The last time I wrote about pie, I was ridiculously proud of myself for achieving the perfect crust of my dream. I really thought I nailed it at last. Alas, my latest pie excursion was so humbling that I can only say I have a long way to go before calling myself an accomplished pie baker.
In my frenzy to use up perishable ingredients around the house, I called upon those beautiful Northern Spy apples I had in cold storage. Melissa Clark’s Apple Cranberry Crumble Pie is my latest favourite so I industriously whipped up four portions of single crust pie dough. Two handsome apple pies, one decadent Nutella Banoffee Cream Pie, and an Oatmeal Chocolate Pie later, I put a good dent in the perishable ingredients of my kitchen. Despite the delicious filling, I was not happy about my pie crusts. Not a single one earned a passing grade in my books and I was rather disappointed with myself.
My tendency to under-work pie dough was in full display for all four pies. Instead of a beautiful marbling of butter, the fat distributed like little islands in the dough. As soon as the dough went into the oven, the fat simply leaked out and bathed my pie in buttery grease. I did not achieve the sought-after flaky layers.
To be fair, I tried a different pie dough recipe than the last time when perfection was mine. I have never been good with recipes using little liquid and depend on “squishing” to turn crumbs to pliable dough. I now understand why some people do not stray from the tried-and-true. Disappointment is so much more acute when you know you did it much better before.
Aside from my gripes about the pie dough, there were much to love about all four pies that I made. I wrote about both the apple and banoffee pies before so I want to tell you more about the Oatmeal Chocolate Pie. I never quite fully understand the appeal of pies because it is not a baked good that fosters creativity. You have your traditional fruit, cream, and nut filling that always please the crowd. Innovation only invites reminiscence of That Perfect Pie and questions of “Why mess with a good thing?”. Perhaps now you understand why I was a little excited to try a pie recipe with filling that is totally new to me.
The Oatmeal Chocolate Pie has a layer of chocolate ganache and a chewy crunchy oatmeal topping that tastes of butterscotch. The recipe from Serious Eats is a take on Four and Twenty Blackbirds, a pie shop in Brooklyn. I have not tried the original version so I can’t tell you how this recipe measures up. What I can say though is that this rich filling is rather addictive. Obviously it is unapologetically sweet but there are a lot of complexity behind that sweetness. The subtle play between smooth dark chocolate and deep caramel note of the chewy crunchy oatmeal topping is impressive. This is a pie that can please grown up tastes.
My hit-or-miss history with pie making only makes me long to master this skill for good. I’m not the obsessive type with desire to make pie after pie until I produce consistent perfection. However, it means I will tirelessly return to pie recipes every couple of months until I get it right. I don’t think my tasters would object.
