In the Know
SCORE SHEET Give yourself one point for each correct answer. 1. C In a recent Harris Poll, a majority 11. (One point for each) A Pasty; B Tart; of Americans picked apple pie as their favorite.
2. C In the Middle Ages, pies were Where is the village of Pie Town?
mostly savory and filled with various types of meat.
B. Utah
3. C A typical pie crust includes flour, sugar, salt, butter and/or shortening, and cold water. Baking powder is a leavening agent and is not needed in pie crust.
C. Texas
4. D Pie crusts made in England around
A. New Mexico
the 12th century were called coffins, which meant “boxes.”
D. Maine
5. A It’s best to use extremely cold butter for pie dough. When the butter is cut into the flour, it creates little pockets of fat that help the dough puff up in the oven.
6. B Mix the dough until it starts clumping
According to etiquette experts, pie à la mode should be eaten with: A. A fork
7. B For an even thickness, roll out chilled dough from the center outward, rotating the dough and reflouring the surface and rolling pin as needed.
B. A spoon
8. (One point for each) A Kitchen shears; B Spoon; C Chopstick; D Fork
C. Both
9. A Many custard-based pies call for
TRUE OR FALSE? T F
baking the crust before adding the filling to prevent sogginess. To do this, prick the bottom of the crust with a fork, line with foil and add pie weights or dried beans to keep the crust from puffing up. Bake until just golden around the edges, then remove the foil and weights and continue baking until just golden on the bottom.
10. B A pastry blender—also called a pastry cutter—is used to cut solid fat (butter or shortening) into flour.
12. B A double-crust pie needs tiny holes, slits or cutouts in the top crust to allow steam to escape; this prevents the crust from getting soggy. 13. D To avoid cracks in a pumpkin pie, bake it until the edges are set but the center still jiggles slightly. To cool the pie slowly and gently, turn off the oven and keep it in the oven with the door open.
14. A If your dough is too soft to roll out, return it to the fridge for about 20 minutes to let it firm up.
15. B Shoofly pie is molasses crumb cake baked into a pie crust. Legend has it that the pie was named after Shoofly, a former molasses brand.
16. A Key lime pie is a custard-based pie made with a graham cracker crust. 17. A Pie Town is in New Mexico, off US Highway 60. It was named after a bakery in the 1920s that made dried-apple pie. 18. C Etiquette experts recommend holding the pie down with a fork in your left hand and eating both the pie and ice cream with a spoon in your right hand. 19. T Boston cream pies are layer cakes with pastry cream. 20. T Similar to water, vodka binds the dough ingredients, but since vodka is 40 percent ethanol, most will cook off and less gluten will develop in the dough, helping make the crust tender and flaky.
21. F Because the crust already contains so much butter or shortening, you do not need to grease the pan.
22. F They can become too mushy when cooked. Our test kitchen chefs like a mix of sweet and tart apples, such as Granny Smith, Gala and Braeburn.
Adding vodka to pie dough makes for a flaky crust.
T F
You should always grease a pie pan.
T F
0 to 9 Points
10 to 19 points
20 to 28 points
Red Delicious apples are ideal for apple pies.
T F
DOUGH! Coloring a pie is more your speed. Check out our coloring contest on page 196.
NOT SO FLAKY Make your own pie crust this year: Find our basic recipe on page 122.
UPPER CRUST You can handle anything! Try making Bobby Flay’s over-the-top pumpkin pie on page 119.
FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE
HOW DID YOU DO?
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NOVEMBER 2017
PIE À LA MODE: GETTY IMAGES.
Boston cream pie is not actually a pie.
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together but stop before it gathers into a ball. The dough should hold together when you squeeze it with your fingers. Use a piece of plastic wrap to gather the dough, then pat into a disk before refrigerating.
C Turnover; D Galette