Favorite Pies for Harvest Time

Lucky Girl's

Favorite Pies forHarvest Time

By Jessica Giordani, Lucky Girl Bakery, Winter Caplanson Photos, Food Styling, Melinda Kuzmak, Garnet Leigh Designs

Autumn may be my veryfavorite season for baking(and eating ! ) pies.

The days are shorter, the nights a bit cooler, and there is a bounty of beautiful fruits and gourds just waiting to be bathed in warm spices and tucked away in buttery, flaky pastry dough. Fall baking tends to be steeped in tradition. As we gather with family and friends to celebrate holidays and harvests alike, we reach for well-loved recipes. Dog-eared cookbooks and faded handwritten notes on treasured slips of paper guide us in creating the comfort food that we lovingly bake and share with one another.

While we crave the warm familiarity of time tested family recipes, pies give us freedom. The two-part construction (pastry dough + sweet or savory filling) urges us to play with flavors and textures without feeling ruled by the exact proportions involved in baking a cake. With a bit of practice, you’ll make lovely piecrusts and then you’re free to play. Add herbs and spices to your dough! Spirits to your fillings! Citrus to your whipped cream! Chocolate everywhere! The possibilities are limitless, and the results are delicious.

Cranberries, bourbon, and pumpkins are some of my go-to fall ingredients for baking. The following pies get baked again and again for both my family and my customers between September and the New Year:

Pie Dough

This recipe will make enough dough for all three pies. You can easily cut the recipe in half or freeze any well-wrapped, unused dough for up to three months.

5 c. all-purpose flour Scant ¼ c. sugar ¼ tsp. nutmeg 1 tsp. kosher salt 2 c. (4 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 24 pieces 1 c. very cold water

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Toss cold butter in flour mixture. With a pastry blender, cut butter into the dry ingredients. If you don’t have a pastry blender, this is not a problem! Use your fingers to crumble the butter into the flour. Stop when the bits of butter range in size from oats to peas.Sprinkle chilled water over the mixture and fold together with a bowl scraper. The dough will look moist and shaggy. Try to handle your dough as little as possible. Your finished dough should have visible pieces and streaks of butter throughout; this is what makes a beautiful, flaky crust! Press and knead the dough into a large disk (You may break it up into portions at this point.) and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour to rest.

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Spiced Pumpkin Pie with

Makes one 9” pie

Prepare the Crust: Roll 1/4 of the pie dough on a lightly floured surface and fit into pie plate. Leave a 1” overhang so that the edge can be decoratively tucked under or crimped. Chill prepared pie plate until ready for use.

Filling: 2 c. pumpkin purée* ¾ c. packed light brown sugar ¾ tsp. cinnamon ½ tsp. nutmeg ½ tsp. ginger 1 tsp. sea salt ¾ c. heavy cream ½ c. whole milk 3 large eggs, beaten 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Pecan Praline

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine all ingredients for pie filling and whisk together until well blended. Pour into prepared piecrust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 355°F and bake for an additional 40–50 minutes until filling is set. Let pie cool before pouring on Pecan Praline topping.

* You can use either canned solid-pack pumpkin purée for this recipe or homemade purées of Sugar pumpkin, Butternut squash, Blue Hubbard squash, or a variety of other gourds. If using a homemade purée, be sure to strain it well to eliminate excess liquid so that the pie filling will set correctly.

Pecan Praline Sauce

6 Tbsp. butter ¼ tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter) ¼ c. heavy cream ½ c. packed light brown sugar 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract ¾ c. chopped pecans

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Combine sugar, butter, heavy cream, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Whisk occasionally as the mixture simmers; cook for three to five minutes until mixture is bubbling and thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and pecans. Pour over whole pie or serve warm with individual slices.

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Cranberry Tart

Makes one 9” pieThis zesty cranberry tart is one of my all time favorites and is a breeze to make.The tart crust is blind-baked and the filling is prepared on the stovetop.

Prepare the Crust:Roll 1¼ of the pie dough recipe on a lightly floured surface and press into a 9” tart pan. Press dough along the crimped edge of the tart pan to remove any excess and place in freezer until dough is firm. Meanwhile, grease a sheet of aluminum foil, large enough to cover your tart pan, with a thin coating of butter. Press the prepared foil tightly against your chilled dough. Bake the wrapped dough for 20 minutes. Remove the foil. If the center of the dough appears to have puffed up underneath the aluminum foil, press it down firmly with an oven mitt, then remove the foil. Return to oven and bake for an additional 10–15 minutes until crust is golden brown. You may use any additional dough and either a knife or cookie cutters to make decorative leaves or other shapes to arrange on your finished tart. Simply bake on a cookie sheet alongside the tart shell (15 minutes or so) and remove from oven when golden brown.

Filling:

1 c. sugar ¼ c. water ¼ c. orange juice 3 c. cranberries (1 12-ounce bag) Orange zest 3 Tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder ¼ c. dark raisins ¼ c. golden raisins ¼ tsp. ginger ½ tsp. cinnamon ¼ tsp. nutmeg Pinch of ground clove ¼ tsp. allspice ¼ tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, water, and orange juice over medium-high heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to medium and add cranberries, raisins, and orange zest. Cook five to seven minutes until the liquid is simmering and some of the cranberries have popped. Add spices, sea salt, and cornstarch or arrowroot to the fruit mixture and stir continuously for an additional two to four minutes until the fruit has thickened. Pour into prepared tart shell and arrance decorative cutouts on cranberries. Cool before serving.

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Chocolate BourbonPecan Pie

Makes one 9” pie

Prepare the Crust: Roll 1/4 of the pie dough recipe on a lightly floured surface and fit into pie plate. Leave a 1” overhang so that the edge can be decoratively tucked under or crimped. Chill prepared pie plate until ready for use.

Filling:

3 large eggs¾ c. light corn syrup or golden syrup3 Tbsp. sugar¼ c. packed light brown sugar3 Tbsp. butter, melted1 tsp. pure vanilla extract¼ c. bourbon (Be sure to use something

you would like to drink!)1 c. (8 oz.) of dark chocolate, chopped

(60-70% cocoa)2 c. of pecan halves

Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk together eggs, syrup, and sugars until well combined. Add melted butter, vanilla, and bourbon to mixture. Line the bottom of prepared piecrust with the chopped dark chocolate and then cover with pecan halves. Pour mixture over nuts and chocolate and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 40 – 50 minutes until filling is set.

Serve warm or cooled with whipped cream. If you’re feeling adventurous, spike your whipped cream with a few tablespoons of bourbon!

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