Humble Pie: Musings on What Lies Beneath the Crust

Pie Queens: In apples they crust

Newsday.com, A La Carter by Sylvia Carter

Nothing says autumn like apple pie. The candied smell of sweet potato pie is another harbinger of fall. And at Thanksgiving, a table without pumpkin pie is unthinkable. While pie may not be an absolute requirement at other winter holidays, it is always welcome.

To make, or to buy, that is the question.

Personally, I have found precious few mass-produced pies, even from otherwise reliable bakeries, that have tasted as scrumptious as a well-made pie from a home kitchen. But many cooks approach piecrust with fear and trembling.

Just in time to help the timid, there is a new book by Anne Dimock, Humble Pie: Musings on what lies beneath the crust (Andrews McMeel, $12.95).

There are a few recipes, but this book is more about the philosophy of pie, or overcoming fear of pie crust, than about exact formulas. Anyway, some of Dimock's pie preferences may seem eccentric to you; rhubarb is the pie she has decided to perfect. (I am with her there, but I realize that much of the pie-eating public cannot be persuaded.)

I have made at least 1,000 pies in my lifetime, a number that could put me in the running for the Pie Queen Hall of Fame, according to Dimock's rating scale for the honor. There are other requirements, such as crust ratio, the number of parts of flour to the number of parts of shortening: "3 parts flour to 1 part shortening is the standard, but a 3.33 to 1 ratio is considered a little daring and 2.5 to 1 is cheating."

There also is the August Quotient, "a complicated formula that expresses the relationship of heat and humidity to the total number of pies baked during August, used as an indicator of endurance, strength, and yield; numbers above 1 are admirable, anything much below .85 means you are having a bad season."

Dimock, who came from a line of Pie Queens, knows of what she speaks. She as good as takes you by the hand. To begin, she writes, "prepare to sweep away the little anxieties of the little parts of your life. In piemaking, it is best to think big and live big. That will get you in the right frame of mind, something just as important as having the correct crust ratio."

Dimock, whose numerous writings about pie first appeared in the Afton (Minnesota) Paper, recommends a simple fork for mixing. I do, too. Another thing I agree with is this: "Your choice of tools carries some importance but not so much as a trained eye. You may use two sharp knives, a pastry cutter, that simple fork, or even your fingers."

She also says that when cutting the shortening into the flour, "stop before you think you are done. Stop when the sheen of the fat disappears into ripples and folds and bumps and lumps and specks and flakes. Stop when you no longer discern the white from the not-quite-white. Stop and go no further."

Adding cold water is the next step, a juncture at which things can go very wrong. "Here, you must make a choice, one that will seal the fate of your piecrust for good or for ill," writes Dimock. "You must draw upon all sensory perceptions, those of touch, of sight, but especially those that slumber within and waken with memory and experience. . . . "

Like Dimock, I learned much from an older generation — my grandmother taught me to fold the rolled-out crust into quarters, then center the apex of it in the pan and gently unfold it. I swear by this method. To get the crust into the pan, Dimock prefers a method that involves draping it over a rolling pin — dicey, if you ask me.

I went out to the kitchen and made her recipe for an apple-dumpling pie, so named because it resembles a large baked dumpling. For my thoughts, see the testing notes in the recipe.

Click to download PDF of the recipe.

Testing notes: I don't really like to declare myself a Pie Queen, because it seems to smack of a lack of humility, and this book is named "Humble Pie." With humility, then, I offer these thoughts:

Four cups of apples (3 large ones) don't really result in a very large pie. I think this makes enough for only 4 or 5 people. To serve 8 people, I would make two pies. As Dimock agrees, pie bakers should be generous.

Also, I taste the apples to figure out how much sugar; with Granny Smith, 1/3 cup was about right, but it might be a smidge too much for Golden Delicious.

And, as Dimock herself advises, you have to use a practiced eye when it comes to adding water. On the day I made this pie, despite moisture in the air, I found I needed an extra tablespoon of water to prevent overworking the dough.

I scattered dots of butter over the apples, as I do for other pies. Feel free to make these changes, if you wish.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

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