Recipe from ‘Sister Pie’ by Lisa Ludwinski
Today I can cross off an achievement because... I made my first pie!!! From scratch!!! 🎉🎊🥳
There’s really a sense of achievement when you make every element of your bake from scratch. The flaky buttery crust is definitely worth the effort and not as intimidating as I thought it would be. Perhaps more pies in the future...?
I chose this recipe mainly to reference it with the crack pie recipe from Momofuku Milkbar that I previously made. This pie is an homage to Milkbar as well as Four & Twenty Blackbord pie shop as Lisa worked at both famous bakeries for a while. Love how she ventured out and created her own stories with pies because you clearly can tell how much she loves them. I’m thinking of making the signature chess pies from each of the bakeries to see how they compare with each other. Can’t wait for some downtime so I can get started on that!
In case you miss out on my introduction blog post, I am baking through ‘Sister Pie‘ this June. Head over here to read up more about the book: https://www.mymuffinmusings.com/post/cookbook-for-june-2019-sister-pies
For those of you living in Singapore, you can borrow the ebook version in our National Library app. It’s very convenient to use so no excuses for not baking along with me 😛
This recipe calls for Grade B Maple Syrup which lends a more robust maple intensity to bakes. Be careful not to get maple flavoured sweeteners! I got my organic Now Foods Grade A Dark Maple from iherb. If you are new to iherb, feel free to use my promo code VSQ787 to get 10% off. Maple syrup is an expensive baking ingredient in Singapore so this definitely puts the pie on the expensive spectrum but I think it’s worth it!
Made the butter pie dough beforehand and let it rest in the fridge for a couple of days before rolling out into a 9” baking pan. The book is very helpful with listing down the fundamental techniques of pie making from making the pie dough, crimping to blind baking.
Crimped the sides which hahaha, I am such a noob. You probably can’t tell but my pie shrunk on one side. Have to say I didn’t expect crimping to be this hard. The pastry gets limp so quickly due to the extremely humid weather hete so I had to crimp halfway, put it back into the fridge to chill a bit more before continuing with the other side.
Let the raw crimped pie dough rest in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Then comes the blind baking part! Again, there are step by step instructions and pictures in the book so it’s really very handy. Blind baking ensures that you don’t result in a pie with a soggy bottom hehehe (Any Great British Baking fans out here?) so it’s a crucial step. Quite a few in the baking club skipped this process because they reasoned that the pie needs to be baked again with the filling for another hour anyway so the baking time is more than enough to cook the crust alongside the filling. Have not tried skipping yet because I scaredycat but let me know how yours turn out if you did!
The filling making process is definitely my favourite part. FINALLY something fuss-free and mess-free! You honestly just need a bowl and mix everything together. My filling was just enough for the pie. It poofed up while baking but thankfully no spilling or any sorts. PHEW! However, I do advise you to place your pie on a baking tray to catch any spills. One can never be too safe. Trust me, a dirty oven is a huge pain to clean 😓
Loved how the filling turned out firm yet slightly gooey in contrast to the flaky pie crust. The salt is extremely crucial in this to cut the sweetness else it will get very one-dimensional. A pump of unsweetened whipped cream might work well too!
Overall, I did really enjoy making this pie albeit it being more tedious than my usual bakes. The step by step guide in the book really helped break down the process and make it manageable for beginners. I an definitely a lot more confident with pie making now!
Taste wise, it is also a major win for me. Was worried it will turn out overly sweet but thankfully it was just right! Although I have to say, the maple flavour is not significant so perhaps it might work just as well with golden syrup or honey which are also much cheaper. Maybe I’ll experiment on that in the future!
Brought this to work and it got snapped up very quickly. So I conclude that my first pie making experience is a success!
Verdict:
Ease of making: 🎂🎂🎂