Chapter 8.4
Pies and Cookies
Pastry Pie Dough
• Basic 3-2-1 dough
– Made of three parts flour,
two parts fat, and one part
water (by weight).
– When made properly, it is
flaky, tender and flavorful
• Referred to as pate brisee or
the perfect complement to
any filling.
– It is important to work the
pastry flour as little as
possible
8.4
Chapter 8 | Desserts and Baked Goods
• Both the liquid and the fat
should be COLD!!
– Fat usually consists of
shortening, butter or lard.
– The liquid is usually milk or
water.
• Fat should be cut into the
flour leaving small pieces
of fat throughout.
– During baking, the fat
melts forming a flaky,
tender layer.
2
Crumb Crusts
• Crumb crusts pies rely on
flavor and texture to
compliment the filling.
– Contribute a nutty, buttery
flavor
– Highlights cheesecake or
frozen fillings well.
8.4
Chapter 8 | Desserts and Baked Goods
• Crumb crusts are made
from crumbled graham
crackers, nuts or cookies
mixed with butter, sugar
and cinnamon.
– The crumbs are then pressed
into the bottom of a pie pan
and baked alone or with a
filling.
3
Baking Pies
• Bake pies just until they begin to take on a
golden color.
– If they begin to brown too much, cover pie loosely
with aluminum foil near the end of baking.
• Prepare fruit fillings for pies using sliced and
peeled fresh fruit that is either poached with a
liquid or allowed to cook as the pastry bakes.
– Cornstarch, tapioca, or arrowroot may be added
to thicken the fruit filling.
Blind Baking
• Blind Baking is the procedure for preparing a pre-baked
pie shell.
– Prepare dough, roll it out, fit into pan, and the dock it in several
places with a fork.
– Cover pastry with parchment and bake it usually weights to keep
the crust nice and flat as it bakes.
– Once a pie shell is baked, fill it with custard, pudding, or fresh
fruit filling.
– Refrigerate to set.
• Examples of pies that are blind baked are chocolate
cream pie, banana cream pie, and lemon meringue.
Cheesecake
• Very similar to a crumb crust pie, but it is baked in
a spring form pan that gives it straight sides.
– Cheesecake is made from a cream cheese or quark
(a cheese that is a lot like sour cream) and egg batter.
• In the U.S., unbaked cheesecake is also popular.
– It is made by coagulating sweetened condensed milk
with an acid. Cream cheese and/or sour cream are
often part of these recipes as well.
– Not as delicate or fine as a traditional baked
cheesecake.
Video Demonstration
•
•
•
•
Basic 3-2-1 Crust
Apple Pie (Joy of Cooking)
Blind Baking (America’s Test Kitchen)
New York Cheesecake (Joy of Cooking)
Cookies
• Pastry chefs make most cookies from rich
dough.
– Rich dough uses the same creaming method
as quick breads and cake batters, but with the
liquid and the flour added at the same time.
– The creaming of the dough determines the
texture of the cookie and how much it will
spread during baking.
8 8.4
Chapter 8 | Desserts and Baked Goods
METHODS USED FOR MIXING COOKIE
BATTERS
• Creaming - The fat and sugar are placed into a
mixing bowl and creamed together. The eggs
and any liquid are added. Finally, the flour
and leavening agent are added and mixed just
until combined.
• One-Stage - All the ingredients are placed into
a mixing bowl and blended together until a
smooth batter is formed.
Baking Cookies
• Due to their high sugar content, cookies
are best when they are baked in
convection ovens.
– Convection ovens pull air in by a fan and then gently
push air out through the holes/vents.
– This creates a gentler environment for baked goods
that tend to burn easy due to high sugar content.
Types of Cookies
1. Dropped: made from a soft dough that is
dropped by the spoonful or scoop
•
Chocolate chip, oatmeal
2. Bagged: forces a soft dough through a pastry
bag
•
Lady Fingers, macaroons, tea cookies
3. Rolled: cookies are cut from a stiff dough that
has been rolled out
•
Decorated sugar cookies and shortbread
4. Molded: molded from a stiff dough by hand into
any shape
•
Peanut butter cookies
Types of Cookies
5.Icebox: roll out dough into a log and chill; these
cookies are made by slicing just before baking
6.Bar: bake three or four bars of dough the length
of the baking pan, then slice them into small bars
• Biscotti
7.Sheet: Pour batter into baking pan and then bake;
these are sliced into individual squares after
baking.
• Brownies, blondies
COMMON PROBLEMS
• If cookies brown too quickly - check oven calibration.
Additionally, over-browning can occur from using darkcolored baking pans or sheets which promote browning.
– Either reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees F or use
aluminum pans or sheets.
• If cookies brown too quickly on bottoms- the same
reasons as above but also your oven rack may be too low or
the batter has too much sugar in it.
• If cookies brown too quickly on top and the bottoms are
not cooked enough- the oven rack may be too high, the
temperature is too high, or you are using dark-colored
baking pans or sheets.
COMMON PROBLEMS
• If cookies spread too much - dough may be too soft.
– Place the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.
– Never place cookies on a warm baking sheet
– Cookies can also spread too much if placed on a greased baking
sheet, when the recipe states using an ungreased baking sheet.
– Cookies made with butter have the tendency to spread more
than cookies made with shortening.
• If cookies are too dry and hard- it may simply be that the
cookies were over baked.
– If the oven was not hot enough, they will take too long to bake
and this causes them to dry out.
– The batter could contain too much flour or not enough egg or
liquid.
What type of cookie?
What type of cookie?
What type of cookie?
What type of cookie?
What type of cookie?
What type of cookie?
What type of cookie?
What type of cookie?