Prettier Pies
It’s a given that with the holidays comes lots of eating. And one of the things I look forward to the most is dessert. All those gorgeous cakes and cookies, and those mouth-watering pies. Not only is eating dessert one of the things I look most forward to when it comes to the holiday meals, but I also look really forward to baking those desserts. And I’m always looking for pretty new serving dishes or cool new gadgets to aid me in making my desserts that much better or in the case of the serving dishes, that much more presentable.
When it comes to cakes it’s not so hard to make them pretty, you can get creative with the icing, add some sprinkles or use a piping bag to decorate some how. And with cookies sometimes you can use fancy cookie cutters, and even icing. Pies? Now that’s a different story. I’m not the greatest when it comes to pie crust. I’ll confess, I can make one taste good, but I have yet to master that flakey, buttery texture yet. And I certainly haven’t mastered the art of a pretty pie crust. On a recent shopping trip I stopped by my two favorite kitchen stores and found some great tools to help me fool people into thinking I can make a pretty pie crust.
Ever try to make a lattice topped pie and end up tearing the dough or getting the weave wrong? That’s totally something I would do, or my dough strips would be cut crooked or different sizes. Well get ready to wow everyone without having to do all that work. There is a tool out called a lattice cutter you just roll out the dough and press the cutter down to create what looks like an interwoven lattice crust. If you want something a little fancier than that, I spotted an oak leaft lattice cutter, that would add a nice touch to those fall berry pies. Another idea to pretty up those pies would be to use a set of small cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the top crust. I also found a neat tool called a pie marker that you place on top of the baked pie to mark it for even slicing. Not always practical because not everyone wants the same size slice, but if you’re serving buffet style this could definitely make quick work of slicing the pies before sitting them out for serving.
Do you have any secrets on how to make the perfect pie crust or atleast fool people into thinking you’re an expert pie maker? Share with us!
