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