When Pies Fly

A digital scale makes baking better; weighing ingredients means a precise, repeatable bake.

Like a scale, an instant read thermometer adds precision to your kitchen game.

I can’t go a day without cooking in a cast-iron skillet. I have 10- and 12-inch skillets, both well-loved and well-used. They were both found in sad condition at a junk shop and lovingly restored. If that’s not your thing, new pans are fairly priced.

A food processor has been my secret weapon for decades, turning out the flakiest, most tender pie crusts. I have had an extra-large Cuisinart model for several years. The motor is strong, the blades are sharp, and the plastic parts are pretty sturdy (and easily replaced every few years, when they become scratched or chipped or lost in a house move).

A great pie has a crisp bottom crust, achieved by cooking the bottom of the pie at the same high heat as the top. I discovered the benefit of cooking atop a hot surface when I forgot to remove my beloved Baking Steel (see Resources, here) from the oven when preheating it to bake a pie. The Baking Steel is a 15-pound cast-iron slab that retains and amplifies the heat of the oven, carrying it directly to the bottom of the baking sheet holding a flying pie. A baking stone or pizza stone will work the same way, as will an inverted baking sheet, when put in the oven during preheating. It will be hot and ready for the pan holding the pie when the oven is at temperature.

Parchment paper is on the shelf at most grocery stores now, sold in rolls along with the foil and plastic wrap. For ease of use, I prefer pre-cut sheets, sized for half sheet baking sheets (13 by 18 inches) and available at kitchen shops, restaurant supply houses, and from many online retailers.

Your rolling pin may have handles or not, might be tapered or perfectly cylindrical. It can be silicone or wood, metal or marble. I switch between a handled silicone pin that is heavy and allows me to roll wider pieces of dough without my knuckles getting in the way and my other favorite, a heavy maple cylinder that has lived in my kitchen for about 45 years. It’s smooth and heavy and familiar. Find your pin, the one that you love so much you pack it in your suitcase on the way to the vacation house.

A plastic, washable ruler is an essential tool. Use painter’s tape (I like the blue because it’s easily visible next to the pie dough) to mark off the size to roll out the dough—it’s noted in every recipe. Then lightly dust the surface with flour and roll the dough out. It’s a beautiful thing to waste less pie dough, a moment when high school geometry becomes real.

I have two different bench scrapers, the handled, stiff, straight-edged tool used to clean bakers’ tables by scraping off the excess flour. Use the bench scraper to push and lift as much of the dry residue as possible. The straight edge may be used to divide pie dough blocks, sure, but I also use it as a transferring tool when carrying diced onions from the cutting board to a skillet. It’s a tool that is on the counter from the moment I start any kitchen project. In contrast to the stiff metal scraper, a flexible, silicone bench scraper is my favorite tool for scraping out the work bowl of the food processor, or lifting meringue from the mixing bowl to a pastry bag.

A pastry wheel makes ruffled edges and a pizza wheel makes a straight edge. In fact, a sharp paring knife will serve the same function, but I like the feeling of a handled wheel against the ruler, like an X-Acto knife against a T-square in drafting class.

Pie weights are used for blind baking (see here), resting atop a sheet of foil or parchment paper, and might be as simple as piles of pennies, raw dried beans, raw rice, or white sugar. (Hat tip to Stella Parks for that last one—afterward, use the toasted sugar just as you might use granulated sugar in any recipe. It delivers a distinct caramel tone.) Reusable ceramic and metal pie weights are available at kitchen shops, restaurant supply houses, and from many online retailers.

I use a cookie scoop to fill hand pies and poppers, empanadas, and kolache. Look for 1-tablespoon, 3-tablespoon, and ¼-cup sizes—all are smaller than a regular ice cream scoop.

An offset spatula has so many uses—lifting trimmed dough from the counter, swooshing frosting over a hand pie, spreading sauce along the bottom of a tart or galette. I have two sizes, small and large, and the smaller one gets more use.

For frying, for draining saucy fillings, for lifting leeks from a cool water rinse, a long-handled skimmer—often called a spider—or even a generous slotted spoon will be invaluable in your kitchen arsenal.

Grate cheese, garlic, ginger, or nutmeg on a Microplane or rasp. A four-sided box grater is essential for those long strands of cheese that make a melty topping.

Cookie cutters are inspiration for flying pies. Round, square, hearts, flowers, alphabet letters… there’s no end to the options.

Small and large silicone brushes swab egg wash onto the top of the pie, leaving no fussy brush hairs—and they are easy to clean, too.

Find the right cotton cloth for strudel pulling. While a generously sized, soft, well-used, all-cotton or linen tea towel (not terry cloth) may be used for strudeling, a larger cloth like an old tablecloth—again, soft, well-worn cotton or linen—keeps the flour contained.

I love to add to my collection of sparkling sugars, sprinkles, and other decorations. It’s especially fun to shop for these twinkling toppers when traveling in other countries. Online retailers offer many options, even color coordinated, and most grocery stores have a small collection of suitable decorations.

Recipes were developed and tested with King Arthur flours, grocery store “American-style” butters, and Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt. Brown sugar, unless otherwise noted, refers to light brown sugar.