Ken Haedrich - Pie Academy: Master the Perfect Crust and 255 Amazing Fillings, with Fruits, Nuts, Creams, Custards, Ice Cream, and More; Expert Techniques for Making Fabulous Pies from Scratch

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Edited by Deborah Balmuth and Lisa H. Hiley

Art direction and book design by Carolyn Eckert

Indexed by Andrea Chesman

Photography by Emulsion Studio, except ML Harris/Alamy Stock Photo, spine and endpapers

Food styling by Torie Cox

Text 2020 by Ken Haedrich

Ebook production by Slavica A. Walzl

Ebook version 0.0

October 27, 2020

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Haedrich, Ken, 1954 author.

Title: Pie academy : master the perfect crust and 255 amazing fillings, with fruits, nuts, creams, custards, ice cream, and more : expert techniques for making fabulous pies from scratch / Ken Haedrich.

Description: North Adams, MA : Storey Publishing, 2020. | Includes index. | Summary: Discover recipes for all types of crusts and pastry, including gluten-free, whole wheat, and extra-flaky. Learn about the best tools and gadgets to make dough and fillings. Step-by-step instructions with photos make it easy for bakers of all levels-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020008926 (print) | LCCN 2020008927 (ebook) | ISBN 9781635861112 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781635861129 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Pies. | Pastry. | Baking. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX773 .H2197 2020 (print) | LCC TX773 (ebook) | DDC 641.86/52--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008926

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008927

and future generations of home bakers

So you love baking pies and are ready to explore a wider world beyond apple, pumpkin, and pecan. Or you want to learn how to bake a pie from scratch and you dont know where to begin. Or you know where to begin and do so with the best of intentions, but your pies keep throwing you curve balls. Your dough cracks and falls apart. It sticks to your counter like superglue. Your pies are too ugly to bring out in public. This and more. I feel your pain. And youve come to the right place, because I can help.

By way of introduction, Ive been writing cookbooks for nearly 40 years 15 of them, in fact, including two collections of sweet pies and one of savory pies. This book is an updated, revised, and if I may say so totally awesome-ized edition of my outsize book, Pie, originally published in 2004.

I caught the pie-making bug early on from my dad, a regular weekend pie maker, and my mom, his loving pie partner. Even as a young child, it was clear to me that there was special magic happening in those shared moments. Whether the pie making enhanced their relationship or their relationship brought special joy to their pie making, I could not be sure. But I was lucky to be an observer of that Sunday tradition.

When I started making my own way in the world, I naturally gravitated toward the kitchen. Somewhere along the line I started cooking for a living, writing magazine articles and cookbooks, and teaching baking classes. After a number of years of this, I woke up one day and realized I had become the de facto Dear Abby for pie makers. Home cooks from around the globe were leaving their pie baggage in my email inbox, a heavy burden of pie woe. Id unpack it and write back, trying to help sort out their issues.

So I started a website ThePieAcademy.com to expand my reach, help even more home bakers, and become a cheerleader for home pie baking. I created pie-making videos and online pie courses to help and encourage folks to find contentment and achieve mastery in our chosen craft.

Offline, The Pie Academy holds pie getaways in different parts of the country where our members come to hone their skills and enjoy the community of fellow pie makers. I hope youll join us someday.

As the dean of The Pie Academy Ive become acutely aware of the questions and quandaries that you have or will have as a pie maker. You may be frustrated, and understandably so. Weve all been told that pie making is easy as easy as pie, right? but I can tell you for a fact that most home cooks encounter plenty of speed bumps and fender benders on the road to pie mastery. And I have about 10,000 emails to prove it.

I field questions from pie makers who want to know whether they should use butter, lard, or vegetable shortening for their crust; how to know when theyve added enough water; if they have to refrigerate the dough; why the dough always sticks or falls apart on the way to the pan; why the berry pie is runny, the apples arent tender, or the pastry cream didnt set up; why the pie shell shrunk and Im just getting warmed up. You will find the answers to all those questions, and many more, in the pages that follow.

One thing you wont find here are detailed instructions on creating labor-intensive pastry still lifes, the sort of pies that become Instagram starlets. I admire anyone who has the patience and talent to turn their top crusts into geometric masterpieces and stunning artwork. Ill even confess to a smidgen of jealousy; Im more of a stick-figure artist myself. But this is pie were talking about, the province of home cooks, and Im afraid these fancy pies sometimes scare more people away from pie making than they attract.

That said, you will find instructions on making decorative lattice tops, attractive crimped edges, peekaboo crusts, and a good many other pastry flourishes, plus virtually everything else you need to know to make fabulous sweet pies in every category imaginable.

There are no shortcuts to learning how to make good pie. Pie making is part science, part feel or bakers intuition. Recipes alone can only take you so far. Beyond that, pie making requires practice and cultivated instincts for all the little nuances. Youve got to roll up your sleeves and get into the flour. The fact that youre here tells me youre ready to go down this path. Youve probably had a taste of the real deal the flaky texture of a homemade crust, the creamy goodness of a velvety custard pie, or the sweet satisfaction of a fresh peach crumb pie in August and youre unwilling to settle for anything less.