Martha_Stewart_Living_November_2016

½teaspoon pure vanilla extract

6 tablespoons unsalted butter,

melted and cooled slightly

Confectioners’ sugar,

for dusting

1.Separate 1 egg; whisk white

with 1 teaspoon water, reserving

yolk. On a lightly floured piece

of parchment, roll out one disk

of dough ⅛ inch thick. Trans-

fer to a 9-inch pie dish. Trim to

a 1-inch overhang, then tuck

overhang under, forming a rim.

Refrigerate 30 minutes.

2.On a lightly floured piece of

parchment, roll out second disk

of dough ⅛ inch thick. Using

a cake pan as a guide, cut an

8-inch round from dough; trans-

fer to a baking sheet and refrig-

erate until firm, about 15 minutes.

3.Using a ¾-inch decorative

cutter and starting in center,

make evenly spaced cutouts in

chilled second round of dough,

reserving 34 cutouts. (Bake

remainder, or save for another

purpose.) Return decorative

top to refrigerator until chilled,

about 30 minutes.

4.Brush rim of piecrust with egg

wash. Arrange cutouts evenly

around edge, pressing gently to

adhere. Refrigerate until chilled,

about 30 minutes.

5.Preheat oven to 400° with

a rack in lower third and a

parchment-lined baking sheet

on a rack below. Carefully line

crust with parchment, keeping

it away from decorative rim.

Fill with dried beans or pie

weights. Brush tops of cutouts

with egg wash.

6.Bake until edges of pastry

begin to turn golden, 22 to

25 minutes. Carefully remove

parchment and beans, then

reduce oven temperature to

toothpick inserted into center

of cake comes out with moist

crumbs, 40 to 45 minutes. Warm

jam in a small saucepan over

medium until it becomes thin and

brushable. Immediately brush

apples with jam. Let cool com-

pletely on a wire rack. Lift cake

from pan using parchment and

transfer to a board to slice; serve.

A Round of

Applause

PAGE 90

For more details and tips on the

decorating techniques in these pies,

see pages 96 and 97.

CITRUS CHESS PIE

Active Time: 45 min.

Total Time: 3 hr. 35 min.,

plus chilling

Serves: 8

We used a fluted round cutter to

make our design on this pie, but

a hexagonal, flower, or oval shape

would work as well. Dusted with

powdered sugar before serving,

it might remind you of another

sweet-and-tart old-fashioned favor-

ite, lemon bars.

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon unbleached

all-purpose flour, plus more

for dusting

Test Kitchen’s Favorite Pâte

Brisée (recipe follows),

divided into 2 round disks

1 cup granulated sugar

½cup packed light-brown sugar

1 tablespoon fine cornmeal

½teaspoon kosher salt

Finely grated zest of ½ Cara

Cara orange (1 teaspoon),

plus ⅓ cup fresh juice

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon,

plus 3 tablespoons fresh juice

375 ° and return crust to oven.

Continue to bake until crust is

golden brown and dry on bottom,

10 to 15 minutes more. Let

cool slightly on a wire rack. Tent

edges of crust with foil.

7.Brush decorative dough top

with egg wash. Bake until golden

and crisp, about 18 minutes.

Let cool completely on rack.

8.Reduce oven temperature

to 325°. In a large bowl, whisk

together both sugars, corn-

meal, flour, and salt. Whisk in

remaining 3 eggs, reserved

yolk, orange zest and juice, lemon

zest and juice, and vanilla.

Whisk in butter. Pour filling into

piecrust and bake until top is

golden and center is slightly

wobbly, about 40 minutes. Let

cool completely on rack. Re-

frigerate until chilled, at least

2 hours and up to overnight.

(Keep baked decorative pie top

covered at room temperature.)

9.Dust top of pie with confec-

tioners’ sugar and place decora-

tive pie top in center; serve.

PRO TIP

When blind-baking

(prebaking) a piecrust,

crumple parchment

into a ball and smooth

it back out before lining

the crust with it. The

“relaxed” paper will fit the

crust better, and can

be easily folded away

from decorative edges.

TEST KITCHEN’S FAVORITE

PÂTE BRISÉE

Active Time: 10 min.

Total Time: 1 hr. 10 min.

Makes: Enough for one 9-inch

double-crust pie, or

one 10½-by-15¼-inch single-

crust slab pie

To avoid creating water pockets in

your brisée (which will wreak havoc

in your dough), make sure to

strain the ice out of the water before

drizzling it in and processing.

2 ½cups unbleached all-

purpose flour

1 ½teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 sticks cold unsalted butter,

cut into small pieces

7 to 8 tablespoons ice water

1.Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in

a food processor until combined.

Add butter and pulse until mix-

ture resembles coarse meal with

some pea-size pieces remaining.

Drizzle 5 tablespoons water

over mixture; pulse several times

to combine. Add more water,

1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse

until mixture holds together

when pinched.

2.For a 9-inch pie, shape dough

into two disks and wrap each

in plastic. For a slab pie, shape

dough into a rectangle and wrap

in plastic. Refrigerate at least

1 hour and up to 1 day, or freeze

up to 3 months; thaw overnight

in refrigerator before using.

PRO TIP

Be sure to use cold, not

frozen, butter when making

pâte brisée. Frozen butter

won’t incorporate as easily,

and you’ll end up having to

use more water than is ideal.

BROWN-SUGAR

BUTTERNUT-SQUASH PIE

Active Time: 1 hr. 20 min.

Total Time: 8 hr.

Serves: 8 to 10

To make this recipe in less time,

you can substitute organic canned

butternut-squash purée for the

fresh squash.

1 medium butternut squash

(about 3 pounds)

Unbleached all-purpose flour,

for dusting

decorated them with eye-catching crusts that almost an Creating a crowd-pleasing showstopper of a pie is easier than it seems. We’ve updated classic fillings and walking you through them step by step. The only hard part is picking which to try first.y baker can master. Here, we reveal our clever tricks, A PIE FULL OF STARS

A ROUND OF APPLAUSE

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97

136

THE HANDBOOK Recipes