranberry pie. Not for the faint of heart, this pie, with its combination of mildly sweet and painfully sour.
And once I made a very difficult, time-consuming strawberry glacé pie… and it went unappreciated, of course. But if you live among people who might appreciate the effort of your baking, it’s a good pie. Fancier than a plain strawberry pie, and not as sweet as a strawberry creme pie.
You made your pie all fancy with cutouts! It’s a nice-looking pie. What is it? Looks like cherry, but I wouldn’t swear my pie-crust making skills on it. Your FAQ was a good read, too. Good luck with the new book!
Worthless men who don’t appreciate one’s efforts? They take after my goats :)
The pies look soooo good!
When will the goats have their photos taken in their costumes? I can hardly wait to see them.