Easy As Pie

Dear readers,

This month I will be exploring the iconic american pie. I first fell in love with this very vintage phenomenon after watching a film entitled 'waitress'. A bittersweet american comedy about a rather dispondent young woman who works as a waitress and a cook in a pie diner. She names her pies quirky satirical names, such as 'Bad Baby Pie', a wise crack at her husband for getting her pregnant.
As well as bringing a smile to your face, more than anything, it just makes you wish for such a place to exist in Australia. A place where you can pass off chocolate custard filling in a buttery crust as lunch. 

The most common pies I came across whilst researching were pecan pie, apple pie, cherry pie and mississippi mud pie. However I did come across a very old fashioned american pie recipe for 'shoofly pie'. A pie made with a molasses filling, which is sometimes compared to treacle tart. This did seem like a pretty awesome challenge, although after much deliberation, eating a rather one dimensional filling made up mostly of a bi-product of raw sugar didnt seem quite as appealing as first thought.

So I decided to make a cherry pie. A cherry ripe pie that is, suggested by a dear friend of mine, who is admittedly, (and I hope I dont get in trouble for this) a chocoholic.

HOW TO MAKE-
Cherry Ripe Pie

PREHEAT your oven to 180  C

RECIPE

PASTRY CASE

85g COLD unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 cup corn flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp plain flour
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk

1 egg white
1/4 coconut flakes (You can also use dessicated coconut or shredded coconut, but only add half this amount if doing so)

Combine the cubed butter, the two flours, the cocoa and the powdered sugar together in a food processor. Process until the ingredients resemble bread crumbs. If you dont have a food processor, no problem. Just rub the butter into the dry mix until the desired affect is achieved. Add in the eggs and 'pulse' til your dough starts to combine together. Remove it from the processor bowl and shape into a smooth ball. Be sure NOT to overwork the dough ad this will cause the dough to become tough and in turn, for the pie crust to shrink whilst baking. Cover your dough with cling wrap (or a plastic bag) and refrigerate for 20 minutes. This will allow the dough to relax.

PIE FILLING

300g fresh or frozen pitted cherries
400g sour cherries (If you are buying these in a jar, as I did, remove the juice).

zest and juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 teaspoons corn flour

Combine the corn flour with the lemon juice in a small container and mix thoroughly. 
In a medium sized heavy based saucepan or pot, place ONLY the frozen cherries, lemon juice mix, lemon zest and sugar and stir til combined.
Heat the pan on a low-medium heat until the consistency of jam is achieved. A good indication of this is when you drag your spoon through the middle of the saucepan. If the mix holds for a moment before sinking back into itself then you're set.
Now add in your sour cherries and stir and reduce a little more til you have a thicker jam, but making sure some of the sour cherries are still intact. This will add a bit of texture and make the filling plumper.
Set aside.


Blind Baking Your Pie Crust

Grease a 20cm pie tin or dish lightly with butter or vegetable oil. Set aside.
Remove your dough from the fridge and place on a lightly floured surface. If you are worried about your dough being too sticky, add a little more flour and roll out between two sheets of baking paper. Lightly wetting your work space will stop the paper from slipping around as you roll.

Roll out your dough into a 25 cm circle. Dont worry about it being super neat or anything like that as the crust will be trimmed later on. Sprinkle over the coconut and press in, using a rolling pin. Place your dough onto a piece of baking paper. Holding the paper side with the palm of your hand, keeping your hand flat, flip the pastry onto the pie dish. If you feel uneasy about doing this for the first time, place the pie tin upside down onto your pastry before flipping.

Peel away the baking paper from the pastry and slowly ease the dough into your pie tin. Now, grab out your kitchen scissors and trim away the excess pastry from around the edge of the pie tin. At this stage you can add decoration from any left over pastry or just simply use a fork to decorate the edge, depending of course if you have a lip on your pie dish or not. Dipping the fork into flour in between every few indentations will stop the pastry from sticking to the fork.

Brush the base of the pie crust lightly with egg white and pop into the oven for 30 seconds ONLY.
This will help to seal the pastry, avoiding a soggy bottom. Place some foil or an adequate sized piece of baking paper into the pastry case and fill with pastry weights or regular household rice.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the pastry weights and baking paper and bake for another 5 minutes or until you have a cooked dry base.

Pour your cherry filling into your pastry case and refrigerate for 1 hour. Drizzle melted dark chocolate over the pie if desired and serve with whipped cream. Yum!

For my pie, I made a lattice top. This can be achieved by adding the cherry filling after you've blind baked the case for 10 minutes. Make sure you brush your pastry strips with egg wash before adding them to the top. Bake for 5-7 minutes.

(This is my American 1965 chrome sunbeam mixmaster 11C. They only made them for the american customers so I had mine shipped over. My restorer said that someone must have only made chocolate cakes with this mixer as the inside of the motor is covered in chocolate cake batter. One day she will run again). 

MONTHLY COOKERY TIPS
BLIND BAKING 

-Use regular household rice for blind baking by pouring it into a pastry case lined with either foil or baking paper. Store the cooled rice indefinitely in an airtight plastic container for future use.

- When rolling out a sticky dough, add 1 tbsp of flour and roll out between two sheets of baking paper. If you find that it is still sticking to the paper, leave it in the baking paper and pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes. This will soon make it easier to deal with.
- To enhance the taste and texture of your pie, press flaked almonds, coconut or dried fruit into the pastry dough when rolling it out. 

- When making a fruit pie with a wet filling, be sure to seal your pastry case beforehand, by brushing the base with egg white and popping it into the oven for 30 seconds. This will ensure the moisture from the filling won't seep through the pastry. To be extra careful, add ground nuts to the base before adding your filling.

Jane Austen, during her husbands sickness describes apple pies as 'a considerable part of our domestic happiness'. There's alot to be said for this humble admission. I for one, DO always feel that even after the worst possible day, if you have some kind of sweet waiting for you at home, a certain amount of relief can most certaintly be felt. 

 

Thankyou. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed reading this blog as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Remember to follow me for lots more delicious recipes and ideas for your vintage kitchen!