This is a blog post I wrote for the Mason Dixon Knitting blog. About pie.
Full circle: when your knitting inspires a pie, and a pie inspires your knitting.
I like to knit, I like to bake … and honestly, I like to play with food. A few times a year, I make annoyingly elaborate themed lunches for my kids to take to school. Heart-shaped strawberries, Harry Potter broomsticks made of pretzels and string cheese, and sandwiches that look like Emmet from The Lego Movie. I like finding ways to make baked goods look interesting too.
A couple of years ago, I made a berry pie with a faux-knitted lattice crust for Pi Day (3/14.) Playing with pie crust was fun. I had done simple cut-out pie crust shapes before, but making a knitted crust was a totally new experiment. (Can you actually knit pie crust dough? I tried and failed, using chopsticks.)
Earlier this year when I was collaborating with the MDK team for Field Guide No. 12, my raspberry/blackberry knitted pie became part of the theme, part of the story. The Brambleberry Cowl in Field Guide No. 12 is named after my pie. I had written the pattern for this cowl, but didn’t have a name for it yet. The stitch pattern in the cowl is called the cluster, blackberry, raspberry and/or brambleberry stitch. I was brainstorming pattern names with Field Guide Creative Director Melanie Falick, and we realized the name Brambleberry could not be more perfect. Knitting meets pie, pie meets knitting!
I can’t take credit for this faux knitted crust technique. The first time I saw a pie like this was on craftberry bush, and I had to try it. (Mine turned out differently but that is okay.) I’ve also seen cake bakers create this faux-knitted look with rolled fondant. It's not difficult ... it just takes a bit of time. But it’s totally worth it. We are knitters after all. We know all good things take time.
YOU WILL NEED
Two boxes of pre-rolled Trader Joe’s Pie Crusts (2 crusts per box)
- or -
Pie crust recipe of your choice (I have suggestions below)
Blackberries (1 cup)
Raspberries (3 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
Cutting board
Pizza cutter
Pie pan
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lay one crust on your cutting board. Use a pizza cutter to slice crust into 1/2 inch wide strips. Place the other crust (uncut) in the bottom of your pie pan. Set aside the other two crusts in case you need them later.
Fold your strips in half, then roll into ‘yarn’. Pinch two rolled pieces together at the top, then twist, right over left. Take two more pieces and twist them left over right. (See photos.) These twists make a pair. Lay them side by side on a cutting board. They should look like a column of stockinette stitch.
Keep twisting your yarn in pairs until you have enough stockinette twists to cover your pie. Use an extra crust if you need to make more.
Toss berries with the sugar and flour in a medium bowl, then add to pie pan. Lay the twists on top of the berries and gently press the ends onto the bottom crust.
Use extra crust to make a larger twist and place around the outer edge of pie. (I used 1 1/2 inch strips.) Press this larger twist into crust below so it doesn’t end up falling off during baking. (This may have happened to me.)
My grandma Minnie taught me to brush a pie crust with milk and then sprinkle with sugar before it goes into the oven.
Optional: Use a pie crust shield for the first 30 minutes of baking. Place a cookie sheet under your pie pan in the oven in case your filling runneth over.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 50-60 minutes, until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown.
Your pie may have a mind of its own as it bakes. The stitches might sink, twist, turn and gap. The berries might bubble over your neat little dough twists. But pie doesn’t have to be perfect. Like knitting, it’s handmade. What matters is that it’s made with love. (And no matter what it looks like, it’s going to taste delicious anyway.)
Here is more pie inspiration from some of my personal favorite cookbooks. (Some of these crust recipes may be better suited for regular, non-decorative crusts … but I’m a pie lover and these deserve a share.)
Singer, mom and chef Kelis (also known for her song ‘Milkshake’) serves up a collection of recipes inspired by her Puerto Rican/Jamaican upbringing and world travels as a musician. Add this book to your collection and try her apple pie recipe and Butter Flaky Everything pie crust dough. (You also may want to try making her recipe for Cappuccino Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust. Just wow.)
Sister Pie: The Recipes and Stories of a Big-Hearted Bakery in Detroit
At Sister Pie, Lisa Ludwinski and her band of sister bakers are helping make Detroit sweeter one slice at a time from a little corner pie shop in a former beauty salon on the city’s east side. No one leaves without pie – those who don’t have money in their pockets can simply cash in a prepaid slice from the “pie it forward” clothesline strung across the window. This gorgeous book includes a whopping 75 pie recipes, sweet and savory (and totally unique.) Find the Sister Pie Crust recipe here.
I can’t talk about pie without mentioning fellow Iowan Beth Howard. Beth knows about pie. She made pies at California’s Malibu Kitchen for Barbra Streisand, Dick Van Dyke and Steven Spielberg before moving back home to rural Iowa to live in the famous American Gothic House, the backdrop for Grant Wood’s famous painting. Beth Howard explains how a simple slice of pie can serve as a catalyst for healing. After suffering a personal tragedy, Beth discovered a new sense of purpose and hope while making pie. For her, giving away pie is a metaphor for giving of yourself. Read more about Beth here – scroll down to the Shaker Lemon Pie to find her pie crust recipe.
For some reason, knitting and pie just go together. Maybe it’s the season. Maybe it’s the joy of making things with our hands. Beth Howard says “Pie is comfort. Pie heals. Pie can change the world.”
Knitting, too.
xo,
Jen
– Jen Geigley
www.jengeigley.com