Thinking of baking a pie for your sweetheart this month, but afraid of the numerous pitfalls, like soggy crusts, runny fillings and weeping meringues? No worries. Pie baker extraordinaire Marlene Stubler, who during the height of the season for her Humble-based Pie in the Sky Co. bakes 500 pies an hour, has a few tips for you.
A self-confessed pie lover, Stubler learned from the best — her mom and grandmother. “As far back as I can remember, we had a family lunch every Sunday and the dessert was always pie. I would be in the kitchen
with Mom and Grandma as they turned the fresh picked dewberries into pie,” she says. To this day dewberry remains her favorite.
Stubler believes the very best pie crust recipe she has ever used is the Martha Stewart butter pie crust. “But at a commercial level the cost is prohibitive. Instead, I use a high-quality shortening and the results are
delicious.”
Of course the shortening (or butter) needs to be cold, as does the water. And minimum handling of the crust helps to keep the end results light and flaky after baking.
Stubler has discovered that fruit pies, like the Red Hot Apple Pie recipe that follows, need to be baked hot and fast so they brown before they bubble out and all over your oven. Liquid pies, like pumpkin or buttermilk, present a different problem — that of soggy bottom crusts.
“Even though I have baked thousands of pies, I still struggle with this issue,” she admits. Her most recent solution: parbaking the crust empty, or in baking terms, blind. “Weight the crust down with dried beans, then half
bake it. Remove the beans, then add the filling and bake until the filling is set. Baking in a convection oven and in a metal pie pan versus a glass or ceramic one also helps to keep the crusts crisp.”
As for meringues, Stubler has learned to avoid the messy weeping and unsightly shrinkage of the meringues by “totally covering the pie filling
with the meringue all the way to the crust and maybe even down the side of the pie pan just a little bit. Then in a hot 400 oven (350 if a convection), brown it really fast, then get it out. Works every time,” says Stubler.
Still not convinced that baking pie is, well, as easy as pie? Stubler will rescue you. If you are too pressed for time to stop by her shop and cozy café in Conroe to pick up a fresh pie, you can mail order one from her
company’s Web site, www.pieintheskyco.com. In Houston, Rice Epicurean Markets carry Pie in the Sky Co. pies.
Pie in the Sky Co. & Eats, 3600 North Loop 336 West, Conroe, 936.760.3301, www.pieintheskyco.com
CLICK HERE FOR RECIPES
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