D’Anjou Pear Pie with Citrus and Spice

The return of the pie! It’s been a while since I submitted any posts about pie- but I promised I’d post more. I don’t have any excuse for not baking a pie today, really- with no hot water for a shower, laundry to be done, and a forecast of -14C outside- I’m not likely to be getting much else done!

The perfect pie crust is something I’ve always wanted to practice at home. Considering the fact that my oven is far less than awesome, and far less than even-heating: I think it’s going quite well! I like my pie on the lesser sweet side, and this one hit the mark.

The Pie Dough:

2+1/2 cups                 all purpose flour

1 cup                         butter, cold, unsalted

1 tsp                          salt

1 tsp                          sugar

1/2 cup                      cold water, iced is best.

1                               egg, reserved for washing the crust

-Stir the salt, and sugar into the flour.

-Cut the butter into small cubes and mix into the flour by hand, rubbing it in, until the pieces of butter are small enough to resemble peas.

-Add the cold water and mix with your hands until the dough just holds together. You don’t want to overmix it (and ruin the future flakiness of the crust.) Keep adding small amounts of cold water until you are able to form the dough into one piece, then wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

The Filling:

3                             large d’Anjou pears

4 TB                        muscovado sugar

1                             large orange, zest only

1                             handful, all purpose flour

1                             handful, raisins

-Remove the cores and cut the pears into approx 16 wedges each (keeping the skins on)

-Add all other ingredients to the pears and mix by hand until everything is well blended.

Procedure:

-Preheat oven to 400F.

-Once the pie crust has rested in the fridge for 30 minutes, divide it into two portions and roll each portion out with a rolling pin until it’s approx 10 inches across.

-Line your pie pan with the first disk of dough, place your pears inside. (You want the pears to be slightly heaped over the top of the pie dish, as they will shrink down a bit once cooked)

-Whisk the egg with a splash of water, and  brush around the edges of the pie crust where you will attach the top portion of dough to the bottom portion.

-Place the 2nd portion of dough on top of the pears, press the edges down to seal the pie where you’ve egg washed it.

-Trim off the excess dough, and pinch it together with your thumb and forefinger to create a fluted edge.

-Egg wash the top of the pie, excluding the fluted edge to prevent it from becoming too dark.

-Bake until golden on the top and the bottom. I use a glass pie pan and can see if the bottom is cooked or not! Very helpful!

Ciao for now!

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