Pies
Ms. Cilurzo
Objectives:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Understand the functions of the basic ingredients used in pastry.
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of a convenience food.
Explain how to handle pastry dough to prevent toughness.
Differentiate between a convenience food and a homemade
product.
Demonstrate how to prepare a variety of pies.
Identify the function of each ingredient used in the preparation of
puff pastry.
Demonstrate how to prepare choux pastry.
Explain how puff pastry can be used for main dishes, desserts and
appetizers.
Class Work
• Textbook: page 648-655
• Answer on page 656 under “Check Your
Knowledge” questions 1-4, 7-13, 15-23.
What is a convenience food?
• Commercially prepared food designed for
ease of consumption.
• Ready-to-eat foods
• Pros vs. Cons
Pros vs. Cons
• Pros:
–
–
–
–
–
Faster and Easier
Saves Time
Less Preparation
Less Cooking Time
Can be stored longer than fresh food
• Cons:
– More Expensive
– Loss of nutrients during processing
– Harder to control fat, sugar, sodium levels when it’s not
homemade
– Usually higher levels of sodium, saturated fats, and added sugar
Types of Pie Fillings
• 1. Fruit: sliced fruit combined with sugar and a starch
thickener such as flour or corn starch.
– Examples: apple pie, blueberry pie, cherry pie
• 2. Cream: consists of eggs, milk, and starch thickener (corn
starch), filling is like a pudding.
– Examples: banana cream, chocolate cream, lemon cream,
coconut cream
• 3. Custard: filling is like a pudding, similar in texture to
cream, made with milk and eggs
– Examples: pecan pie, pumpkin pie, Bavarian cream, éclairs
• 4. Savory: contains cooked meat, poultry, seafood or
vegetables in a thickened sauce
– Examples: shepherd's pie, chicken pot pie, quiche
Cream Vs. Custard
• Cream pies contains cooked custard poured
into a pre-cooked pie crust. Both are baked
and prepared separately.
• Custard pies contains uncooked custard
poured into a raw pie crust and are baked
together.
Types of Pie Crusts
1. Crumb Crust: made of crushed cookies or
crackers, melted butter and sometimes sugar
2. One Crust Pie: crust is on the bottom only.
Either the crust and pie filling are baked
together or the crust is baked empty or blind
and prepared filling is added later
3. Two Crust Pie: crust is on the bottom and the
top and the filling is in the middle
Pastry Dough Ingredients
• Four ingredients: flour, water, fat and salt
• Flour: Forms structure. All purpose flour or cake flour for added lightness
and a softer dough
• Water: Usually ice-cold water is used. Ice-cold water helps keep the fat
from melting during mixing which is needed for a flaky texture
• Fat:
– Tenderizes and adds flavor
– Vegetable shortening and lard make the flakiest crust because it is
pure fat
– Butter makes a crumbly crust because of the water content
– Oil creates a dry, grainy crust and is less flaky
• Salt: Adds Flavor
Docking
• To keep a pie shell from puffing up when
baking, you can:
– Use a fork to poke small holes all over the dough
before putting it into the oven
– Line the dough with aluminum foil and fill with
dried beans
Overmixing
• If the pastry is mixed too much, the particles
will break down
• If handled too much, the particles melt from
the heat in your hands
• All of this work overdevelops the gluten,
transforming the texture from light to leathery
and tough.
If the dough becomes cracked…
• Patch or reshape it by cutting of a piece the
size needed from an area where you have
extra dough
• With cold water, slightly moisten the area to
be repaired
• Place the patch on the dough and press firmly
Blind Baking
• When the pie shell is cooked by itselft without
any filling
What are two ways to prevent dough
from shrinking?
• 1) let it rest (usually few hours to overnight)
• 2) don’t stretch it
Preparing a pie crust
• 1. Cut the fat into the flour and salt with a pastry
blender until the mixture resembles small peas
• 2. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with
a fork after each addition until mixture is moist.
• 3. Form a ball of dough that is neither crumbly (too
dry) or sticky (too wet)
• 4. Cover dough with plastic wrap so it doesn’t try out
• 5. Rest dough so gluten can form.
• Preparing the Pastry Dough
Rolling the Pastry Dough
• 1. Sprinkle the works surface and rolling pin with flour
or place the dough between two pieces of wax paper
• 2. Press the ball of the dough to flatten it slightly
• 3. Gently roll the dough from the center out in all
directions until its 2 inches longer than pie plate
• 4. Transfer dough to pie plate by folding the dough in
half or quarters and lifting it gently
• 5. Push the dough gently to the bottom and sides
• 6. Flute the edges with a fork
• Rolling the Pastry Dough
Questions
• 1. What is a pie?
• 2. Describe the following kinds: fruit, cream,
custard and savory
• 3. What are the four main ingredients in pastry
dough?
• 4. Why should water be ice cold when making
pastry dough?
• 6. Compare crusts made with these fats:
vegetable shortening or lard, butter or cream
cheese and oil
Questions
• 7. How do you mix pastry dough?
• 8. Why should pastry dough be handled as little as
possible?
• 9. How do you roll pastry dough?
• 10. What are two ways to keep pastry dough from
shrinking?
• 11. How can you repair a crust that is missing dough?
• 12. What is a fluted edge?
• 13. How is the top crust for a two-crust pie made?
Questions
• 15. What is a pie shell?
• 16. What is the purpose of docking?
• 17. What ingredients are commonly used in a
crumb crust?
• 18. What type of crust would you choose for
these pies and why? A) banana cream B) cherry
C) Pumpkin D) apple E) chicken pot pie
• 19. What is a turnover?
• 20. How do tarts differ from pies?
Questions
• 21. What can you do if you think a pie or tart
might bubble over while baking?
• 22. How can you prevent a crust from
becoming soggy on the bottom?