what is the main ingredient of a pie

Making pie is easy and need not be intimidating. It all begins with the ingredients and equipment needed for the foundation, the pie crust.

I am a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a BS in Home Economics Education and Extension and from Colorado State University with a MS in Textiles and Clothing. I enjoy spending time with family and friends, gardening, quilting, cooking, sewing, and sharing knowledge and experience with others.

The equipment needed to make a pie crust is also quite basic–bowl, measuring cups, rolling pin, hard surface, pie plate and knife or scissors. However, one can upgrade from the basics as much as desired by adding a pastry blender, mixer, food processor, fancy rolling pins, pastry clothes, dough scrapers, pastry wheels, and metal pie crust shields to name a few. In all humbleness, a suburb pie crust can be made with the basic three ingredients using a bowl and fingers. A rolling pin is necessary to flatten the dough but wine bottles have been used in a pinch. There are many kinds of pie plates and any of them will work. Of all, the simple clear glass pan is probably the best choice. Glass pans produce wonderfully brown, crisp crusts that are usually not soggy on the bottom. (It may be necessary to reduce the baking time or oven temperature with a glass pan.) No matter the material of the pie pan, it is more than possible to bake a great pie in it with a little practice and possible tweaking of time and/or temperature as each material is different. The disposable aluminum pans create the most challenge to even baking, but many have mastered that challenge with admirable results–beautiful golden-brown, fully cooked, no-soggy-bottom pies.

Who doesn’t love a piece of pie? Pie has been a proverbial favorite beginning with the ancient Egyptians according to the American Pie Council. The history of pie is quite fascinating and has been made with fewer resources and less attention to perfection than today. Such has lead to a “pie is a hard dessert to make” attitude. If such were true, where did the saying, “easy as pie,” come from?

While there is not a designated time to bake a pie, late fall seems to bring out the pie baking instinct in many. Perhaps it is the combination of bumper crops from our gardens and fruit trees with the anticipated holiday season and cooler weather enticing one to turn on the oven that brings on the urge to tie on those apron strings and get baking. When fresh ingredients are available, that is the best time to bake a pie.

Some people use all vegetable oil, and some swear by lard. One of my favorite ways to make a pie crust these days is to use sour cream as the fat, along with butter. No need for a food processor; the dough is easy to roll-out, and the crust is wonderfully flaky.

How to Make a Traditional Key Lime Pie | Chef Jean-Pierre

FAQ

What is a pie made of?

What is pie base made of?

What are the four basic ingredients in baking pies?