You can call it Thanksgiving, but around here we know it as National Pie Day. And that means one thing: The pressure to produce the flakiest, butteriest crust and swoon-worthy filling is on. Gulp.
Luckily, three of the country’s top baking experts – Kate McDermott, Mark Bittman and Alanna Taylor-Tobin – want to help. They’re out to debunk every pie-making myth and reclaim the true meaning of the old idiom: Making pie, they say, should be just as easy as eating it.
From their new cookbooks, we’ve plucked three pies – a crowd-pleasing maple, a classic pecan and a pumpkin pie with an earthy buckwheat crust – that can be made without breaking a sweat. Whether you’re a seasoned pie hand or a beginner with more enthusiasm than experience, you’ll find these recipes refreshing, because they advocate confidence and flexibility over the chemistrylike precision of typical pastry cookbooks.
McDermott’s pie-making philosophy is so zen, in fact, that devotees call her the “pie-chiatrist.” Among the most important advice in her debut cookbook, “Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life” (Countryman Press, $35, 352 pages): Keep everything chilled. Respect the boundaries. Remember to vent.
“I’m a big fan of common sense,” says McDermott, who has been teaching pie-making since 2008. “Don’t overwork your dough. If a piece of fat looks big, break it down. And just remember, if (the crust) doesn’t turn out right, break it up and you’ve got the best crumble.”
Perhaps that pioneer spirit is the reason why thousands flock to her pie camps in Port Angeles, Washington, including former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl, who called baking with McDermott “a liberating experience.”
Perfection? Give that one up, McDermott insists.
“Just make a pie with your heart and your hands and look at every crack and tear as part of your beautiful life,” McDermott says.
The secret to her gorgeous, herringbone-crust pecan pie is to buy the freshest nuts you can find. Reserve the prettiest unbroken halves for garnish. And watch to make sure the pecans don’t brown too much during baking.
“I think that making pie dough is a lot simpler than people think,” she says. “It gets a bad rap. Just try. You’ll find that making pie is really satisfying.”
Mark Bittman is just as passionate about bringing back the joy in baking. In his encyclopedic “How to Bake Everything: Simple Recipes for the Best Baking” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $35, 703 pages), the former New York Times food writer illustrates – in 2,000 straightforward, easy-to-follow recipes and step-by-step illustrations – that the experimentation and improvisation used when cooking should be applied to baking, as well.
“This false division between cooking and baking – that one is art and the other is science – needs to stop,” Bittman says. “Sure, you have to measure. You have to watch the clock. But we need to take the fear and mystification out of baking. Just relax.”
Don’t care to pinch butter and flour between your fingers? Use a food processor, like Bittman does, to achieve an evenly blended and tender dough. Refrigerate for at least one hour to make sure the dough is firm enough to roll. Finally, roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper to prevent sticking and make clean-up a cinch.
His maple pie, sweetened only with maple syrup, is a simple yet unexpected stand-in, he says, for pecan, apple or even pumpkin pie during the holidays. And, like all of Bittman’s pies, it can be personalized for any lifestyle. Pressed for time? Forget the pastry dough and simply crush your favorite cookies into a crust.
If you’re gluten-free or simply looking to broaden your baking chops, look no further than Alanna Taylor-Tobin’s “Alternative Baker: Reinventing Dessert with Gluten-Free Grains and Flours” (Page Street, $25, 271 pages). Taylor-Tobin is a classically trained pastry chef (formerly of Quince, Farallon, and Destino) and founder of the popular recipe website, The Bojon Gourmet.
Her beautifully photographed (yes, she’s also a photographer and former New York Times food stylist) debut is dedicated to grain-based alternative flours that are packed with flavor and nutrients. In the right combination – specifically, a blend of sweet white rice flour, oat flour and ground white chia seeds – they produce beautiful pie dough.
Her absolute favorite pie – and the showstopper at her Thanksgiving table – is pumpkin encased in a dark, almost charcoal-hued buckwheat crust, which produces a super flaky crust that stays crisp longer than you’d guess, Taylor-Tobin says.
“Buckwheat has this lovely flavor that is earthy and reminds me of toasted hazelnuts and chocolate,” she says. “It’s a great complement to sweet pumpkin.”
While the recipe is one of the more advanced in the cookbook – she prefers toasting her buckwheat groats and roasting her own butternut squash – there are ways to save time. You can use canned pumpkin puree, for instance. Just give it a brief cook on the stove with the spices and sweeteners to evaporate excess moisture and meld the flavors.
Plus side? It is impossible to overwork gluten-free dough the way you can with wheat dough, so don’t be afraid to manhandle it a bit. “When it breaks or tears, just squish it back together and keep going,” she says.
Pumpkin Pie With a Gluten-Free Buckwheat Crust
Serves 10INGREDIENTSCrust:1/4 cup ice water
1/2 cup sweet white rice flour, such as Mochiko (not regular rice flour)
1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
1/4 cup cornstarch2 tablespoons tapioca flour
2 1/2 tablespoons finely ground chia seeds (preferably white)
1 tablespoon organic granulated cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/4 cup cold buttermilkFilling:1/4 cup organic granulated cane sugar
2 tablespoons sweet white rice flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups roasted squash puree or canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup (preferably grade B)
1 teaspoon packed finely grated fresh ginger
1 cup whole milk3 large eggs1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extractMaple-bourbon whipped cream, for serving (see recipe below)
INSTRUCTIONS1. Fill a 1/2-cup measure with ice and top it off with cool water to make ice water quickly.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, cornstarch, tapioca flour, ground chia seeds, sugar and salt. Scatter butter over the top; work in with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture resembles gravel, with lots of butter chunks the size of large almonds.
3. Mix 1/4 cup ice water with the buttermilk; add to dry ingredients a tablespoon at a time, tossing the dough with a spatula to moisten evenly. Add just enough water for the dough to hold together when you give it a squeeze. Beware of dry floury bits that like to hang out on the bottom of the bowl. You may not need all the liquid, or you may need to add more ice water.
4. Knead dough in the bowl 10 to 20 times to bring it together. Or skip the kneading and instead, working quickly, dump the dough out onto the counter. Grab a handful, place it on the counter, put the heel of your hand on the dough and push it away from you, scraping it across the surface several inches. Use a bench scraper to scrape the dough up off the counter and place it back in the bowl. This is called fraisage. Repeat with remaining dough. With either method, gather the dough up into a ball, wrap it loosely in plastic wrap and flatten it into a disk. Chill dough until firm, 30 to 60 minutes.
5. Unwrap dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. (If it is very cold, let it soften for 5 to 10 minutes.) Roll out dough into a 12-inch round, dusting it lightly with oat flour as needed, rotating and flipping to prevent it from sticking. Ease dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate; and trim dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang. (Save the pastry remnants.) Fold the overhang under itself, and flute the crust. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Chill 30 minutes, or until firm.
6. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat it to 400 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it on the rack. Place the chilled crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Line it with parchment paper, and fill to the top with pie weights or dry beans, pressing weights into the sides and corners.
7. Bake 15 to 30 minutes, or until the dough holds its shape when you lift the parchment. Carefully remove weights and parchment and bake until crust is dry and lightly golden, 8 to 12 minutes longer. Use dough scraps to patch any holes; bake for a few more minutes.
8. Meanwhile, make the filling: In a large saucepan, whisk together sugar, sweet rice flour, spices and salt. Whisk in squash puree, maple syrup and ginger. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a sputtering simmer. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and shiny, 5 minutes more. Off heat, whisk in milk, then eggs, creme fraiche and vanilla. Strain custard through a medium-mesh strainer (fine-mesh will take forever and make you hate life).
9. If your crust has cooled, place it in the oven until hot, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the custard into the hot pie crust and very carefully transfer to the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake for 20 to 35 minutes more, until the outer edges are set and slightly puffed and the center wobbles. Let cool completely at room temperature. For the cleanest slices or if the pie is soft, chill until firmer, 1 to 2 hours. Slice into wedges and serve with Maple Bourbon Whipped Cream.
Maple Bourbon Whipped CreamINGREDIENTS
1 cup cold heavy cream1 tablespoon maple syrup or maple sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon or gluten-free whiskey (such as Queen Jennie)
INSTRUCTIONSUsing an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip cream to soft mounds. Sprinkle in maple syrup and bourbon, continue whipping until the cream holds soft peaks.
– Reprinted with permission from Alternative Baker
by Alanna Taylor-Tobin, Page Street Publishing Co. 2016.
Mark Bittman’s Maple PieMakes one 9-inch pie
INGREDIENTSFlaky piecrust:1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon sugar1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick very cold butter, cut into chunks
3 tablespoons ice water, plus more if necessary
Filling:1/2 cup cream2 tablespoons cornstarch
11/4 cups maple syrup4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into cubes
2 eggs, beaten1/2 teaspoon saltINSTRUCTIONS
1. Crust: Using a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt to combine. Add butter; pulse until it is just barely blended and the butter is broken down to the size of peas. (By hand: Combine dry ingredients and butter in a large bowl. With a pastry cutter, work butter pieces into flour, until the mixture has the texture of small peas.)
2. Add 3 tablespoons ice water (not just cold water) to the flour mixture. Process for about 5 seconds, just until the dough begins to clump together, adding more ice water if necessary (or a little more flour if you add too much water).
3. Transfer dough to a quart-size plastic zipper bag. Press dough into a disk by mushing along the outside of the bag into a thick disk shape. It’s important not to overheat or overwork the dough; squeeze it with enough pressure just to hold it together. Freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
4. Dust a large pinch of flour over your work surface. Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough and dust the rolling pin with flour. (Too much flour will dry out your dough; you can always sprinkle on a little more if the dough starts to stick.) Using firm but not too hard pressure on the pin, start rolling the dough from the center and outward to form a circle. If the dough feels too hard or is cracking a lot, let it rest for a few minutes. As you roll, add flour as needed and rotate and turn the dough with a spatula to form an even circle.
5. When the dough circle is about 2 inches larger than the pie plate and less than 1/8 inch thick, it’s ready. Roll the dough up halfway onto the pin, then center it over the pie plate and unroll it into place. Press the dough into the dish without squishing or stretching it; patch any tears with a small scrap of dough, sealed with a drop of water. Trim any excess dough to about 1/2 inch all around. Tuck the edges under themselves so the dough is thicker on the rim than it is inside and crimp the edges as desired. Chill until the crust feels cool to the touch.
6. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prick dough with a fork (this is called docking) before prebaking; this allows steam to escape so that the crust doesn’t bubble up. Line the shell with buttered foil and fill with weights to help the crust hold its shape during baking. Bake the crust for 10 to 12 minutes, just until the edges begin to color a bit. Remove the foil and weights and bake until the bottom begins to color, 10 to 12 minutes more. Leave the oven on at 350 degrees and cool the crust slightly on a rack.
7. Meanwhile, whisk the cream and cornstarch together to make a slurry. In a heavy saucepan, bring maple syrup to a simmer over medium-low heat. (Watch carefully and reduce the heat if necessary.) Whisk in the cream mixture, lower heat and whisk frequently for another 2 or 3 minutes, until slightly thickened.
8. Remove pan from heat, stir in butter until melted and let cool just until lukewarm. Add eggs and salt and beat until smooth. Place pie plate on a baking sheet; fill the shell with the maple filling.
9. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the top of the pie is bubbly and golden brown; it should shake like Jell-O in the center but still be moist and firm along the edges. Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.
– Mark Bittman, “How to Bake Everything”
by Mark Bittman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $35)
Pecan PieMakes one 9-inch shallow pie
Note: Buy the freshest nuts you can find. Reserve some of the nicest-looking unbroken halves for garnish. Watch to make sure the pecans don’t overly brown during the bake.
INGREDIENTS1 recipe single-crust pie dough
3 large eggs1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup dark corn syrup or pure maple syrup, or a combination of both
1/4 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon or dark rum, or 1 tablespoon rum flavoring
1/4 cup salted butter, meltedAt least 2 cups shelled pecans, broken or chopped into pieces, plus pecan halves to garnish
INSTRUCTIONS1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Roll out a pie shell and place it in a pie pan. Trim excess dough from the edges and crimp.
3. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl until they are light-colored and fluffy. Add the brown sugar, syrup, salt, vanilla and bourbon. Stir with big wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved and the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
4. Stir in the melted butter and pecans.
5. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and garnish with pecan halves. Bake on a middle oven rack for 45 to 50 minutes; there should be a slight jiggle in the center of the pie. Cool the pie on a wire rack.
6. Serve slices with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream flavored with Kentucky bourbon or dark rum or a scoop of French vanilla ice cream.
KATE MCDERMOTT, “ART OF THE PIE” (COUNTRYMAN PRESS, 2016)
