πr2 -- “Pie-are-square”

πr²                   “Pie-are-square”

A late freeze this spring means we won’t have any peaches to harvest from our orchard at the end of this summer.  All the little blooming buds look like they were burnt off with a blow-torch.  Every year it seems to happen that the early spring warmth coaxes some blossoms out in March and a subsequent freeze seals their fate.  Each year it is a different variety of fruit that gets wiped out, depending on the timing of who's flowering when the frost hits.  Some years, no cherries … other years, no apples.  This year we'll get no apricots, no plums, nor peaches for fresh fruit pies   ...  boo-hoo!

Luckily we have a few gallon-sized plastic bags of various fruit tucked away in a freezer. Some lovely cut peaches from last year just got turned into a nice pie!

Pie R Squared

The way we do it:    Each gallon zipper bag actually holds about 8 cups of fruit.  Thaw a bag overnight in the fridge until soft enough to break apart, but still icy.  Gently mix in a cup of sugar, a quarter cup of tapioca flour, and a teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg (if appropriate for the fruit being used.)

 

Make this rectangular double-crust pie in a rimmed baking sheet “bun pan” which is 13” x 18” and fill with about 2 quarts of pie filling (home-canned filling works great…more on that in a future blog-post!)  Cut the pie into 6-by-4 portions to make 24 servings.

Pie for a Crowd 

5 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cold butter, cut into chunks

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

4 egg yolks

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

½ cup cold water

¼ cup cream

approx. ½ cup raw “turbinado” large-crystal sugar
and 2 quarts pie filling (more or less)

Cut butter into the flour in a large bowl.  Mix in the salt and baking powder and mix with pastry blender until coarse crumbs are formed.  In a separate small bowl, mix the egg yolks, lemon juice and water.  Stir the liquid into the flour mixture using a large fork.  Add enough additional water one tablespoon at a time until the flour just forms a rough ball.  For a tender crust, do not knead or over-mix dough. Cover dough ball and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  

Divide dough into approximate halves.  Take the slightly larger half and roll out to a rectangle of about 15”x20” (2” larger than your pan dimensions).  Place dough into rimmed baking sheet pan, stretching and patching to fit if necessary, being sure dough goes up sides to top edge.  Fill with fruit filling.  Roll out second crust and place on top.  Pinch edges of crust together as much as possible.  Brush top with cream  and generously sprinkle with raw sugar.  Cut slits for vents in the top crust.

Bake at 425’ for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350’ and bake an additional hour or so, until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Cool and cut into pie-are-squares for serving.