While I am a huge fan of making my own pie crust, others are not. Some people think it’s too labor intensive and opt for the store-bought, ready-to-roll crusts. But making your own is not as hard as some people think. Recently I was reminded of just how easy it from Lisa Ludwinski, owner of Sister Pie, a pie and pastry shop in Detroit’s historic West Village.
But before I get into making pie crust, there’s news to share about Sister Pie.
Bon Appetit magazine recently revealed its 50 nominees for the 2016 best new restaurants. That list included Sister Pie. “We were pretty shocked, and that’s a quite a list to be on,” Ludwinski said. Bon Appetit’s Hot 10: America’s Best New Restaurants 2016 winners will be revealed Tuesday in the magazine’s September issue and on bonappetit.com.
“To see so many of the other names that I’ve been admiring from afar on the list, it was kind of cool to be on the list,” Ludwinski said.
Ludwinski opened Sister Pie in April 2015. The year before she won a Comerica Bank $50,000 Hatch development grant.
As for making pie crust, really, it shouldn’t be that hard. It’s four basic ingredients: flour, salt, water and a fat (butter or shortening). But I think it’s the care or steps one takes in making the crust that makes it special. For me, it’s having all the ingredients well-chilled, including the flour. I even put the cut up butter (or shortening or mix of both) in pieces and freeze them for about 20 minutes before using. The reason for chilling is so the butter or fat doesn’t get too soft. You need the butter to be cold so it gets nestled in little pockets. During baking, those pockets of butter melt, creating the flaky layers.
You can mix crust ingredients by hand if you like, but I prefer using a food processor. When making the dough, I like watching and feeling how all the ingredients come together. And there’s some pride in knowing when the dough is just right. Does it take a little practice? Sure. But once you get the hang of it, making it is a breeze.
Get more recipes from Susan Selasky and the Detroit Free Press Test Kitchen
A couple tips:
■ When using a food processor, place plastic wrap over the work bowl before putting the top and mixing in the butter. Doing so prevents the flour from flying all over. Once mixed remove it, of course, before adding the liquid.
■ When mixing the ingredients, use the pulse button so it’s easier to see how the dough is coming together. It’s also important to add only enough icy cold liquid, pulsing, so the dough comes together and doesn’t crumble. Once the dough has come together — carefully remove it to plastic wrap and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate it.
Today’s pie dough crust recipe comes from Ludwinski, whose Sister Pie also got a huge nod in the May issue of Bon Appetit’s “Eat Like a Local” feature. One of the best parts of that feature, she says, was being able to share her recipes with people on a national level.
“We so often get people asking us for recipes,” she says. “Because we don’t ship our pies and we don’t have any plans to ship our pies so it’s cool that will be able to be nationally recognized. Hopefully people will come and try pies because they read it in the magazine.”
Sister Pie Crust
Makes: One, 9-inch pie crust / Preparation time: 20 minutes / Total time: 1 hour plus chilling time
If using dry beans or raw rice as pie weights, use a lot.
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
11/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons ice water
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
In a food processor, pulse the salt, sugar and 11/4 cups flour in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until largest pieces are pea-size. Transfer to a medium bowl and freeze about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine vinegar and water and sprinkle over flour mixture; toss with a fork to incorporate. Knead until dough comes together with just a few dry spots remaining. Flatten into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours.
Let dough sit at room temperature 5 minutes to soften. Roll out on a lightly floured surface, rotating often and dusting with more flour as needed to prevent sticking, to a 12-inch round. Fold dough in half and transfer to a glass 9-inch pie dish. Lift up edges and allow dough to slump down into dish. You should have about a 1-inch overhang. Fold edges under and crimp. Place pie dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and freeze 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly coat a sheet of foil with nonstick spray and place in pie crust, coated side down, pressing into bottom and sides. Fill with pie weights (or dried beans) and bake until edge is pale golden, about 15-20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and pie weights and bake crust until bottom is light golden for a fruit pie, 7-12 minutes, or golden for a custard pie, 12-18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
Cook’s note: Dough can be made 3 days ahead, or freeze up to 1 month. Crust can be baked 1 day ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.
Recipe by Lisa Ludwinski, Sister Pie, Detroit. Not tested.
Recipe: Individual Blackberry Cobblers
Salted Maple Pie
Makes: One, 9-inch pie / Preparation time: 20 minutes / Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
11/2 cups grade B maple syrup
1/2 cup light brown sugar
21/2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1 heaping 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
11/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on top
1 blind baked 9-inch crust, cooled
1 egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Melt butter in a small saucepan and combine with maple syrup in a small mixing bowl.
Whisk in light brown sugar, cornmeal and salt.
Measure out and mix together the eggs in another bowl. Whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla until combined. Slowly pour egg mixture into maple mixture and whisk until combined. Be careful not to over mix. Strain finished filling through fine mesh into new container. Pour the strained filling into prebaked pie shell and bake, rotating once in the middle of baking, for 30-40 minutes or until puffed around the edges and only jiggling slightly in the center when moved. Remove pie from the oven to a wire rack. Cool completely and sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.
Recipe by Lisa Ludwinski, Sister Pie, Detroit. Not tested.
