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Marian Cooper Cairns travels for pie.
Every summer, when magazines and
cookbook publishers are planning for
the holidays, the in-demand recipe
developer and food stylist flies around
the country to make bubbling, flaky
creations worthy of glossy covers (like
ours). ¶Over the past 12 years, she has
developed a reputation for inventive
fillings, basketlike lattices, and creative
crimps. Her passion for baking started
because of her late mother, Jane, who
worked in our Test Kitchen for 10 years.
Cairns followed in her footsteps, spend-
ing seven years here developing and styling recipes. ¶ Although she has an artist’s
eye and baking is in her blood, she says the perfect pie is a result of practice and
patience. “When I first started in the Test Kitchen, I was so intimidated. I couldn’t
even crimp a crust,” she confesses. “But I had the best teachers, and I really worked
at it.” ¶ Of course, when your job entails making two dozen pies for one magazine
cover, you learn a few tricks along the way—like adding a touch of shortening to the
pie dough. “It’s more forgiving to work with when I’m braiding and cutting shapes,”
she says. She crumples parchment paper before placing it in a pie plate so it fits
more snugly and uses a ruler to precisely measure dough strips. Cairns also prefers
to blind-bake pies on a low oven rack for the crispiest bottom crust. ¶ She even has
a few time-saving tips. Use two rolls of refrigerated store-bought dough (she prefers
the Trader Joe’s and Publix brands), and let them stand for 10 minutes to soften
before kneading them together and rolling the dough into a circle to fit your dish.
“A single roll isn’t enough for a pretty crimp or to fill a deep-dish pie plate,” she
says. “There’s no shame in taking a shortcut—I do it, too, at home!”
NOVEMBER 2019 / SOUTHERNLIVING.COM
76
Picture-
Perfect
Pies
One of our favorite food
stylists shares her best-kept
secrets for baking Instagram-
worthy desserts
TEXT BY Lisa Cericola
FOOD STYLING AND RECIPES BY
Marian Cooper Cairns
PHOTOGRAPHS BY Greg DuPree
PROP STYLING BY Kathleen Varner
