pie

mixedberriespies_cover

First of all, Happy Labor Day, friends! I hope you’re enjoying your day off, while also remembering why we celebrate Labor Day in the first place. I’m currently roaming around my hometown, but we’ll get to that later. For now, let’s talk about mini pies.

I have made these mini pies multiple times, but these photos are actually from Memorial Day weekend {yeahhh, back in May}, but I am sharing them now because we’re embarking upon Labor Day. I think they’re just perfect for any kind of “patriotic” holiday. But really, they’re perfect for pretty much any occasion. I just decided to get all ‘MERICA with them here.

sprankles — {Patriotic sprinkles! I found these at our beloved Target a while back.}

pieniceream — {Melting ice cream + warm pie = one of my favorite combinations on this earth.}

Pie is awesome. And mini pies are slightly more awesome. Why? Because anything miniature is just so darn cute! They’re also quite easy to make: you just roll out your chilled dough, toss a circle of dough in a cupcake tin, add your filling, and then add your top crust. Once you’ve assembled several, throw ’em in the oven to bake! Super cute, super impressive, and much easier than they look [also a heck of a lot less fussy than a whole pie, but you didn’t hear that from me].

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// Mini Mixed Berry Pies.

Yield: I doubled the crust recipe (below) to get about six mini pies that will fit in cupcake tins. You may also use the recipe below as is, and make two mini mason jar lid pies [just reduce the amount of filling].

Ingredients:

For the crust:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
3 TBSP. unsalted butter, cold
1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2-3 TBSP. ice-cold water

For the filling:

1 pound mixed berries [You can use frozen if you wish.]
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Cornstarch slurry

For the tops of the pies:

1 large egg, beaten
Coarse sugar (e.g. turbinado sugar)

Instructions:
For the crust:

In a small bowl, stir together the flour and salt with a fork. Cube the butter into 12 chunks, and add half of them to the flour mixture.
Stir gently, and then add the remaining butter chunks. Next, using your thumb and index finger [make the “snapping” motion] in order to incorporate the butter chunks into the flour mixture.
Work the butter into the flour for quite a while, making sure it’s evenly incorporated and the dough almost comes together in clumps when you squeeze it in your hands. [The warmth of your hands is bringing the dough together, so if it’s still flour-y, keep working it.]
Finally, add the vinegar and 2 TBSP. of the ice-cold water. Stir with a fork and the dough will easily come together into a mass. You may need a bit more water, depending on the humidity in your area on a given day.
Scoop the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape it into a disk and store it wrapped in the fridge for 30 minutes, while you make the filling.

For the filling:

1. Make the filling while the dough is chilling: In a small pot on the stove, add your mixed berries, sugar, and lemon juice.

2. Cook on medium low heat for 12-15 minutes until the berries are soft and can be mashed down. The filling will still be too liquidy so make a cornstarch slurry (a few tsp. of cornstarch with some water) and pour it in the pot.

3. Stir the mixture until it thickens up nicely. Set aside for it to cool a bit before assembling your pies.

To assemble the pies:.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and lightly grease 6 muffin cups in your muffin tin.
Once dough is ready, take it out of the fridge and let it warm up for a few minutes.
Roll out one half on the counter top and cut out circles with the largest biscuit cutter you have (or use a large glass; the circle just needs to be larger than the muffin cup).
Place the circles in the muffin cups and crimp down the sides.
Place the cooled filling into the cups, almost until full.
Take the other half of the dough and roll it out. Using a ravioli cutter, cut thin strips of dough to create a lattice pattern on top of the mini pies.
Once you’re done assembling, beat an egg for the egg wash. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the pies with the egg wash. Sprinkle coarse sugar on top for extra crunch, if desired.
Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until they’re nice and golden brown on top.
Allow the pies to cool in the muffin pan for 10 minutes before trying to remove from pan.

// Recipe Inspiration + Resources:
+ Mixed berry filling recipe + muffin tin baking method inspired from Table for Two Blog.
+ Pie crust recipe from Dessert for Two.

As you know, I am currently in Germany for a study abroad trip with some people from my undergraduate class. We’re here for an IT security seminar at one of the universities, plus we’re spending some time doing touristy stuff and just exploring.

One of my new friends just had his birthday while we’ve been out here, so I wanted to bake something for him. He requested a pie, but he said that overall, he didn’t care what I ended up making. I decided to try to conquer a pie anyway. Pie has always intimidated me, and unless you’re a baker, you probably won’t understand why. Pies seem so simple. And they really are. That phrase “easy as pie” doesn’t exist for nothin’. The fruit fillings have always been easy, but it’s the crust that tends to be the bane of many bakers’ existence. Leave it to me to try to conquer something that scares me in a foreign country. [I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess.]

So the grocery shopping for ingredients began. I must’ve spent at least four hours searching for ten ingredients. It’s hard to go grocery shopping when you can’t read German. 😉 Eventually, I found just about everything, although I had to make a few minor substitutions. And I’ve discovered that the secret to the best pie crust ever is buttermilk. I don’t really like buttermilk that much [it smells pretty unpleasant], but it really is the shiznit for baking.

I made this pie in the kitchen in our hostel. And it was actually a lot of fun, once I got past trying to convert tablespoons to grams and Fahrenheit to Celsius. Haha. The German people who are living in the same hostel were both very confused and curious about what I was doing. Apparently, Germans don’t really have a word for pie. They call it kuchen [pronounced “kuh-khen” with that back-of-the-throat, hock-a-loogie type of sound in the middle of the word]. Kuchen is also synonymous for cake. I always thought kuchen meant cake, but I think it’s sort of a catch-all phrase for sweet desserts.

Okay, so this pie. The crust is perfect. I’ve found that even if I do things correctly and follow directions, I still have never been overly impressed with pie doughs. But the crust is on point, as my friends would say. It’s flaky and buttery and perfect. The strawberry filling is juicy and sweet and just perfect. That’s all there is to say. If I can make this pie in a foreign country, then you can surely make this pie in your own kitchen. It was worth all the hassle and anxiety that went along with searching for ingredients and converting measurements. I even said to my fellow travel buddies, “I swear, if this pie doesn’t turn out after all this bullshit, I am going to start crying!” Luckily, it turned out fine. Our new German friends even enjoyed a slice with vanilla bean ice cream. 🙂

This pie has actually inspired me to MAKE ALL THE PIES! from here on out. I really need to up my pie game as a baker. And that’s WHAT’S UP.

PS: Happy Birthday, Randall! Prost!

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Strawberry Lattice Pie.
Yield: One 8 or 9 inch pie.

Ingredients:
For the crust:
– 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
– 2 TBS. granulated sugar
– 3/4 tsp. salt
– 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
– 1/2 cup cold buttermilk

For the strawberry filling:
– 5-6 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced in half
– 1/3 cup granulated sugar
– 1/3 cup raw cane sugar [or brown sugar, but I couldn’t find any]
– 1/4 cup cornstarch [I used flour as the thickener since I couldn’t find cornstarch here]
– Pinch of salt
– Dash of pure vanilla extract
– 2 TBS. fresh lemon juice
– heaping 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
– 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
– 1 large egg, beaten and raw cane sugar [similar to turbinado sugar] for topping the unbaked pie

Instructions:
1. To make the crust: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the cold, cubed butter to the dry ingredients.
2. Using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture, and quickly break it down. The size of the butter pieces may vary; this is okay. You want chunks of butter throughout the crust.
3. Create a well in the middle of the mixture, and pour in cold buttermilk [Note: I added about a tablespoon or two more of milk than the recipe called for]. Use a fork to bring the dough together, moistening all of the flour bits.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, dump out the dough mixture. It will be very shaggy and moist; that is how it’s supposed to look. Divide the dough in half, and gently knead into two disks. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour. You must let the dough rest and chill in the fridge for it to work correctly.
5. To make the filling: toss together the strawberries, sugars, cornstarch (or flour), salt, lemon juice, vanilla, and spices. Toss until all of the cornstarch (or flour) has disappeared, and allow to sit for ten minutes. The strawberries will produce their own juice.
6. To assemble the pie: On a well-floured surface, roll the bottom crust about 1/8″ thick, and about 12″ in diameter. Transfer to the pie pan, and trim the edge almost even with the edge of the pan. Spoon your filling into the crust.
7. Roll out the top crust in the same manner, then use a pizza slicer to slice the dough into 1-inch strips. Weave the strips on top of the pie to make a lattice. The Kitchn has a helpful guide, if you’re not sure how to make a lattice crust.
8. To finish, place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat it to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Beat the egg to make an egg wash, then brush over prepared pie crust. Sprinkle with sugar.
9. Place pie on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for about thirty more minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

– Recipe slightly adapted from Joy the Baker.

holdingpie — {Hi it’s me. I like holding pie!}