Sophie Conran’s Pies

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Mark’s Famous Apple Crumble (#ulink_3fa2de46-d133-5fac-b781-a49a79435199)

Winter Spiced Fruit Pie (#ulink_cbdc8b18-8e42-5245-aeb4-076aacb8e1f2)

Mince Pies (#ulink_1ea265a5-835a-5afb-bff0-8ab341c18b53)

Whoopie Pie (#ulink_a0c2b9fa-3d32-53f4-8120-0d5d506296c7)

Pecan Pie (#ulink_3666d12c-2233-538a-85d8-8bd09b99cf9a)

Pear and Apricot Tart (#ulink_37b83acd-97e3-50b1-b654-fba169cc27a0)

Cardamom and Honey Bread and Butter Pudding (#ulink_86e85d8f-4f13-50b0-9465-3ec402916701)

Sticky Toffee Pudding Pie (#ulink_78c97a87-6556-58b0-a2d6-f41f69690360)

Banoffee Pie (#ulink_619c5641-07ce-536c-83ec-a575c9b8b19a)

Keep Reading (#u37921cbc-cd1c-5dd6-938b-cb2516fabca0)

Index (#ulink_70f45455-c4ac-5623-9b5d-9cb572e6f6c5)

Acknowledgements (#ulink_3dc26fbc-2dd3-5350-8f9a-47edf07b51f5)

Copyright (#ulink_610c180c-ef8e-5090-8611-6502d92268b9)

About the Publisher (#ulink_f9a7eccd-ac28-514c-bd56-afd5304a5770)

Introduction (#ulink_952114a6-5c22-52fb-9ff7-f143e2f4dcf9)

What is a pie? Sounds like a simple question, but over the years pies have been and still are many varied things, so for a definition I’d say the looser the better. How about a baked dish with some sort of filling, often with a pastry casing or top, though sometimes not? The word “pie” (or “pye”) itself is derived from the Middle English for magpie and it’s easy to see why.Just like this avaricious bird storing precious objects in its nest, the cook can pack a pie with all manner of surprises. Pies can be savoury or sweet, enclosed or open, with pastry, or not, the right way up or even upside down. Pies helpfully are often called a pie but sometimes it’s a pasty, a quiche, pudding, tart or even a cake.

Big or small, pies are wonderfully difficult to define. The term “pie” is used to describe dishes that aren’t pies at all but confections, and their adjunct can describe their filling or not. An Eskimo pie is my favourite offender being neither a pie nor containing a single shred of Eskimo. It is, in fact, an oblong of ice cream covered in chocolate. So, in keeping with the rebellious nature of pies everywhere, I’ve sneaked some controversial ones into this book!

I used to believe it was the Greeks who had invented pies but as I delved further I found references suggesting that it was in fact the Egyptians, with bakers to the pharaohs wrapping nuts, honey and fruits inside a bread dough. It seems the Egyptians kindly passed the pie idea to the Greeks who thoughtfully originated pie pastry. When the Romans ran roughshod over the Greeks, they appropriated this delicacy and triumphantly delivered it home.

Once the pastry case had been invented there really was no limit to what could be baked inside. Fast forward to the thirteenth century and find reference to a tortoise pie from an anonymous Andalusian Cookbook which starts, “simmer the tortoises lightly in water”. You would have thought tortoises had no need of another shell, but they were indeed further encased in pastry. And of course we all remember the nursery rhyme from our childhood:

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye;

Four-and-twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,

The birds began to sing.

Wasn’t that a dainty dish

To set before the King?

Can you imagine the commotion? As the pie was cut open the blackbirds flew around the King’s banqueting hall, up and around the rafters, extinguishing candles as they flapped over them, birds squawking, people screaming, and a pampered King clutching his sides with delight. Yet this fairytale scene is not as far-fetched as it sounds. There has been a long tradition of live animals and even people being “baked” into pies or, rather, inserted into a pre-baked pie case and later released to entertain and astonish guests (a bit like the modern-day novelty of scantily clad models bursting out of birthday cakes). Think of the impressive structural quality to a pie, the mystery of what lies within, and that moment of revelation as you cut into it; little wonder serving a pie can so easily be transformed into a moment of theatre.

One of the best historical pie stories I’ve read about involved a castle-shaped pie at one end of a table with a ship at the other, and a fierce battle between them. The theatre didn’t end there however. A loin of venison was encased in a crust sculpted into the shape of a deer with an arrow in its side. When the arrow was removed, rich blood-red claret poured out. In those grand old days, an indicator of what was within would be proudly stuffed and displayed on the top of the pie: a whole peacock or swan, for example. Sometimes, the legs of whatever the pie was filled with would be left sticking out the sides to act as handles! You will find the recipes in this book a little less extravagant, and I wouldn’t suggest such shocking decoration, but whatever takes your fancy . . .

Pies have been the food of kings and of paupers, eaten at extravagant banquets or taken down Cornish tin mines (the origin of the pasty), and there was a time when the streets of every town across the land would have been filled with the shouts of pie sellers. Yet in recent years the reputation of pies has suffered greatly in the public imagination, largely due to the many food crimes committed in its name. Pies have become associated with unhealthy, mass-produced snacks made from the otherwise unwanted parts of animals: the grisly and knobbly bits, encased in a tasteless, processed shell which coats your mouth in fat. But a pie is only as good as the quality of its ingredients, and happily there now seems to be a pie renaissance underway with lots of new companies producing fabulous pies, baking only the best fillings under the lid.

Pies are great for entertaining, as they can be prepared days in advance and make a fabulous centrepiece. They are also a great way of using up leftovers, transforming them from yesterday’s roast into steaming loveliness. And they freeze well too. Regardless of calorie count, I cannot think of anything so wholesome and nurturing for children, so comforting as a treat or so perfect for a big occasion as a well-made pie.

Pies are very social dishes and for this reason I have included numerous recipes written by family and friends. They are all about sharing and as such encapsulate some of the greatest joys in life. A pie makes an excellent gift. You will be very popular with friends if you bring one along when staying for the weekend (one less meal for your host to cook). During the days and nights of writing this book I have cooked hundreds of pies, baking on average about three different flavours a day. My kitchen has been groaning with pies and being the offspring of two war babies I loath waste, so every visitor or person I have visited has had at least one pie pressed upon them. I can often been found with a pie in the bottom of my handbag, just in case I see a hungry-looking friend. They have always been delighted to receive it.

I hope you enjoy cooking from this book, getting it dirty, splattering it with ingredients. I hope you enjoy the smells, the sound of gentle bubbling, the peace of mixing and rolling the pastry, the excitement of fetching a pie from the oven. But most of all I hope you enjoy sharing the results of your labours with those that you love.

Making Pastry (#ulink_9f3c34c9-e9ce-5d0b-9cde-80d298877f7d)

Pastry is as easy as pie. It really is a doddle. It’s just a simple mixture of flour, fat and liquid to bind.

Use a nice fine flour; the best you can lay your mitts on. I like to use natural fats in my pastry, avoiding anything containing hydrogenated vegetable fats such as margarine and some shortenings. Admittedly, these do make pastry easier to work with, as they melt at a higher temperature and don’t become as oily, but they’re difficult to digest and I personally think they taste foul. Butter and suet, on the other hand, are whole foods. The body recognises them and can digest them easily. I use butter for shortcrust pastry, which makes a wonderful, light, biscuit-like pastry. Suet makes a pastry that’s really easy to handle. I’ve found it holds its shape the best too as it does not shrink or crumble. If you’re a novice try a suet crust as it is pretty foolproof.

Pastry is usually made up from approximately two-thirds flour, one-third fat and enough liquid to bind it. The quantities you will need may vary as may the type of flour, fat or liquid used. Have a play. You can also add any flavour you like: spices, cheese, herbs, horseradish, mustard (English mustard powder is great mixed into a cheesy pastry; grainy mustard adds a great texture), and even vegetables or bacon can be added to savoury pasty, just like bread. For sweet pastries, try sugar, honey, spices like vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg, rosewater, dried fruit, or herbs such as lavender and even crystallised petals. Let your imagination be your guide, but make sure what you add complements the filling and enhances the flavour. When adding an extra ingredient be mindful of the consistency of the pastry – some ingredients can dry it out, while others make it too sticky. This can be fixed by adding either a little flour or a little liquid.

Stay chilled

Keeping everything as cold as possible (including bowls, hands and ingredients) makes for the best pastry. That said, I have a warm kitchen and warm hands, supposedly two of pastry’s biggest enemies, but I still manage to make perfectly decent pastry. Some people suggest putting everything in the fridge for an hour before starting. If the fat becomes too warm it will melt and be absorbed into the flour too much, which prevents the flour from absorbing enough water, and the result is pastry that’s too crumbly and difficult to roll. This is particularly the case if you are working with a pastry with a high fat content, like puff pastry.

If the pastry is greasy and heavy once cooked, you will have overworked it, or it got too hot before cooking and the fat melted. Body heat and overworking can cause the fat to melt, so keep cool and handle it as little as possible. One way to avoid this problem is to mix the pastry in a food processer, which is also super speedy. I still love making pastry by hand, though; rubbing the butter into the flour is really therapeutic. My daughter, Coco, loves measuring out ingredients and getting her little hands stuck into the flour.

Watch your liquid

The more liquid you add, the more the pastry shrinks when cooked. So, if you take it out of the oven and it’s done just that and is also quite tough, you’ll know how to solve it next time: just reduce the amount of liquid. On the other hand, pastry needs liquid to react with the flour to lengthen the gluten strands, so if you haven’t added enough it will crack and crumble when you roll it.

Time to relax

For a similar reason, pastry is best made the day before and kept in the fridge. This gives the gluten strands in the flour time to relax; they become less elastic and the pastry will be easier to roll out. If your pastry shrinks but isn’t tough you probably didn’t chill it enough.

Wrapped in cling film, pastry will keep happily enough in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to three months, ready for an emergency pie moment. Store it as a flatish disc, as this will make it easier to roll out when you want to use it. Pastry is easiest to work with at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge half an hour before you use it.

A note about “soggy bottoms”

Soggy bottoms are something I detest but, it seems, this is a matter of taste: soggy bottoms have their fans too. To avoid the dreaded soggy bottom of a tart or pie, the pastry case needs to be cooked (blind baked) before filling. To do this, line your pie dish or tart tin with pastry and prick the base a few times with a fork. If you have time, let him have a little rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes, as this reduces shrinkage of the pastry shell. Cover with baking (greaseproof) paper or foil and for puff pastries fill with a layer of dried beans, pulses or rice to stop the base from literally puffing up and making it impossible to fill. To crisp the base further, remove the foil and beans and pop it back in the oven for 5 minutes. If the edges look like they may burn just cover with foil. Bake according to recipe.

Soggy bottoms can also effect pie tops. A pie funnel will prevent this by supporting the pastry so it doesn’t sag into the filling and boil rather than bake. In addition, the funnel forms a vent through which the steam that builds up under the crust during cooking can escape (this also helps to stop the filling boiling over the edges). To use a pie funnel place it in the centre of the pie dish before spooning in the filling mixture around it. Cover with pastry in the normal way, making a hole with a knife through the pastry into the top of the funnel.

Funnels are not absolutely essential, however, and you can achieve much the same result simply by ensuring the pie dish is the correct size for the amount of filling, which should be piled full to keep the pastry elevated; then cut a small hole in the middle of the pastry to allow the steam out.

Choosing the right pie dish

Pie dishes come in all shapes and sizes, from wide shallow dishes to deep pudding basins. Where I’ve not given you a size, you can use any shape you like – all you need to do is use an oven-proof vessel of the right volume. You should allow approximately 350ml (12fl oz) per hungry adult.

Pie dishes often have the volume listed on the bottom, but if yours doesn’t you can measure it using a measuring jug. Do this by pouring water from the jug into the dish and counting up, not the other way round! It’s important to fill your pie dish to the top, so if needs be choose something a little too small rather than too big. If you have leftover filling you can always freeze it and use it for your next pie.

Individual pie, dishes approx. 350ml (12fl oz) each

4 people, dish approx. 1.5 litre (2¾ pints)

6 people, dish approx. 2 litres (3½ pints)

8 people, dish approx. 2.8 litres (5 pints)

SHORTCRUST PASTRY MAKES 300G (10OZ)

100g (3½oz) unsalted butter, straight from the fridge

200g (7oz) plain flour, cold if possible

a pinch of salt

1–2 tbsp chilled water or one small beaten egg

SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY MAKES 300G (10OZ)

100g (3½oz) unsalted butter, straight from the fridge

150g (5oz) plain flour, cold if possible

1 tbsp caster sugar

1–2 tbsp chilled water or one small beaten egg

Less is more

Restrain yourself when it comes to decorating the top of your pie, as over-decorating can make the lid soggy because of the double thickness (keep an eye on your kids here as they love the decorating bit and sometimes get carried away).

If this all sounds a little ominous and off-putting don’t worry! These things are easy to get right with the tiniest amount of practice. Everyone should have their own way of making pastry; these are only my personal preferences. As my mother used to say there’s more than one way to skin a rabbit. Have I enthused you yet? I hope so. It’s easy peasy. Give it a go.

Shortcrust pastry

The recipe opposite gives the amount of flour, butter, liquid and salt you’ll need for making 300g (10oz) of pastry. It is best made the day before. First, cut the butter into cubes, and put it into a food processor with the flour and salt. Using the cutting blade, blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the chilled water or egg a little at a time. The amount of liquid you need will always be an approximation, as all flours are slightly different. If it is a very damp day, you will need even less liquid in the mixture. Pulse the mixture until it binds together into a ball. Scoop it out of the food processor and dust it with flour. Form the dough into a thick disc. Cover with clingfilm and chill for a minimum of 1 hour in the fridge. Allow the pastry to come back to room temperature before rolling out on a floured board.

How thinly you roll out your pastry is a matter of preference, and will depend on your choice of pie dish and the type of pastry you’re using. I tend to use a thickness of 3–5mm / ¼ in, so if you’re starting out, I would go with this.

Sweet shortcrust pastry

For sweet shortcrust pastry, you’ll need to reduce the amount of flour and, once you’ve mixed the flour and butter to breadcrumbs, add 1 tablespoon of caster sugar. Then pulse until mixed.(See the panel opposite for the amounts required for making 300g [10 oz].)

Vanilla pastry: replace some of the water with ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Rosewater pastry substitute a tablespoon of water with a tablespoon of rosewater.

Cinnamon pastry add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon with the flour.

Filo and puff pastry

I should probably try to make filo pastry. Apparently it is an art form that takes generations of experience to perfect, so I stick to the shop-bought stuff as it’s usually excellent.

Puff pastry is the other kind of pastry for which there’s no shame in buying from the shops. Making from scratch requires so much rolling and refrigerating that it can seem far too time-consuming unless you are dedicated.

Baking in an Aga

I love my Aga. I love the way it gently breathes and warms the kitchen. Every pie in this book has been cooked on and in my Aga.

My basic method for cooking a pie involves first preparing the filling and then baking the filling in a pastry case or just covering with pastry. I tend to cook the filling on a simmering plate, using a large cast iron or ceramic casserole dish. If it is cooking too fast I put a coin under the pan. When it comes to baking, I usually pop the pie on the grid shelf on the lowest set of runners, in the roasting oven, then check after about 15 minutes and cover with foil if it looks like the pastry is brown enough. Below is a general guide to converting the temperatures used in this book for your Aga.

Meaty Pies (#ulink_4715a5f7-0083-566a-afa1-7fbcc27edd97)