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Iwas recently in Tagaytay for a conference. And, in one of the meals we had, they served us quality fruit pies. I was overwhelmed and started asking where it was from. With that in mind, I realized that it was time to answer more of the pie questions we received in the previous months.

Q: One of the pies I bought while travelling seems to have no color and has very tender crumbs. How is this done? I always have a dark brown color with mine. I want this type of pie dough. (Quiel of San Juan)

Jun Jun:  A good pie crust must be flaky, buttery, and rich. It should not be too brown. I have a feeling that the crust you ate was not fully baked and lacked butter, which gives further browning. Some pie crusts are made with pure shortening, which makes it so white that the crust appears to have no color even when it is baked. 

Adoree: The white, tender crust is due to the fat used in the recipe; shortening was used, which is why the crust was white and tender.  Proper cutting in of fat into the flour should also be done to yield a flaky, tender crust. Most recipes that we have use butter so the crust comes out more browned in color.

The choice of fat to be used is a matter of preference, shortening will give a flakier, tender crust than butter but butter gives a nicer flavor than shortening.

Q: I don’t like the fork look on the side of my pies, what can I do to make them more attractive? (Melanie Ann of Sorsogon)

Jun Jun: Most American pies are now crimped, meaning, the figures and curves are made using the thumb and pointer finger to create great-looking pies. Some pastry chefs also make cut-outs using the excess dough and attach it to the sides of the pie. But I still recommend plain crimping, since you don’t want to overdo it and remove the attention from the pie itself. 

Adoree: You may crimp the dough with your fingers; you may also put simple cut-outs like leaves and braids.

Q: Why does my pie top look undercooked? I bake my pies at 350 F for about 45 minutes. (Gerlie of Manila)

Jun Jun: The color of your pie is dependent on what your filling is. There are times, when the filling is too watery, the pie takes a longer time to bake. Also, you have to brush the top of your pie with egg wash so that browning will initiate. This can be a plain beaten egg or a mixture of egg, milk, and some salt. Bring the temperature of your pie up to 375 to 400 F for a richer golden brown effect. 

Adoree: Gerlie, you should brush the crust with egg wash to help in browning. Also, have your oven checked; maybe your oven temperature was not accurate.

Q: After baking my pie, I see a very thin layer of uncooked dough at the bottom, why does this happen? (Jane of Pasay City)

Jun Jun: That layer is usually the one nearest to the filling of your pie. Before the pie is baked, this area takes all the moisture and water present in your filling that transferred to your pie dough. Baking the pie at the lowest part of the oven will make sure that the crust bakes before any moisture travel happens.

Sometimes, this also happens because your crust is a bit thick when you rolled it out, better thinner and well rested than thicker. 

Adoree: This usually happens if you bake your pie with the filling. The filling prevents the bottom from being baked fully. To bake the bottom through, you may opt to blind bake the crust, meaning bake the crust without the filling first. You can then pour in the filling then bake again.

Q: Why are there pies that are not as flaky as the others, some are dense and very sweet like cookies? I have a favorite apple pie that has this type of crust? (Charmaine of Makati)

Jun Jun: The cookie type of pie is really cookie dough that has a bit more flour and is made into pie dough. It is a denser and more compact type of pie dough than the more common ones you see. This is also called a pate sable, where the butter is creamed with the sugar before the flour is added in and is not cut in or rubbed in like the classic one. 

Adoree: Different pie dough uses different mixing techniques, which gives the crust different textures. Flaky pie dough uses the cutting method, thus creating the flakes; the fat is rubbed into the flour until coarse meal is formed before the liquid is added to bind the whole mixture. Cookie dough uses the creaming method; butter is beaten with the sugar before the flour mixture is added to create dough. This will yield a crust that is crumbly.

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