Remember back a month or so ago when Madison made her
Cutie Pies? Well, she gave one to a leader of her youth group at church. Naturally they thought that she must have learned pie making from somewhere…Guess what!?! Not me! I very, very rarely make pie. No one in my family will eat it, so why make it.
We got our reason to make pie, the youth group leaders asked me to come teach the girls how to make pie.
This photo was Madison, Emmalee and I hitting the kitchen with a vengeance in preparation.
Here was my To do list:
1. Learn how to make pie
2. Try to figure out how to teach pie making
3. Make pies to cover the kitchen counter so they have many different kinds to taste :0)
These are some that we made. I made the pumpkin from the pumpkin pie mix they sell in a can. The other two are apple from the apple pie filling I canned last year. I canned 7 quarts. We used...none, at least until Madison made her pies in a jar last month. Madison gets full credit for the two apple in this photo. See! If my 12yr old can do this, you can too!
I really wanted the other girls to be able to give the pie thing a try, but couldn't find cheep little pie pans. That was when we decided to buy the mini graham cracker crusts by Keebler. They come 6 in a pack for $1.50. There were going to be 14 girls so we bought 3 packs. Not wanting to waste the crusts, we made up our favorite frozen pies. We froze them, then popped the pies out of the tins. Last, we bagged them all individually for easy desserting later :0)
They are SO easy to make, light, low-fat, and so YUMMY!!!
Simply mix about 16 oz yogurt with 8 oz whipped cream (cool whip)
pour into a pie crust, and freeze. These little guys were frozen enough to slide into individual bags after one hour. We like to thaw our yogurt pies on the counter a bit before eating.
After coming up with mini pie tins, we had to test one pie so we would know how long to bake them and how much crust dough would be needed. Turns out you can bake one of these in 30 min or less at 350.
Here, this piece is for you :0)
Want to make pies? Here are a few tips to help you make them perfect.
I have included the recipe for Never Fail Pie Crust and two pies that were out of this world!!!!
• Glass, ceramic, or dull metal pans are best. Avoid shiny pans.
• Make sure the fat and liquids are all ICE COLD
• The less you handle a crust, the flakier it will be-over handling makes a pie crust heavy and tough
• If you have time, chill the dough before rolling it out. Chill it again for 20-30 min. after you put it into the pan, before baking it. It will keep the crust from shrinking.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, pastry cloth, or between 2 pieces of wax paper. Roll from the center out. You can turn it 1/8th turn as you roll to keep it a circular shape. When it is rolled out, you can fold it in half or roll it over your rolling pin to lift the crust into the pan. Trim the crust to have a ¾” overhang.
• Use a dry pastry brush to wipe off extra flour.
• Brush an unbaked crust with egg white before filling to keep the crust crispy when baking.
• You can par-bake, also known as “blind bake”, the crust to make sure it stays crisp by lining it with parchment or foil, then filling that with beans or rice. Bake at recommended temperature for 10-15 minutes. Remove all the filler, and the liner used, poke the crust with a fork to keep it from bubbling, then either brush with egg white and fill, or finish baking until golden. If you are making a pie with a top crust you cannot par-bake.
• To make your top crust look more golden, brush with milk or egg white before baking. You can also sprinkle the milk/egg white with sugar for added sparkle. If you want your pie to look shiny, you can make a light wash of corn syrup and a little bit of water. Brush that on and sprinkle with sugar if desired.
• Always vent the top crust to let steam out.
Custard Pie Tips:(like pumpkin)
• Add flavor by covering the bottom crust with crushed cookies, like gingersnaps, then fill as usual.
• Pre-bake crusts to avoid soggyness. If crust cracks in pre-baking, keep extra dough on hand to fill the cracks before filling. That will keep the custard from squeezing through.
• To prevent cracks, bake at a moderate temperature, or even better, in a water bath.
• The pie is done when the edges are set, but the middle has a little wiggle. If the filling has puffed up, you waited too long.
Tips for fruit pies:
• Cut the fruit all the same size to ensure even cooking.
“Never Fail” Pie Crust-from an old church cookbook
compliments of my good friend Elizabeth :0) Wymount ROCkS!!!
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening
6 Tbs. COLD water
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 egg well beaten
Cut shortening into salt and flour. Beat egg and add other liquids to it. Combine the ingredients. For pie shells, bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes.
Blushing Apple Cream Pie
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cinnamon red hot candies
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vinegar
4 1/2 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples 2- 9” pie crusts
In a mixing bowl, combine first six ingredients; mix well. Add apples and stir gently to mix. Pour into a pastry-lined pie plate. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie. Cut slits in top crust; place over apples. Seal and flute edges. Bake at 400 degrees F for 50 minutes or until pastry is golden and apples are tender.
Topsy-Turvy Apple Pie-My Favorite Ever!!!
2 (9 inch) pie shell
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
5 large apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spread butter or margarine evenly on bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Press pecans, rounded side down, into butter layer. Pat brown sugar evenly over nuts, then lay one pastry shell over brown sugar layer. Place apples in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice.
In a small bowl combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix well. Toss mixture with apples, coating thoroughly. Spread apples into pie plate. Cover apples with second pastry shell. Crimp edges of pastry and make steam vents in top. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes. Cool 5 minutes then place serving plate over top of pie; invert pie onto plate. Carefully remove pie pan. Serve warm or cool.
(I didn't make the apple pie filling, I just used my jar of filling I canned last season)
May you be inspired to make many pies this Thanksgiving Season! Happy Pie Baking!!!