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Baking a pie for Pi Day

All photos courtesy Nadine Kalinauskas
All photos courtesy Nadine Kalinauskas

I am not a pie baker. In fact, until this week, I had made exactly one pie in my life (unless you count this cake-mix pie). My first pie turned out well. And then I quit while I was ahead.

But in honour of Pi Day (3/14/15), I thought I’d give pie-baking another go.

Before I dove in, I asked Kyla Eaglesham, pastry chef and owner of Madeleines, Cherry Pie and Ice Cream in Toronto, for some expert advice.

Yahoo Canada: Homemade pies — especially pie crusts — are intimidating. What should a beginner know before tackling their first pie? 

Eaglesham: Keep all your ingredients cold. Especially the fat. Do not overwork the dough. Allow sufficient time for the dough to rest before you roll it.

Shortening, butter or oil: Which do you recommend in pie crusts and why?

Lard is the best. It is naturally trans-fat free and makes the flakiest crust. There are non-hydrogenated shortenings on the market but have less flavour than lard. Butter makes a heavier crust.

We’ve seen recipes with add-ins like vinegar or vodka. Do they actually make a difference?

Absolutely. The acid is imperative to making good dough.

Which is better: a glass, metal or ceramic pie pan?

Glass takes the longest to cook. I prefer metal but ceramic is prettier.

We’re always scared of screwing up the roll-out part. Do you have any tips for rolling out dough and/or transferring it to the pie pan?

Roll it in between two sheets of parchment.

Do you have any other pie-making tips you could share with Yahoo Canada readers?

Use less sugar in your filling.  Add a crumble on top instead.  Make sure the fruit is ripe — underripe or out of season fruit will not make a good pie. Tart fruits make the best pies: apples, sour cherries, raspberries.

Pie making: It’s dough time

Taking Eaglesham’s advice to heart, I set out to make a pie crust with lard, using vinegar, baked in a metal pan.

 
 

I used the tried-and-true, back-of-the-box “Canadian prairie institution” Tenderflake recipe, with some additional notes from The Kitchen Magpie.

Because Eaglesham recommended chilling the blades of a food processor — I wasn’t using one — I decided to chill my pastry cutter for a few minutes before beginning. I also put a measuring cup of water in the freezer so I could add “ice water” to the mix later on.

The first scary part: knowing how much liquid to add. “Only enough to make the dough cling together”?! Initially, I was pretty sure I made my dough too dry for fear of adding too much moisture and creating a tough crust.

 
 

Then, as I gathered my crumbly dough into what was supposed to be a ball — more like a pile — I was faced with my second big challenge: dividing up the dough into six even parts.

Kids, stay in school. You can’t escape math.

 
 

The recipe actually makes enough dough for six crusts, which is great if you’re making dessert for a crowd or organized enough to freeze some of it for later. I opted to freeze four of the six crusts, wrapping each ball of dough in plastic wrap then placing them in a freezer bag.

Pie making: The filling

As my dough chilled, I started prepping my fruit. For the filling, I chose this Flaky Pear Pie recipe from Food & Wine. (The sad, sad grocery store was out of rhubarb, cherries, and peaches. By the process of elimination, I was left with pear pie.)

 
 

After peeling for a while — a paring knife works better on pears than a vegetable peeler does — my pear filling was ready.

Pie making: Rolling it out

Then came the most dreaded part of pie-making: rolling out the dough. Ugh.

Remember the part about how I’m not a pro? My inexperience was most obvious during this stage. I took Eaglesham’s advice and rolled out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, but even that took a bit of swearing to get through. (Tape down the paper. Mine went slip-sliding away. So embarrassing.)

 
 

At one point I asked my husband to go out and buy a photogenic backup pie, just in case. He refused.

I ended up with a passable-looking bottom crust, which I quickly filled with the sugar-and-spice-coated pears so I wouldn’t have to look at it. Then I added another sorry-looking crust on top.

I gave the pie a quick milk-sugar-butter wash on top and popped it in the oven.

 
 

Pie making: The best part

Then my apartment starting smelling like pie and all was right with the world again.

After almost two hours in the oven — I questioned the Food & Wine recipe’s timing, but the crust turned out a perfect golden brown, so what do I know? — and a torturous three-hour wait for it to cool, the pie was ready. But it was past my bedtime at this point, so it had to wait.

 
 

So I had pie for lunch the next day.

Worth. The. Wait.

The crust was light and flaky and melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Eaglesham was right: lard and vinegar will be my go-to dough combination from now on.

The filling wasn’t too sweet, with just a hint of cinnamon and cloves. I could have eaten the entire thing.

Reviews from my live-in taste-tester: “Two thumbs up.” “Amazing.” It even got a “Your best pie yet,” despite having very little to compare it to.

Topped with a dollop of whipped cream, the pear pie became my new favourite dessert.

And I have four balls of dough in the freezer! Good times lie ahead.

This Pi Day, don’t be afraid of crust. Embrace the pie.