okay, if i’m being 100 percent honest, i couldn’t care less what kind of pie is made at thanksgiving. i don’t even really love pie. or dessert. i mean, sure i’m eating a chili dark chocolate bar right now, but that’s not dessert. that’s chocolate.
i digress.
the best part of any pie, is the way it looks. and my favorite, favorite, favorite part about pie is the decorative crust.
this is a pie i made a while back for the baltimore chef shop. the knife and the whisk is their logo, but you can do any type of decoration. for a halloween party, i did a spider. i’ve crusted lettering, too. decorating pie crusts like this is so simple, yet so effective. definitely an eye-catcher at dinner parties!
pumpkin pie is the easiest canvas for this kind of work. it’s all one color, so your crust will stand out better than on apple or pecan pie. you can totally make your own crust for this, but a little secret: using the store bought crust for the decorating makes it SO MUCH EASIER. i still do homemade for the base of the pie, but the store-bought holds together so well when you’re doing all the intricate cutting.
okay. first step: use a piece of paper to draw or print the image you want to decorate your pie with.
cut it out, and lay it on your crust.
take a sharp paring knife and cut the crust out — just like you would do with an exacto. if you want to use an exacto, that’ll work too.
DO NOT put your decoration on your pie before it goes in the oven.
bake your pie at least halfway through first. otherwise the decoration will sink into the pie, or burn.
wait until you have about 15 minutes left on your pie, then put the decorations on!
et voila!
chef meets girl 