Hannah Bakes: Fancy Pies

Hannah has started making pies. By herself. And she doesn’t make them how her Mother would. No. She makes them fancy.

Her mother stands over her shoulder as she rolls out the dough. “It’s too thin,” she complains.

“Not for what I’m doing,” is the answer Hannah gives in return.

Her Mother hmpphhs and looks from a different angle. The dough does look a bit thin, but let’s trust Hannah here. She’s been at her Mother’s side watching hundreds of pies being made. She’s even made a few herself. I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.

Wait a minute! What is she doing now? She’s gotten out the cookie cutters. Did she forget she’s making a pie? Is that why she rolled the dough so thin?

Her Mother’s mouth opens to protest just as Hannah lifts the dough and sets it atop a waiting tin, already bottomed and filled with a darkly congealed fruit mixture. “What kind of pie is that?” her Mother asks instead.

“Black Cherry.” Hannah adjusts the crust so it’s centered over all and begins tucking and pinching the edges together, joining for all eternity the top and bottom crust, sealing in the fruit like the gift it is.

Her Mother hmpphhs again, only this time in appreciation. Her pies never look so fancy. But then again, God gives his gifts to each as He sees fit.

Hannah carefully sets the pie in the oven and turns to her Mother. “How about a cup of tea?”

Her Mother smiles. Finally. Something they have in common.

If you’d like to make your own Fancy Pie, you’ll have to ask Hannah how it’s done. Her Mother has tried and tried, but she just can’t get it quite the same. However, she’s shared the crust and filling recipe with you here, in case you want to make a go of it yourself. If you happen to make one you’re particularly proud of, share a picture of it in the comments. Hannah (and her Mother) will be thrilled to see it.

The Crust:

For a double crusted pie (as in one with a top and a bottom), you’ll take 9 ounces all purpose flour. This is the one and only time the Farmer’s Wife brings out her kitchen scale, but she’s found it really does make a difference to get it exactly right. For those of you without a kitchen scale, it’s two cups. To that she adds one teaspoon table salt, and mixes it well with a fork. She cuts two sticks of cold, salted butter into little pieces, trying not to touch it too much. This she puts in with the flour mixture and blends it with a pastry blender.

If you don’t have one of those handy gadgets, you can use a food processor, or just your hands. Any and all work. Once the butter is broken up into small pieces (about the size of peas), the Farmer’s Wife adds 5-6 tablespoons very cold water. This gets stirred in with a fork at first, but once it starts to come together, she gets her hands in and works it just long enough for it to form into a ball. Then she slices that ball in (almost) half, using the slightly bigger half for the bottom, because slightly more will be needed (it has to make it up those sides, after all).

Dust your workspace lightly with flour–and lightly is key. You weighed that flour for a reason–you don’t want to muck it up now! The dough ball is placed front and center and rolled this way and that with a rolling pin. The Farmer’s Wife uses the French type, but whatever works for you. She flips it front and back, up and down, just to make sure it doesn’t stick, and when it’s just the right size (slightly bigger than the tin she’s using), she folds it in half and sets it on the pie tin. For this pie, that’s a nine inch pie pan. It’s unfolded and allowed to drape in, making sure no part is pulled or tucked. The cooled filling is poured in (we’ll get to that part next), and the second slightly smaller ball of dough is rolled out. Now here’s where it gets all fancy. The Farmer’s Wife simply slaps on that top crust, trims and crimps the edges, slashes the top with a big C (for cherry), rubs it with cream and dusts all with coarse Turbinado sugar and calls it done. Well, apparently Hannah doesn’t do Simple. She rolls. She cuts. She places. She does not slash (she doesn’t need to with all those extra openings). And do you believe it? She doesn’t douse it with cream and sugar.

To each their own.

Oh yes. You need the filling recipe, too. I guess that makes sense. It wouldn’t be that much of a pie without filling, would it?

Black Cherry Pie Filling:

Four cups pitted cherries are stirred with a cup of brown sugar, two tablespoons butter, a third cup flour, and a half teaspoon almond extract. This is set in a saucepan over medium heat and heated until it’s bubbly and splattering. Let it cool. This can also be made ahead of time and frozen.