Pie day

At the second session of my baking class, we began with a lecture and demo on pie and tart crust. The instructor used a bench scraper (a.k.a. pastry scraper) to integrate liquid into a flour-butter-salt mixture. This allowed her to avoid introducing body heat and building up those long glommy gluten strands that result in a tough crust.

Next, we selected from a list of recipes. I gravitated toward the blueberry white chocolate cheesecake pie (who wouldn't?!). Although this recipe initially was snapped up by someone else, it ultimately wandered back to me: the other student, upon learning that we would be serving our creations at the end of class, and that there were only enough blueberries for one, chose to switch to a different recipe. She recognized that if she made a duplicate, she'd be able to spirit her version away to a dinner party. Thus, I lucked into making the (to my tastebuds) yummier recipe!

Crust dough needs to be chilled for quite some time before it is rolled out, so we began with pre-made, pre-chilled dough. We rolled it out and filled our various pans. I trimmed my dough to the recommended overhang, deciding belatedly to flute my edges. (Ultimately, these edges looked nice enough when they went into the oven but didn't fare well in baking because I hadn't allowed extra dough for the technique. Plus one crust among many in a crowded oven is never as cossetted as a singleton would be. With foresight, space, and tinfoil, it'll be better next time.)

As we mixed our fillings, an assistant loaded in and kept a harried eye on the baking crusts.

My recipe called for a white chocolate cheesecake layer topped with a cooked blueberry layer. These would be poured into the finished crust, then chilled til cold. There was only about 10 minutes to chill it in class, so it did lose some structural integrity when it was served, but it was so delicious! The lemon zest in the blueberry topping was perfect!

When our treats were ready, we wrapped up by making raw dough to use at home, completing the process (if in reverse order). My dough is in the freezer, waiting for inspiration. I have my eye on the savoury pesto quiche someone else made in class - my second favorite recipe finished that day! :)