A journey...

...to discover...

...the heart...

...and soul...

...of a baker.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Proof of Concept

I thought I should prove the handheld pie concept to myself. Actually, all I really wanted to do was use up the leftover pie dough sitting in the refrigerator and testing a couple of ideas for the handheld pies was a good excuse. I needed to work some things out before I began testing in earnest. Prepping the apples wasn't a problem; I just cut them smaller than I do for a larger pie. The rest of the filling prep was exactly the same.

I didn't have anything that would cut the right shape. Hostess fruit pies aren't true half-moons; they're more like rectangles with rounded corners.

That's no half-moon! That's a fruit pie!
It looks like I'll have to give my friends at Copper Gifts another custom cutter challenge. Until then, though, I'll decided to use the ice cream sandwich cutter as a stand-in. It worked like a charm.

Just add filling!
For this go round, I just cut sides, plopped filling on one, then married the them together. I used buttermilk to help the edges seal. I know a lot of folks use egg whites or cream. I just like taste buttermilk adds to crusts. Also, this was the first time I'd ever used a crimper for the edges. I wasn't sure how it would work but I have to say I'm a firm believer in this little device!

Crimped and ready for oven action!
Pie life with cutter and crimper.
When it was all said and done, I retrieved four lovely little pies from the oven!

Pies as finger food.
They were quite tasty and fit our hands just right! The crust, even after the dough sat in the fridge for a couple of weeks, was still tender. That didn't surprise me so much because the recipe I use seems to have an excellent shelf life. I can't believe I'm about to start test two other recipes for this project but I'm curious about some other ingredients. I'll talk about those next time.

Currently listening to: Diana Ross - I'm Coming Out