The Chef Within

(Notice the picture - I baked the pie on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Anything to avoid potential oven drips and make cleanup easier.  The pie in the background is a pumpkin.  I had some extra oatmeal wafer cookies which I crumbled on top halfway through the baking period to give it a streusely (?) crunchy top.

I can’t count the times that I tried to make a lattice top pastry look decent.  It’s tricky to get the strips going over and under when they are supposed to and then trying to keep them from getting lathered in fruit  filling…what a mess!  But if you do something enough you will eventually figure things out and that’s what happened to me and the lattice-top.

Five easy steps:

1)  Roll your pastry dough on a floured counter into a regular circle that would be large enough to cover your pie plate.  I always roll my pastry between two sheets of floured parchment paper so that’s what you see in the picture.

2)  Take a knife or fancy pastry cutter and cut your pastry into 1/2 inch strips.

3)  If your pastry isn’t already on a sheet of parchment paper get a one or get a piece of wax paper and use it as your working surface.  Starting at the center and working with the longest strips which are also at the center, weave on the wax paper, working outwards.  If things are a little uneven you can adjust the strips because they’re on a dry surface.  If a strip should break simply pinch it back together.

4)  Continue weaving and adding more strips until you have an area large enough to cover the pie.  When you are through, gently press the strips together so they are less likely to move during the flip.  Bring your filled pie plate close to the top and slide your hand underneath for support.  Carefully and quickly invert the piece of wax paper over the top of the filling.  It may need a little adjusting but it’s so much easier than weaving the entire top on the filling.

5)  Finish the edges by pressing the lattice strips into the bottom crust of the pastry and crimping around the edges and you will have - a beautiful, mess free lattice.  Notice the top picture of the finished pie.

I really admire anyone who attempts to make their own pastry.  It’s not a difficult thing but just a little scary the first time.  If you are a first timer and need some hand holding there are some great tips on my radio website (more pastry tips)

If for some reason that link doesn’t work the actual web address is http://132.178.236.111/information/FFT/recipes/Basic%20Pie%20Crust%20and%20Tips-2007-11-05.asp.  Sorry for the trouble.