From Scratch

The convenience of no-bake fruit pies can’t be denied, but neither can their frequent shortcomings. Often they’re little more than a baked pie shell with fruit in a runny pool of syrup or they’re strawberries coated with a neon-red, artificial-tasting, cloyingly-sweet commercial glaze.
My mother used to make a no-bake strawberry pie that didn’t pool, but […]

And who isn’t a fan of The Run for the Roses? Don’t miss That Horse Race Pie – a recipe and the story behind it — from my archives. The race can’t be used in the name because of trademark restrictions.

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I love quiche and it has bothered me no end to see it tarnished, trashed and turned into a receptacle for using up all the leftovers in the fridge. It went from being the fashionable belle of the ball to the tired old town tart who still wears Uggs.
Quiche Lorraine is a classic, dating back […]

Whenever I can devise a recipe that does double duty in my interfaith life, I am happy. This lightened-up take on a favorite worked for Easter and will work for Passover, when dairy is appropriate. In fact, I can envision this any time a plated dessert is needed.
For those not familiar with Passover dietary laws, grains are […]

If you’ve never worked with phyllo dough, just take a deep breath and do it. This festive and different dessert, with dark chocolate and neufchâtel as well as cranberries, is worth trying when you’d like to serve something special.
Like many people, I was intimidated by phyllo dough, especially when every cookbook exhorts us to work […]

Have you ever made a double-crust apple pie, only to cut into it and discover a gaping space between the top crust and the apples? I have and frankly, I don’t know anyone who hasn’t. But it doesn’t have to happen.
One solution is to use more butter in the crust so the pastry really sinks […]

The most difficult aspect of making a woven lattice crust is resisting the urge to tell everyone how easy it is. When you get compliments — and you will, of the ooh and ahh variety — simply smile and say thank you. There must be people who perceive this as difficult or there wouldn’t be directions […]

Of four classic pastry doughs — pate brisee, pate sucree, pate sablee (”sandy” — it’s like a cookie dough) and pate a choux – this is one of the two most often made by American home bakers, the other being brisee for a flaky crust.
“Sucre” means sugar and its presence produces a sturdier crust, making this […]

When I announced pie making week, I promised five days of information. That was before I remembered savory crusts, which really had to be part of it. So a bit more is coming in the next few days, specifically a pate sucree, which I will use for both a pie and a lattice crust. And […]

While we’re not certain of the true origin and meaning of the old nursery rhyme, we can be fairly sure the “four and twenty blackbirds” did not fly out of an apple pie. Savory pies are hundreds of years old and we still enjoy them today.
Two popular savory pies are the comforting pot pie and, […]

I still remember reading something in an old cookbook when I got serious about pie crusts. It advised people making pie crust by hand to work quickly. Good advice, since overworking the dough’s not wise. Then I was startled by the explanation that if you’re nervous and your palms are warm, the dough will get too […]

I’ve always been something of a dilettante about pie crusts. I’ve gone through phases when I’d make them with cream cheese or add herbs or spices. Sometimes I’d add ground nuts, cocoa or, for apple pies, cheddar cheese. When we became aware of the dangers of trans fat, I threw away my Crisco and went to […]

Happily, for those of us who like both, it’s a bit of each.
In a nutshell, it’s a pumpkin pie with apples on the bottom. This is a new recipe for me and I can see it taking its place alongside the traditional pies during the holidays. It fairly screams autumn, and the scent while whisking […]

The word “classic” certainly applies here.  Crisco was introduced in 1911 and millions of us grew up on this crust — also a classic pate brisee — and now that Crisco’s been reformulated (see Pie Crust, Crisco & Trans Fat), I’ve rediscovered it. Conventional wisdom among my mom and her friends was that nothing made a […]

One day out of the blue, I began having trouble with pie crusts, even when made in the processor, despite having made them without problems for years. All of a sudden they were dry, hard to roll and were neither flaky nor tender. It was so frustrating. I wasn’t doing anything differently. Then it dawned […]