Ho ho. Psyched on pie! We love pie!
Hello and welcome to "A Little Help."
Where we show you how to make cooking as easy as pie.
Hey wow! Speaking of pie, let's make some.
First things first, let's talk dough.
You don't need to buy the store bought stuff. Making your own
is totally easy and with a little help
you're going to get it right every time.
Flour, butter, sugar, salt, water... You already have
all this in your pantry so why not, right? Right.
The keys here are cold butter and cold water and not
overworking your dough.
Fat creates steam pockets, which produce a flaky crust.
Cold butter creates solid pockets of fat.
If your butter is too warm, it'll just melt into your dough
and can mean a tough, rather than tender crust.
You can make your dough by hand or you can make it with a
food processor. Today we're going to use a food processor
to make it a little bit easier.
Okay, so let's get into it.
Let's make some f**king pie.
We have salt.
Sugar.
We're going to add that into the food processor.
And not spill a f**king thing.
Our super cold butter.
Start pulsing.
Don't overwork it. Pie crust is meant to be tender and flaky,
and overworking the dough will overdevelop the gluten, which
means your crust may be at risk for shrinkage.
-I was in the pool! -Sure you were, Thom.
You want some of your butter pieces to be the size of peas.
Okay, so let's add our ice water
and pulse some more.
Remember to let it rest. The resting period allows the dough
to hydrate evenly and combine thoroughly, and it also gives
any gluten developed in the mixing stage time to relax
and soften slightly before rolling it out.
I'm going to put these in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
You can store them for up to two days, or you can even
freeze them if you want. There are so many different kinds of thickeners you use
for fruit pies. Cornstarch, quick-cooking tapioca,
there's a ton of specialty products you can buy too.
But I like to use good old-fashioned flour.
Flour may not leave the filling extra glossy like some of the
others, but it gives no aftertaste and gives the fruit
a really awesome texture.
We're going to let our filling cool, then we're going to add
in our reserved berries
and a little lemon juice.
Gently folding some reserved fresh fruit into precooked
filling gives a great texture.
Okay, let's get to rolling.
If you start rolling and your edges are cracking under your
rolling pin, it's not ready yet so just chill the f**k out,
and use plenty of bench flour so nothing sticks.
Lastly, a nine-inch glass Pyrex pie plate
is the only one you'll ever need.
It's cheap, it's sturdy, plus the clear glass means you can
check to be sure that the bottom crust has browned nicely,
which means it's crisp, and it's flaky, and it's not soggy.
Next, we're going to roll out our second dough to make our
lattice. I know lattice can seem pretty intimidating,
but it's actually a simple process that just requires
a little bit of practice.
If you've never made a lattice before, start with thick
strips of dough to make things a little easier.
Start with one layer of strips,
then gently fold every other one to put the second layer
in place.
Clean up the edges with a pair of scissors,
then crimp the edges with a fork to seal the crust
and to make it look extra cute.
That's it! And hey, look, lattice isn't just for looks.
It helps steam escape and helps fruit juices to concentrate
during baking.
Wow. So first I'm going to put this in the freezer for 30 minutes
to keep the dough cold. Then I'm going to take it out,
I'm going to egg wash it, add sugar, and I'm going to put it
in the oven at 400 for about 45 minutes.
Now that your pie is out of the oven, leave it alone.
As tempting as warm pie is, allowing your pies to cool
completely means your fillings will settle and set up evenly.
Cutting in to quickly means you may end up with a loose,
juicy mess instead of a beautiful slice.
Kinda like lasagna.
Also, pies are almost always better the next day, so
feel free to make ahead.
The best part is that once you've mastered one crust
recipe, the world of pies is your oyster.
You can make dessert pies, you can make savory pies,
you can make hand pies, galettes, tarts, whatever
you want. The possibilities are endless and all of them
are super delicious.
See cutie pies? All you needed was a little help.
Mmm. That's good pie.