Baking by Hand (28 page)
Authors: Andy King
ASSEMBLING THE PIE
Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C, with the baking stone in place.
Pull the pie dish from the fridge along with the top circle of the pie. Trim the overhanging edge of the bottom crust with a knife. Toss the fruit again, and then pour it all into the pie dish. Pour 1 cup/340 g of caramel evenly over the top of the fruit. Egg wash the rim of the bottom crust lightly, and then put on the top piece. Crimp the edge of the pie to seal it and create a decorative edge by putting the thumb and index finger of your nondominant hand together and pressing the dough into that wedge with your other index finger in order to create a point. Do this all the way around the rim of the pie. Cut six slits in the pie evenly spaced on the top piece, and egg wash the top and the edge. Place directly on the baking stone, and bake for 1 hour. The top needs to be a deep golden brown and the filling should be bubbling. If it is taking too long, raise the pie up on the rack so that it gets more direct heat. It may take another 10 minutes to bubble and color. Remove the pie from the oven and cool for 6 hours or more before serving to allow the filling to set. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Drizzle extra caramel on top when plating each piece. Boom!
The maple-walnut topping does two things for the humble sweet potato pie. It gives it added texture and it gives this Southern classic an intriguing, Northeast twist. Maple sugar can be found at most high-end grocery stores or health food stores. This recipe uses our standard 3-2-1 Pie Dough, but with slightly different ingredient weights to yield one bottom crust.
YIELD: One 9-in/23-cm single-crust pie
CRUST
9 oz/250 g all-purpose flour
6 oz/175 g unsalted butter
3 oz/85 ml ice water
¾ tsp/5 g fine sea salt
Egg wash, consisting of 1 beaten egg and a splash of water
FILLING
1 lb 12 oz/800 g sweet potato or yam purée
6 oz/175 g yolks
6 oz/175 g sour cream
1.75 oz/50 ml milk
1.25 oz/35 ml spiced rum or bourbon
6.75 oz/190 g brown sugar
MAPLE WALNUT TOPPING
7 oz/200 g walnut halves and pieces
1 oz/30 g maple sugar
1.5 oz/45 g granulated sugar
Pinch of fine sea salt
1 oz/30 g unsalted butter, melted
For the crust, preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C, with the baking stone in place.
Make the crust according to the instructions on
here
. Roll the dough out to a circle about ⅛ inch/3 mm thick. To test the size, try fitting it into the 9-inch/23-cm pie pan. You should have about 2 inches/5 cm of overhang all the way around. Chill the whole thing for at least 30 minutes. Trim the overhanging edge a bit, but do not trim it completely to the edge of the pie plate. Pinch the extra edge decoratively by putting the thumb and index finger of your nondominant hand together and pressing the dough into that wedge with your other index finger in order to create a point. Continue this along the entire edge of the pie.
Next, insert aluminum foil or parchment into the cavity of the pie dish and fill it to the top with dried beans or rice as weights. Egg wash the crimped edge and bake for 30 minutes directly on the baking stone. Remove the weights and foil or parchment and prick the bottom of the pie with a fork a few times. Rotating the dish, put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes, until the bottom is golden and dried out. If you are worried about the edge getting too dark, cover it with aluminum foil. Cool completely.
For the filling, put the sweet potato purée in a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix until evenly combined. You can refrigerate the filling for up to 1 day before using it.
For the topping, combine the walnuts, sugars and salt in a food processor and pulse until you reduce the walnuts to the size of small peas. Or, chop the walnuts to the same size and combine them with the other dry ingredients. Pour the melted butter over the mixture, and mix it together with your fingers. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month in an airtight container.
ASSEMBLING THE PIE
Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, and set the rack in the middle of the oven. Before filling the pie shell, make an aluminum foil collar for the edge of the pie shell to protect it from burning.
If the filling has been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before assembling the pie. Pour all of the filling into the shell and smooth out the top. Then, evenly cover the top of the custard with 7 ounces/200 g of maple topping so that it covers right to the edge of where it meets the shell. Place it in the oven and bake for 70 to 80 minutes, rotating once for even browning. If the topping is getting too dark, cover the top with a piece of foil. Look for the sides to set while the middle of the filling still jiggles a bit when gently shaken. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature before cutting. This pie can be stored in the fridge for a few days.
NOTE:
Pie Cookie Cut-Outs.
If you have some extra dough scraps from rolling out/trimming your pie shell, decorate the top of this pie with some easy cookie cutouts. Reroll the scrap dough to about ⅛ inch/3 mm thick, and cut with whatever shaped cutters you have on hand; we like the maple leaf to complement the topping. Toss them on a parchment-lined sheet pan, spray with water or brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake at 425°F/220°C for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Arrange them on the top of the pie after it’s cooled.
CONCORD GRAPE PIE
When we opened the bakery in 2006, we spent 2 years living with Jackie’s parents while our big small business gamble got off its feet. Jackie’s dad, Tom, has a green thumb that would make leprechauns jealous. Part of his Babylon-esque garden is a twisting vine of Concord grapes, and we wondered out loud at work what we should do with all of the beautiful fruit it was producing. Our first full-time baker and full-time locavore, Sarah, introduced us to this quintessentially New England treat. If you have kids, get them to slip the skins off the grapes. It’s easy to do, will get their hands a little sticky (that’s a selling point for kids) and you can accept it as prepayment for the best little pies the early fall has to offer.
YIELD: Four 5-in/12-cm mini pies
CRUST
21 oz/600 g very cold all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp/17 g fine sea salt
14 oz/400 g very cold unsalted butter
7 oz/200 ml ice water
CONCORD GRAPE FILLING
27 oz/765 g stemmed Concord grapes
8.75 oz/250 g granulated sugar
4 tbsp/1.5 g all-purpose flour
Egg wash, consisting of 1 beaten egg and a splash of water
For the crust, follow the procedure on
here
for mixing and rolling the dough. Roll the dough out to about 18 inches × 22 inches/45 × 55 cm, about ⅛ inch/3 mm thick, and use a 6-inch/15-cm cutter to cut eight circles. Line four 5-inch/12-cm × 1-inch/2.5-cm mini pie pans with circles of dough, pressing it into the sides and corners and trimming any excess off along the edge. The dough edge should go all the way to the edge of the lip of the pan. Chill the lined pans and remaining dough circles until the filling is ready.
For the filling, slip the skins of the grapes off the pulpy interior. Collect the green pulp, seeds and all, into a heavy-bottom pot, and reserve the skins off to the side. Heat the pulp gently over medium heat, and then turn to high heat to achieve a boil. Boil for 3 minutes to soften the pulp, stirring to prevent scorching. Strain the pulp through a wire-mesh sieve, pushing all the pulp through, and discard the seeds. Add the skins to the pulp and stir. Refrigerate for up to 1 day, or move on to the next step.
(If reheating from the refrigerator, reheat the filling to a boil and remove from the heat.) Mix together the sugar and flour and then add it to the hot mixture. Stir to break up clumps. Set aside to cool to around 100°F/40°C before using.
ASSEMBLING THE PIES
Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C, with the baking stone in place.
Fill the chilled pie bottoms to just below the rim with the warm filling, and egg wash the rim where the top crust will connect to the bottom. Place the top crust on the filled bottom crust, and crimp the edge into decorative points by putting the index finger and thumb of your nondominant hand together and then taking the index finger of your dominant hand and pressing it into that space to create points with the dough. Trim the excess dough off the sides of the pan after crimping. Cut three or four slits in the top of the crust, then move on to the next pie. When all are complete, egg wash the top crusts, place all pies on a sheet pan and place the pan directly on the baking stone. If it takes you awhile to crimp each one, it may be wise to put each one in the fridge while you finish the others just to keep the dough from melting. You can egg wash them before or after refrigerating.
Bake for 25 minutes on the baking stone, rotating after 12 minutes. Move the pies to a higher shelf, and continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes, or until you see the filling bubbling and the crust is a uniform dark golden brown. Let the pies rest 5 minutes in their pans before removing with an offset spatula. Be careful to release any stuck edges before lifting from the pan. Let cool for 1 hour or more before eating. The longer you wait, the more set the filling will become.
The apple tart was one of the first seasonal tarts we had on the menu when we first opened, and it has stayed ever since. It’s the first tart Jackie used the Lazy Baker’s Puff Pastry Dough recipe for (this version uses ½ of that recipe), and it was immediately evident that the dough and apples were made for each other. It is a customer favorite, and many are sad to see it go when Brooksby Farm in Peabody, Massachusetts, closes down after New Year’s and our local apple supply dries up. But there’s always next year!
YIELD: One 8-in/20-cm tart
CRUST
5.5 oz/155 g all-purpose flour
½ tsp/1.5 g baking powder
Scant ½ tsp/1.5 g fine sea salt
6.5 oz/180 g butter
3.25 oz/90 g sour cream
FILLING
1 lb/450 g Cortland Apples, peeled and cut into 1”/2.5-cm wedges
4 oz/100 g granulated sugar
¾ tsp/2 g ground cinnamon
2 tbsp/1 g all-purpose flour
CRUMB TOPPING
3.5 oz/70 g all-purpose flour
3.5 oz/100 g granulated sugar
Scant ¼ tsp/2 g fine sea salt
½ tsp/1 g ground cinnamon
3 oz/75 g unsalted butter, melted
½ tsp/2 ml vanilla extract
Egg wash, consisting of 1 beaten egg and a splash of water
For the crust, follow the instructions for the Lazy Baker’s Puff Pastry on
here
. Roll your dough to about 6 inches × 10 inches/15 × 25 cm instead of the 6 inches × 16 inches/15 × 40 cm in the full recipe, and then follow the folding instructions as directed. After you have rested and chilled the dough, roll it out to a 14-inch/35-cm square and cut out one 12-inch/30-cm circle. Spray an 8-inch/20-cm flan ring with cooking spray and place on a sheet pan. Lifting up around the entire perimeter of the dough disk, “settle” the dough into the corners of the flan ring. Then, working from the outside in, roll the overlapping dough until you can press the roll into the side of the ring, creating a thicker outer crust with a thin bottom. Chill until ready to use.
For the filling, toss the apples in the dry ingredients and let macerate for 30 minutes. While you’re waiting, make the topping.
For the topping, combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour the butter over the dry ingredients and combine with your fingers until completely moistened. This will keep in the fridge for at least 1 month in an airtight container. Before using, however, make sure it is at room temperature.
