I am the Pie-Maker

I’ve been singing this song from Little Shop of Horrors all afternoon. Why? Partly because that movie rules and Ellen Greene is the bomb, but mostly because “I cook like Betty Crocker/and I look like Donna Reed.” Or something like that anyway.

David asked me to make some pies for him to take on his last day of work as a sort of peace offering. He only worked there for a couple months, after all, and his coworkers were kind of amazing, so he feels kind of bad leaving. So I spent the afternoon making pies. From scratch. Wearing an apron. Tending to the baby. Laundering cloth diapers. You know, 1950’s housewife type things. Except I’m all unshowered and totally wearing maternity pants. Don’t judge. I could put on a dress and some heels but Amelia would probably just barf on them and then where would I be? Overdressed and smelling like baby barf. That’s just unnecessary.

Anyway, back to the pies. I really really really like making pies. Not only did I inherit the easiest, most delicious pie crust recipe from my grandmother, but I get serious satisfaction out of rolling out crusts, cutting up fruit, trying new flavor combinations, and coming up with new ways to make old favorites even better. Pie-making is my zen garden.

Anyway, because they smell delicious, and because there are too many cupcake recipes in the blogotubes and not enough pie ones, and because I’m awesome like that, here’s what I made and how to recreate it.

Caramel Apple Pie

Peel, core, and slice about 8 apples (You can use any kind but Granny Smith; I think they’re too tart for this pie. I used Gala this time because that’s what was at Safeway.) into bite sized pieces. Add the following to your apples: 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of flour, a heaping 1/3 cup of brown sugar, and cinnamon and/or nutmeg to taste. I use both spices but I know some people don’t like cinnamon (Ahem, Lydia) and the pie is still great without it.

In a large skillet, melt four tablespoons of butter. Stir in the apple mixture and cook, stirring frequently until the juices and melted butter begin to thicken.

For the record, I just cut my apples directly into the skillet, dumped in the rest of the ingredients (which I don’t really measure but I’m giving you approximations because “some” means different things to different people), tossed in the butter, and cooked it from there. You have to wash fewer dishes if you skip that extra bowl.

Pour the caramel apple mix into an uncooked prepared pie crust. Top with another crust (I like to make a rough lattice top crust for apple pies) and seal the edges (I use this method but with my pinkie instead of my thumb). Bake.

Raspberry & _____ Pie

For Thanksgiving, I made a version of this pie with raspberries three different kinds of pears. This time I used peaches. It would probably be good with plums or apples too. Whatever your preference–or what’s in season–the process is essentially the same:

Peel and slice the fruit into a large bowl. Add raspberries. Stir in sugar and tapioca. Add spice if you want, but I prefer just the natural fruit flavors.

The amounts on this are up to you. I use lots of raspberries because they are David’s favorite, but to compensate for the tartness you have to add more sugar. With pears, there is less juice so I only used a couple tablespoons of tapioca. The peaches I used were a little overripe so they were extra juicy; I used nearly half a cup of tapioca to ensure that the pie would thicken nicely and not be all runny when cut. The goal is to have enough filling to mound slightly in an uncooked prepared pie crust. For this particular pie, that meant six large peaches and about a pint of raspberries.

Pour into bottom crust. Top with another crust. Bake. Eat. Enjoy.

*

Some thoughts on pie crust:

Don’t use store bought crust. If you’re going to make a pie, do it right and make the crust yourself. That said, I know it’s hard to find a good pie crust recipe and to have it turn out well, but I’m not sure I want to share mine. It’s kind of fun to have a “secret family recipe” that everyone loves and asks for but that stays secret. Is that mean of me? At any rate, I hope you are able to find a good crust recipe. I hear Martha Stewart’s pate brisee is fairly simple and delicious.

*

Some thoughts on baking:

I have a hard time pinning down exact temperatures and baking times. For one, my oven is all kinds of wonky. It is hotter in the back than in the front, and I’m pretty sure it runs hotter than it should in general. It makes baking things evenly a little difficult for me. I baked these particular pies at 375 for about 45 minutes each and they look perfect, so maybe I’ve found the right combo of time and temp. You want to be sure you don’t go too hot, because then the top crust will get burny and the bottom crust will still be soggy, but you don’t want to have to bake the pie too long, because then the filling will start to dry out instead of getting bubbly and juicy. Good luck figuring out what works best in your oven. Again, Martha Stewart is usually a good guide; just find a similar pie recipe on her site and follow those baking instructions.

Also, as a final note, I loosely cover the edges of my pies with foil for the first 30 minutes of baking. This prevents those edges from burning before the rest of the pie is finished cooking. If you take them off with 10-15 minutes of baking left, the whole pie should be evenly golden when it is finished.

Good luck and happy pie-making!