Pie Crusts: How to Choose

When making a pie or tart, you have to consider what kind of crust will best complement the filling.  Are you making a fruit pie, such as an apple pie or pear pie?  Or are you making a custard-filled pie, such as a banana cream pie or chocolate pudding pie?  Or even something savory such as a chicken pot pie or quiche?

The three most common French pastry crusts are pâte brisée, Pâte Sucrée, and pâte sablée.  The two crusts I normally use are pâte brisée and pâte sucrée.  Pâte brisée, the old French term for broken paste, is a rich, flaky pastry dough.  Pâte brisée is the most versatile of the crusts and can be used in sweet or savory recipes.  I typically use pâte brisée for apple pies, pear pies, and quiches.  Pâte Sucrée, the old French term for sugar paste, is a sweet, vanilla sugar cookie-like crust.  I like to use pâte sucrée when I make tarts and custard filled pies.  Pâte sablée is a sweet almond shortbread crust and complements pear tarts as well as fruit tarts filled with pastry cream. 

Pear Pie

Instead of making your basic apple pie, why not try something new like this pear pie?

In this pie, the delicate flavor of Bosc pears is enhanced with vanilla and covered with a crisp cinnamon streusel topping. 

Ginger Elizabeth's Cupcake Day

If you’re ever in Sacramento, California, one of my favorite dessert places is Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates.  They specialize in chocolates (obviously), but they also have a good selection of cookies and desserts.  Every month or two, the boutique will host event days where special items are available such as cupcakes, custards, or gourmet preserves and jams. 

This past Saturday, Ginger held one of her amazing cupcake days.  This time she featured 4 cupcake variations (clockwise from front): Key Lime Pie, Salty Caramel, Tiramisu and Real Red Velvet.

Ginger Elizabeth's cupcake descriptions:

•  Tiramisu Cupcake - Coffee Syrup soaked "Ladyfinger" Cake filled and topped with Mascarpone and Marsala Cream
• Key Lime Pie Cupcake - Buttermilk Cake filled with Key Lime Curd topped with Vanilla Bean Buttercream and House-Made Graham Crackers
• Real Red Velvet Cupcake - Ginger's Grandmother's Light Chocolate Cake topped with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Salty Caramel Cupcake - Rich Chocolate Cake filled with Fleur de Sel Caramel and topped with Caramel Buttercream

I don’t know if I can decisively say that one cupcake was the better than the others, but the tiramisu cupcake came pretty close.  

Next time you’re in Sacramento, don’t forget to make a stop at Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates!

Chocolate Pudding Pie

A classic favorite – Chocolate Pudding Pie

Fresh whipped cream speckled with vanilla bean seeds contrasts nicely with the velvety, rich chocolate pudding in this chocolate pudding pie.  For this pie, you can vary the crust, using anything from a cookie crust (made with chocolate or vanilla wafers) to a normal pie crust.  For my version of this classic pie, I used a Pâte Sucrée, which is like a vanilla sugar cookie crust.