Directions

This makes a nine-inch, deep dish pie. The crust business I describe sounds fussy, but it gets easier with practice. And once you've started freezing pie crusts, you'll never go back.

Note: Weave a lattice for the top crust of this pie. That lets the steam escape, and a lattice crust also strikes a good balance between a very rich pastry and the acidity and sweetness of the fruit.

+++

FOR THE CRUST:

Process flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Add the shortening & process to the texture of coarse sand.

Scatter the butter pieces over the flour. Using pulses, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles crumbs, w/ butter no bigger than small peas.

Turn the mixture into a medium bowl.

Sprinkle 6 or so Tbsp of ice water over the mixture. Fold in w/ a rubber spatula. Press down on the dough with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks together, adding up to 5 Tbsp. of ice water if the dough will not come together.

Divide the dough into 2 balls, one larger than the other. Flatten each ball into a thick disk. Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate no less than 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Roll out the larger disk of dough into an 11 or 12 inch circle. Do so on a lightly floured surface; I've shifted over to sandwiching the dough between sheets of lightly floured parchment paper, releasing it from the paper after each pass and re-flouring as necessary.

Fit the dough into a nine-inch pie plate, crimp and trim the edges, then cover the crust with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

After it's rested, shift it to the freezer for 40 minutes to a week (if you're freezing the crust for a long time, wrap it accordingly to avoid freezer burn). The fine folks at Cooks Illustrated talk more about resting and freezing in their writings on pie-baking.

When you are ready to assemble the pie, fill the shell and then roll out the smaller disk of dough. Cut strips to weave into a lattice over the filling. Do this before removing the crust from the freezer so that you have the strips at the ready for when you've filled the pie.

When all's assembled --oven preheated, filling prepared, strips for lattice cut, etc.-- only THEN remove the crust from the freezer. Fill it, lattice it up, and get the pie into the oven asap. The frozen water in the dough and the frozen water in the butter generate steam at different times, keeping the crust light and flaky.

FOR THE FILLING:

Combine the fruit, juice, sugars, salt and tapioca in a large bowl. Allow to stand for 20-30 minutes.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400º (some bakers prefer to set their pie on the bottom rack of the oven, saying that doing so bakes the crust more fully).

Mound the fruit mixture into a prepared pie crust. Scatter the pieces of butter over the fruit.

Weave a lattice top from strips of pie dough (there are many helpful sources on the web for advice on how to do this if you need assistance...I just spent half an hour trying to describe it, and confused even myself. I'll spare you).

Brush the lattice with the egg yolk mixture, then set the pie in the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes at 400º, then lower the oven temperature to 350º. Bake for 40-50 minutes more, until filling is bubbly and crust is lightly browned.

Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack for at least three hours before serving; serving it sooner will lead to pretty runny slices, but the filling sets up as it cools.