As part of
my top 100 list I have included a few
pies. Pies are not something that I bake
a lot, well not real pies with flaky, homemade crust and fruit filling. Nevertheless, part of having a top 100 list
is to challenge myself, right? Right.
So, on this
one particulate Saturday, I was ready to tackle two items on my top 100
list—Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and a double crust pie. When I went to the wholesale super store that
morning, I bought a large tub of strawberries.
Yet, when I went to my favorite local grocery store, they had no rhubarbs
in stock. (Mind you, ever since this day
I have seen them in stock. Just not on
the day when I needed them…) Without
rhubarb I could not make a Strawberry rhubarb pie. Considering I had more strawberries than my
household could eat before perishing, I had to think of a plan B. Peaches were just starting to come into
season, and looked great. So, the idea
become a Double Crusted Strawberry Peach Pie.
I used this
original recipe I had for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, with a few tweaks to account
for the peaches instead. I first made
the dough, taking caution to keep the ingredients cold and freezing butter and
shortening, etc… I wanted a flaky double
crust. I hulled, peeled, cut-up, sliced,
and mutilated all the fruit. Now came
the time for rolling out of the crust. I
rolled the dough between parchment papers, but I just could not get it to work
for the bottom of my piecrust. The dough
started to get warm and I freaked out, thinking about the butter and shortening
speckles I carefully ensured were cold during the mixing process melting into
the dough. So, in the freezer the dough
went.
I did this 2
more times before feeling like I wanted to give up. Why could I not get this dough rolled out
properly AND into my pie dish? I was
ready to quit and actually was in the process of wrapping the sough in plastic
wrap and taking it to the trash. However,
when I considered the amount of butter in the crust I would be wasting and
having no clue what to do with the fruit that was now ready for the pie, I put
on my problem solving hat. The dough was
not getting big enough without being too thin to cover the pie pan. I decided
to turn the pie into a single crust pie, quickly working the two separate dough
rounds into one and putting it back in the freezer ONE more time.
This worked
like a charm and the one layer of crust was perfect. Just to point out, the recipe was not the
problem, it was me! I used a pie pan
larger than the recipe recommended 9-inches.
There was not enough dough to cover the bottom and top of my-too-big pie
pan. Now, what would I do on the top of
the pie to cover it? Two, and only two,
words came to mind, crumb topping. I
googled and quickly found a well-rated crumb topping recipe and whipped it up
and placed it on the pie.
The pie
baked up pretty well and looked okay.
Taste wise, the bottom crust was flaky, and the fruit filling was
divine. It was not too sweet and paired
nicely with a scope of vanilla ice cream.
The crumb topping was nice and crunch on top (no nuts were in it), but
did not bake evenly. I may have piled it
on far too much, squishing it in the process.
The center was slightly underdone.
Overall, the pie was okay, but not worth sharing my recipes as I am not
thrilled with my initial results. I will
continue to play around with it. After
all, I went from trying to accomplish two items off my top one hundred list, to
accomplishing none! So, there will
definitely be more pie in my future… unfortunately…
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