A Commonplace Book of Pie (5 page)

Heat the honey in a small saucepan on medium low heat until it flows freely. While the honey warms up, core and slice the apples and pears to ¼ inch thickness. Add the lemon juice and sprinkle the salt and spices over the fruit. Pour the honey over all and gently combine. Taste and adjust spice, sweet, and lemon as needed. Add the flour and stir again, then set filling aside.

Roll out the top crust. Pour the filling into your bottom crust. If there is too much liquid to fit in the pan with the apples, fill the pan not quite to the rim with juice and set the rest of it aside. Smooth the filling into a mound with your hands and dot it with small pieces of butter. Place the top crust on the pie. Crimp the crust into an upstanding ridge and make generous steam vents. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white and teaspoon of water, then brush the crust with the egg white wash and sprinkle demerara sugar over everything.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is blond and blistered. Rotate the pie front to back and reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Bake until bubbling, 40 to 50 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack at least an hour before serving.

 

The mumbleberry is an imaginary fruit used by bakers who can't remember what they've put in their berry pies. This version uses a grated top crust—an ideal option if you're using frozen dough, especially if you also can't remember how long ago you froze it.

1 double crust pie dough recipe

1 cup rhubarb sliced ½ inch thick

1 cup blueberries

1 cup strawberries

1 cup sour cherries

1 cup blackberries (or some other mystery combo of 5 cups fresh or frozen fruit)

1 cup sugar

juice of half a lemon (about one tablespoon)

big pinch of nutmeg

pinch salt

⅓ cup tapioca flour

demerara sugar

Make the dough. Refrigerate one half and freeze the other for at least an hour, or overnight. Roll out the bottom crust and place it in a 9 or 10-inch pie plate. Tuck the crust into the plate, trim the edges, and fold them into an upstanding ridge. Refrigerate the crust while you prepare the rest of the pie. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the fruit, sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg, and salt. Toss gently to mix. Taste and adjust spice, sweet, and lemon as needed. Sift the tapioca flour over the mixture and toss gently to mix again. Turn the filling into the chilled bottom crust and smooth it with your fingers.

Using the largest holes of a box grater, grate the frozen top crust dough over the pie as if it were a block of cheese. Use a fork to move the crust gratings for even coverage and cooking. Sprinkle demerara sugar over the top crust. Bake the pie on the center oven rack for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is blond and blistered. Then turn the oven down to 375 degrees. Turn the pie front-to-back so that it browns evenly and slip a rimmed baking sheet under it so juices don't make a mess of your oven. Bake until the top is golden brown and the juices bubble thickly, about 40 to 50 minutes--possibly longer if you used frozen fruit.

Cool on a wire rack at least an hour before serving.

 

You were expecting strawberry, right? Though the seasons of these two fruits are mismatched, (rhubarb in spring, cherries in summer) a forkful of this sweet-tart treat will surprise the jaded pie eater. As if there is such a thing.

1 double crust pie dough recipe

2 ½ cups of rhubarb sliced ½ inch thick

2 ½ cups fresh or frozen sour cherries

1 cup sugar

pinch nutmeg

pinch salt

1 teaspoon almond extract

⅓ cup flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg white

1 teaspoon water

demerara sugar

Make the dough and refrigerate it for at least an hour, or overnight. Roll out the bottom crust and place it in a 9 or 10-inch pie plate. Tuck the crust into the plate and trim the edges, then refrigerate it while you prepare the rest of the pie. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the fruit, sugar, nutmeg, salt, and almond extract. Toss gently to mix. Taste and adjust spice and sweet as needed. Sift the flour over the mixture and toss gently to mix again. Set aside while you roll out the top crust.

Turn the filling into the chilled bottom crust and smooth it with your fingers. Dot the top of the pie filling with butter. Drape the top crust over the filling. Crimp the crust into an upstanding ridge and make generous steam vents. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white and teaspoon of water, then brush the crust with the egg white wash and sprinkle demerara sugar over everything.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is blonde and blistered. Rotate the pie front to back and reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Bake until bubbling, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack at least an hour before serving.

 

This pie is the last thing Violet Beauregarde tasted before Willie Wonka's experimental chewing gum turned her into a blueberry.

½ of a double crust pie dough recipe

For the crumble:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup rolled oats (not quick-cooking)

⅓ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick of cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch chunks

For the filling:

4 cups blueberries (fresh or partially thawed)

½ cup high-quality maple syrup

juice of half a lemon (about one tablespoon)

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch salt

⅓ cup tapioca flour

Make the dough and refrigerate it for at least an hour, or overnight. Roll out the bottom crust and place it in a 9 or 10-inch pie plate. Tuck the crust into the plate, trim the edges, and fold them into an upstanding ridge. Refrigerate the crust while you prepare the rest of the pie. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Measure the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt into a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the chunked butter to the mixture. Combine with ten to fifteen one-second pulses until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.

In a medium bowl, combine the blueberries, maple syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt. Taste and adjust spice, sweet, and lemon as needed, then add the tapioca flour and stir gently to combine. Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell, smoothing the fruit with a spoon. Bake in the center of the oven on 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven and spread the top with all of the oat crumble. It should cover the blueberries completely and be about ¼ inch thick. Return the pie to the oven and bake on 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until the crumble is toasted and brown and the blueberry juices bubble thickly at the edge—possibly longer if you used frozen fruit. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least an hour before serving.

 

Once a woman entered a pie contest. It was her first. She was nervous. Absolutely sure she wouldn't win, was a fool for trying. She dropped off her pie at the event, ran home, and hid. A full day passed before she heard the news: her peach ginger pie had won Best in Show. I was a fool, she thought. Running is good exercise, but not when it's away from the thing you want
.

1 double crust pie dough recipe

5 large, ripe peaches or 7 medium (or 5 to 6 cups of frozen sliced peaches)

¾ cup clover honey

2 tablespoons peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger

juice of half a lemon (about one tablespoon)

big pinch of powdered ginger

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of salt

⅓ cup tapioca flour

1 egg white

1 teaspoon water

demerara sugar

Make pie dough and refrigerate for at least an hour. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the bottom crust and place it in a 9 to 10-inch pie plate. Tuck the dough into the plate, trim the edges, and refrigerate while preparing the filling and top crust.

Combine honey and fresh chopped ginger in a small saucepan and heat on low for 20 minutes. While the honey is warming up, pit, peel, and slice the peaches so they're about ¼ inch thick. Put the slices in a large bowl and squeeze the lemon over them. Add the powdered ginger, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and salt. Pour the heated honey and fresh ginger over all. Mix gently until the honey and spices are evenly distributed, then taste and adjust sweet, spice, and lemon as needed. Sprinkle tapioca flour over the peaches and mix gently again.

Roll out the top crust. Retrieve the bottom crust from the refrigerator. Pour the filling into your bottom crust. If there is too much liquid to fit in the pan with the peaches, fill the pan not quite to the rim with juice and set the rest of it aside. Smooth the filling into a mound with your hands. Place the top crust over the filling. Trim off any excess dough and fold an upstanding ridge. Cut large steam vents. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white and teaspoon of water, then brush the crust with the egg white wash and sprinkle the demerara sugar over everything.

Bake on 425 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is blistered and blond. Rotate the pie 180 degrees to assure even baking, then lower the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for another 50 to 60 minutes until the crust is golden and the juices start to bubble slowly at the edge—possibly longer if you've used frozen fruit.

Cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before serving.

 

 

1.   With a fork and plate.

Preferred by polite company and mothers speaking to children.

2.   With your hands.

Preferred by breakfasting couples, hurried working girls, and barbecue attendees.

3.   With your face.

Preferred by the fat kid, the skinny kid, the kid with sinus problems from winning pie eating contests, performance artists, and ambushed politicians.

4.   With a spoon.

Preferred by people who do not do their dishes often and consequently are out of forks.

5.   With someone else's hands.

Preferred by children, lovers, and invalids.

 

a)   “Don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your father had an accident there; he was put into a pie.”

− Beatrix Potter

b)   “A triangle of pie is the best way ever discovered to round out a square meal.”

− The Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook

c)   “Promises and pie crust are made to be broken.”

− Jonathan Swift

d)   “A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around.”

− Edgar Watson Howe

e)   “When someone asks if you'd like cake or pie, why not say you want cake and pie?”

− Lisa Loeb

 

To my mother, for teaching me how to bake.

To my father, for teaching me how to work.

To both of them, for teaching me how to love.

This book began as part of a collaborative sculpture project with Brian Schoneman in the winter of 2010. It grew under the editorial care of Jennifer Borges Foster, became a letterpressed zine thanks to Rosanna Kvernmo, and matured into a book with the encouragement and advice of Heather McHugh, David Shields, Richard Kenney, Kristen Millares Young, Elissa Ball, Kary Wayson, Katherine Eulensen, Elizabeth Colen, Piper Daniels, Heather Malcolm, Jessica Lynn Bonin, Brian McGuigan, Jory Mickelson, Becca Yenser, Sam Ligon, Alice Acheson, my cohort at the University of Washington, and my recipe testers, especially Josie Friedman. The wise baker is Kate McDermott.

To all of you, to Bruce Rutledge and Chin Music Press, to Chelsey Slattum and Natalie Shields, to Nick Lebo and Gail Orcutt and Lisa Walz, to Richard Hugo House, Centrum, Artist Trust, and 4Culture, and to everyone who bought the zine and believed in this manuscript long before it had a perfect spine:

Thank you.

 

Kate Lebo
makes poems and pies in Seattle, Washington. Her writing has appeared in
Best New Poets, Gastronomica
, and
Poetry Northwest
among other journals, and she's currently at work on a pie cookbook for Sasquatch Books, forthcoming in 2014. She teaches creative writing at Richard Hugo House and pie making at Pie School, her cliche-busting pastry academy. For poems, pies, and other tasty treats, visit katelebo.com.

Jessica Lynn Bonin
works in a multitude of mediums. A painter and illustrator by trade, she lives in a bend in the road called Edison, Washington, where she runs a shop called the Lucky Dumpster. Past clients include DASH Design (NYC), the World Bank, and National Parks. She is a member of PUNCH Gallery in Seattle, Washington. See more of her work at jessicalynnbonin.com.