NATIONAL PIE DAY LA PEQ STYLE

So in honor of the one week anniversary of National Pie Day I am finally posting my NPD effort.

I'm not really a baker but I do enjoy the process of it and I want to get better. I made this savory tart at xmas and it was a big hit and I was thrilled with the crust results. For this pie I decided to try not to use refined sugars and went with maple crystals and grade B maple syrup (which has a deeper flavor) and that worked really well. In the crust I used butter from my raw dairy and that had a great flavor.

The positives: it was pretty easy to make (I'm not the best crust roller outer as you can see) and it tasted great.

The negatives: I forgot to egg wash the top crust so it wasn't shiny and I didn't let it rest long enough before breaking into the first piece so it sort of fell apart but was in better shape on days 2 and 3. 

I shall keep on it!

here's the crust recipe, for the sweet pie you just add a bit of sugar or in my case maple crystals to the dry ingredients and double it:

Recipe: Savory Pie Crust Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling

Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about 5 ounces) all-purpose flour, more for rolling

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 8 pieces

3 tablespoons ice water, more if necessary.

1. Combine flour and salt in a food processor and pulse once or twice. Add butter and turn on machine; process until butter and flour are blended and mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.

2. Put mixture in a bowl and add 3 tablespoons ice water; mix with your hands until you can form dough into a ball, adding another tablespoon or two of ice water if necessary; if you overdo it and mixture becomes sodden, add a little more flour. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic and freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (You can refrigerate for up to a couple of days or freeze for up to a couple of weeks.)

3. Sprinkle a clean countertop with flour, put dough on it, and sprinkle top with flour. Use a rolling pin to roll with light pressure, from the center out. If dough is hard, let it rest for a few minutes. If dough is sticky, add a little flour; if it continues to become sticky and it is taking you more than a few minutes to roll it out, refrigerate or freeze again.

4. Roll, adding flour and rotating and turning dough as needed; use ragged edges of dough to repair any tears, adding a drop of water while you press patch into place.

Yield: Dough for one 12-inch tart.