33Pastry and pies

Bread doughs are leavened so that they rise. Pastry doughs are not. They bake into a crust that is tender rather than springy, and most of them exist to hold something: a tart filling, a cream, a fruit. Their French names usually tell you how the finished pastry will feel in the mouth.

A pie is a crust and a filling baked together, or a baked crust filled afterwards. Fillings today run from meat to fruit to custard. The fruit and the fats that go into a pie are covered with the other ingredients. see chapter 18: Baking see chapter 19: Lard

33.1 Pastry doughs

Tart doughs

A tart is baked in a shallow pan with fluted sides. Its dough is made with butter, which gives the crust its flavor, and it bakes up tender. Four doughs are used.

• Pâte brisée means "broken dough" in French. The cook rubs cold butter into flour until the mixture looks like coarse meal, with small bits of butter still in sight. Fat coats the grains of flour, so less gluten forms, and less gluten means a more tender pastry. It is mixed the same way as mealy pie dough. see chapter 7: Flour
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• Pâte sucrée means "sugared dough". It holds more sugar than brisée. The sugar keeps it tender, but the dough is soft and harder to work with. It can be mixed like brisée or by the creaming method. Use it for small tarts and pastries, or bake it on its own as a cookie.
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• Pâte sablée takes its name from the French word for sand, which is how the baked dough feels. Compared with brisée, it usually has more fat and less egg. Most bakers now make it by creaming.
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• Short dough is a family name for variations on the three above. It stays tender for the same reason they do: very little gluten develops while it is mixed.

Puff pastry

Puff pastry that is handled badly will not rise or will bake up with a poor finish. Follow these rules:

• Work with it only while it is cold and firm. Soft dough smears when cut, the layers glue together, and they cannot lift.
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• Cut with a sharp knife or cutter, pressing straight down. Never twist a cutter.
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• Turn each cut piece over as you lay it on the baking sheet, so the cut side is down. Any layers that did stick become the base, and the rest are free to rise.
• Brush egg wash on the top only. Keep it off the sides, which must not turn sticky.
• Let cut pieces rest before baking. The gluten relaxes and the dough shrinks less. see chapter 7: Flour
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• Scraps can be pressed together and given a three-fold to build new layers.
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• Bake at 375°F to 400°F. Only high heat makes enough steam to lift the dough.
• For large pieces, start the oven hotter, then turn it down once the pastry has risen and let it finish cooking.

Pâte à choux

Éclair paste is known in the trade as pâte à choux, "cabbage paste", because the baked puffs look like small cabbages. It is the one pastry dough that is cooked in a pot before it is baked. It can be sweet or savory, and the way it is piped decides what the pastry is called.

It takes only a few minutes to make and is normally used straight away. Left uncovered it forms a skin, so lay a damp cloth over it, and do not let it stand more than an hour before use.

• Heat the liquid, fat, salt and sugar until they reach a full rolling boil. A hard boil spreads everything evenly through the liquid.
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• Tip in all the flour in one go. Stir with a wooden spoon until it is fully mixed in and the dough starts to come away from the sides of the pot.
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• Keep stirring. This cooks away the taste of raw flour. When a thin film forms on the bottom of the pot, take it off the heat.
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• Stir on as the dough cools. Steam rises from it and slowly lessens. Bring it down to about 140°F; eggs added to hotter dough will scramble.
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• Beat in the eggs in small amounts, never all at once. After each addition the dough looks broken, with streaks of egg and lumps of paste. Wait until it is smooth again before adding more.
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• Stop when the paste is smooth and a little slack, yet firm enough to keep its shape when piped.
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Four classic pastries come from this one dough:

• Cream puffs, piped as rounds with a plain round tip, in whatever size the dessert needs.
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• Éclairs, piped as straight lines, also with a round tip.
• Paris-Brest, piped with a star tip into a ring shaped like a bicycle wheel. It honors the bicycle race from Paris to Brest, first run in 1891.
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• Gougères, savory puffs, made by working herbs, spices and cheese into the dough.
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Strudel and phyllo

These two doughs end up as sheets so thin they are almost transparent. For a dessert they are stacked, each sheet brushed with melted fat before the next goes on.

Strudel dough is flour, water and eggs, stretched by hand over a floured cloth until you can see through it. Stretching it well takes patience, time and practice. Phyllo is the Greek form of the same idea, and kitchens usually buy it ready-made, rolled up in thin plastic. Keep a slightly damp cloth over the sheets you are not using so they do not dry out.

• Lay down one sheet.
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• Brush melted butter gently over all of it.
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• Lay the next.
• Keep going until the stack is as thick as you need.

Meringue

Meringue is egg white and sugar beaten into a light foam, piped into shapes and baked until dry. It is not a pastry dough, but it can do a pastry's work, and it can be baked in layers for a cake. see chapter 15: Meringue

33.2 Pie dough

The Romans wrote down the first pie recipe on record, and the first pies to catch on were made with meat. Those early pies were not baked in a pastry crust at all: only the filling was made, and it went into "reeds". Pies spread across Europe, and the first cherry pie is credited to Queen Elizabeth I. English settlers carried pies to the Americas, where at first the thick crust was just a container for the filling. Over time the crust became part of the dish, and pie is now a traditional American dessert.

Four ingredients

Pie crust comes in two kinds, flaky and mealy. Both use the same four ingredients. What makes them different is how the fat and flour are combined.

• Flour. Pastry flour suits pie crust best. It has enough protein to give the dough some gluten for structure, but little enough to keep the crust flaky. Mix pie dough only until the ingredients come together. see chapter 7: Flour
• Fat. Hydrogenated shortening is the fat most often used. It is soft enough to work into the flour and firm enough to make a dough you can handle. Butter gives a better flavor and feel in the mouth, but it costs more and melts at a low temperature. see chapter 19: Shortening
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• Liquid. Water is the cheapest liquid and the best one. Use it ice-cold so the fat stays firm and does not melt. Milk can be used, but the crust will brown fast.
• Salt. Salt is there for flavor. Stir it into the flour, or dissolve it in the water, so it spreads evenly.

Flaky and mealy

For flaky dough, the fat is rubbed or cut into the flour only until the pieces are about the size of a pea or a hazelnut. When the water goes in, some gluten forms. Rolling then presses the lumps of fat flat between layers of dough, and those layers bake into flakes. Use flaky dough for a crust baked empty before it is filled (called blind baking), and for the top crust of a covered pie.

For mealy dough, the fat is cut in all the way, until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal with no lumps of fat left. Every grain of flour is coated in fat, so the flour can soak up less water, and less water is used to bring the dough together. That gives mealy dough two advantages. Little gluten forms, so the crust is softer. And once baked it takes up little liquid, so a wet filling does not make it soggy. That is why mealy dough is popular for fruit and custard pies.

33.3 Fruit pies

A fruit pie is usually a double-crust pie: a bottom crust, the filling, and a top crust cut with vents to let steam out. The method below is sized for a small 6-inch pie. see chapter 18: Baking

Mixing the dough

• Turn the oven on first.
• Stir the flour and salt together, then cut in the fat (lard or vegetable shortening) until the pieces are as small as peas. see chapter 19: Lard
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• Scatter the cold water over the bowl a little at a time while you toss the flour lightly with a fork.
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• Press the dough against the side of the bowl until it clings together, then form it into a ball.

Rolling and baking a double crust

• Cut the dough in two. On a lightly floured board, roll one half into a circle about 8 inches across for a 6-inch pan. It is thin enough when a fingertip pressed into it leaves only a slight dent. Pastry guides help keep it the same thickness all over.
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• Lay it in the pan without stretching it, and trim the extra at the rim.
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• Roll out the top crust the same way and cut steam vents in it.
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• Put in the filling. Wet the edge of the bottom crust with water, lay the top crust over, and press the edges gently together. Trim, leaving a small overhang, tuck it under the bottom crust, and crimp.
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• Set the pie pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes, then lower the oven to 400°F for another 20 to 30 minutes. The pie is done when the crust is golden brown and any fruit that went in raw is cooked.
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Three ways to thicken the filling

A fruit filling can be thickened in three ways. see chapter 7: Thickeners and gelling agents compared

• Raw fruit tossed with flour. For apple pie, peeled and sliced cooking apples are mixed with flour, sugar and cinnamon and packed into the shell. Lemon juice is sprinkled over and small pieces of butter dotted on top before the lid goes on.
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• A filling cooked first with cornstarch. For peach and blueberry pie, canned fruit is drained. Cornstarch and sugar (with cinnamon and nutmeg for the peaches) are stirred into the fruit's own juice and cooked over medium heat until thick. Off the heat, the fruit and butter go in, plus lemon juice for blueberries, and the hot filling is poured into the shell. see chapter 22: Pure starches and the slurry
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• Tapioca left to soak. For cherry pie, drained canned sour cherries are mixed with their juice, sugar, almond extract and quick-cooking tapioca, and left to stand for 20 minutes before going into the shell. Butter is dotted on top.

Sour cherries are described with the other stone fruit. see chapter 18: Stone fruit

A fruit pie is cooked fruit, and any food of plant origin that has been cooked or heat-treated, fruit included, counts as a potentially hazardous food (PHF): one that can spoil at room temperature and let germs grow. Store it by the same rules as the cream pies below. see chapter 2: Potentially hazardous foods

33.4 Cream pies

A cream pie is a baked single crust filled with a cooked filling of milk, egg yolk, sugar and starch, then topped with meringue and browned. Making one puts two lessons together: how starch thickens, and how egg proteins set. see chapter 7: What heat does to food

Safety first: fillings made with eggs and milk

Learn these rules before you make a cream pie.

• The filling is a PHF. Foods of animal origin such as milk and eggs, and anything that contains them, count as potentially hazardous. Fresh or cooked eggs, and pastries filled with cream, are both among them. see chapter 2: Potentially hazardous foods
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• The danger zone. Most harmful bacteria multiply quickly anywhere from 4°C (40°F) up to 60°C (140°F). Keep a cream filling out of that range except while it is cooling quickly through it.
• Cook it through. Food mixtures that contain eggs must reach an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F), held for at least 15 seconds. The fillings below are all brought to a boil and boiled for one minute.
• Cool it in two stages. Within two hours, cooked food must fall from 60°C (140°F) down to 20°C (68°F). In the next four hours it must reach 4°C (40°F).
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• Cool it in small amounts. A large pot of cooked dessert, such as custard, should be split into serving-sized portions before it is cooled. Shallow pans no deeper than 5 cm (2 in.), left uncovered and not stacked, cool faster. So does stirring the food in a container set in ice water, and using stainless steel or aluminum, which pass heat better than plastic.
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• Cover it once it is cold. Leave it uncovered while it cools, because a lid holds the heat in. Once it is properly cooled, cover it tightly to keep anything from getting in.
• Hold it cold. The critical control point for refrigerated storage is 4°C (39°F) or colder. Dairy products belong in a refrigerator set between 2°C and 4°C (36°F and 39°F), covered and in an area of their own, because their fat picks up strong smells. Store ready-to-eat food, such as a finished pie, above raw food, never below it.
• Make it close to service. Prepare for the same day where possible. Anything kept refrigerated longer than a day gets a label with the date it was made and a "serve by" date. As a general rule, throw a PHF out if it has not been used within three days of being made.

The order of work

A cream pie has three parts, made in this order:

• Bake the shell. For a 6-inch pie: ½ cup sifted flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, and either 2 tablespoons lard or 2 tablespoons plus 1½ teaspoons vegetable shortening, with about 1 tablespoon of cold water. Mix and roll it as for a fruit pie. Ease it into the pan without stretching, leave a ¼-inch overhang, fold that under and crimp. Prick the bottom and sides all over with a four-tined fork. Then it goes into a 425°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown, pricking again if it bubbles up. Let it cool before it is filled.
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• Make the filling (below). Cover it and set it aside.
• Make a soft meringue. One egg white, ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar, and 2 tablespoons plus 1½ teaspoons sugar. The yolk from that egg goes into the filling. Beat the white with the cream of tartar to the start of soft peaks, add the sugar a teaspoon at a time while beating, and stop at the top of the soft peak stage. Use it at once. see chapter 15: Meringue
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• Fill, top and brown. Pour the hot filling into the shell, keeping it low enough that some crust shows above it. Spread the meringue evenly over the filling and right onto that rim of crust, so it seals. Swirl the top with a spatula, without sharp peaks or ridges. Brown it in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.
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Four fillings

Every filling follows one pattern.

• Sugar, a starch and salt go into the saucepan first.
• The liquid and egg yolk are stirred in gradually.
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• The pan goes over medium heat and is stirred the whole time until the mixture thickens and boils, then boiled for one minute more.
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• Off the heat, butter and the flavoring go in.

Chocolate cream is made in a different order. The milk and chocolate cook with the sugar, flour and salt until the chocolate melts and the mixture boils, and it boils for one minute. Only then is the yolk added: about half the hot mixture is stirred slowly into the yolk, and that goes back into the pan and is brought to a boil again. see chapter 22: Egg yolks and the liaison

What a good pie looks like

Each part of a pie has its own standard.

When a pie goes wrong

Each fault in pastry and pies has a set of likely causes.

To guard against a soggy bottom, start the bake at a high temperature. For a fruit pie, brush the crust with melted butter. For a custard pie, any of these help:

• Brush the crust with lightly beaten egg white and bake it hot for a few minutes so the white sets.
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• Use a filling with more egg in proportion to milk.
• Heat the milk before making the filling.
• Chill the crust for an hour before filling it.
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• Part-bake the crust first.
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A few faults belong to one kind of pie.

• Crust rises up through the filling in a one-crust pie, such as pumpkin or custard: there is a hole or tear in the crust.
• Top crust "tents", standing up away from the fruit, in a two-crust pie: too few vents, or fresh fruit that was not packed down firmly.
• Filling boils over in a two-crust pie: too much filling; the two crusts not sealed well; too little thickener; too few vents, or vents too near the edge; an oven shelf that is not level; a top crust of uneven thickness; baking too long.

Faults in the meringue on a cream pie are faults of an egg foam. see chapter 15: When a foam goes wrong