1

Pies and Pastries

2

Chapter Objectives1. Prepare flaky pie dough and mealy pie dough.2. Prepare crumb crusts and short, or cookie, crusts.3. Assemble and bake pies. 4. Prepare the following pie fillings: fruit fillings using

the cooked juice method, the cooked fruit method, and the old-fashioned method; custard or soft fillings; cream pie fillings; and chiffon fillings.

5. Prepare puff pastry dough and puff dough products.6. Prepare éclair paste and éclair paste products.7. Prepare standard meringues and meringue desserts.8. Prepare fruit desserts.

3

Pies hold a special place in North America, because the early settlers used to make pies daily, sometimes 21 per week, one for each meal

4

Pie Doughs Ingredients

Flour Fat Liquid Salt

5

Temperature

Pie doughs should be kept at 60o F (15o C) during mixing and makeup because:

1. Shortening has the best consistency when cool

2. Gluten develops more slowly at cool temperatures - a good thing

6

Pie Dough Types1. Flaky pie dough2. Mealy pie dough

Trimmings - reworked scraps or trimmings are tougher than freshly made dough

7

Other Pie Crusts Crumb crusts

Graham cracker Vanilla or chocolate wafer Gingersnap crumbs

Usually used for unbaked pies, such as cream pies and chiffons

8

Other Pie Crusts (cont’d) Short-Dough crusts

A kind of cookie dough Richer than regular pie pastry, contains

butter, sugar, and eggs Used primarily for small fruit tarts

9

Assembly and Baking Two groups

1. Baked pies - Raw pie shells are filled and baked

2. Unbaked pies – Baked pie shells are filled, allow to set, and served

10

The Soggy Bottom These can be avoided in several

ways Use a mealy dough for bottom crusts Use high heat at the beginning of

baking Do not fill with hot filling Do not use dark metal pie pans, which

absorb heat

11

Starches for Fillings Types:

Corn starch Waxy maize Instant starch

Cooking starches Sugar and strong acids reduce the

thickening powder, so add sugar and strong acids ater starch has thickened

12

Fillings Fruit Fillings

Cooked Juice Method Cooked Fruit Method Old-Fashioned Method

Custard or Soft Fillings Cream Pie Fillings Chiffon Pies

13

Fruit Filling Fruits for pie filling

Fresh fruit Frozen fruit Canned fruit Dried fruit

Fruits must have sufficient acid (tartness) for flavor reasons

14

Custard or Soft Filling

Custards, pumpkin, pecan, and similar pies are made with a liquid filling containing eggs

The greatest difficulty in cooking soft pies is cooking the crust completely

Start pie on bottom rack at 425-450o F for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 325o-350o F to cook filling slowly.

15

Cream Pie Filling Cream pie fillings are the same as

puddings The one difference between

puddings and cream pie fillings is that fillings are made with cornstarch

16

Chiffon Pies Chiffon fillings are made by adding

gelatin to a cream filling or to a thickened fruit and juice mixture and then folding in egg whites and/or whipped cream

These preparations are the same as chiffon desserts, bavarians, and some mousses and cold soufflés

17

Pastries, Meringues, and Fruit Desserts

Puff pastry used for napoleon and turnovers

Choux paste - used for éclairs and cream puffs

18

Puff Pastry Puff pastry can rise 8x its thickness

when baked Puff pastry is a rolled-in dough It is difficult to prepare Has up to 1000 layers Butter is the preferred fat

19

Blitz Puff Pastry Blitz puff dough is much easier and

quicker to make It does not rise as high as puff

pastry Not suitable for patty shells Bakes up crispy and flaky

20

Éclair paste Éclairs and cream puffs are made from

éclair paste or choux paste (from pâte à choux, which means “cabbage paste”)

It is easy to make Should be used immediately In principle, éclair paste is similar to

popover batter Both are leavened by steam

Éclair paste must be firm enough to hold shape when piped

Bake at 425-475o F for 10 minutes, then reduce to 375-425o F

21

Meringues

Beaten egg whites with sugar Used in North America for pie

toppings and cake icing

22

Basic Meringues1. Common meringue - egg whites at room

temperature beaten with sugar2. Swiss meringue - egg whites and sugar

warmed over a double boiler while beating

3. Italian meringues - made by beating hot sugar syrup into egg whites – when flavored with vanilla, also known as boiled or icing

23

Fruit Desserts Similar to pie or pie filling Special favorites include cobblers Fresh fruits, served plain, lightly

sweetened, or with cream