1. ChefMichaelScott
LeadChefInstructorAESCA
Boulder
Pies
&
Tarts

2. Pies vs. Tarts & their Fillings
• Pie- an American dessert made of pie shell and filling baked in a
deep slanted baking pan
• Tart- a sweet or savory pastry item consisting of a shell and a filling.
Baked in a shallow or short sided baking pan
Fillings
• Cream & curd
• Pastry cream, lemon curd
• Fully cooked stove top custard
• Fruit
• Cooked fruit fillings (cooked prior to filling pie, cool & fill pre-baked shell
• Cooked juice filling (juice is thickened then added to canned or frozen
whole fruits), cool and fill pre-baked pie shell
• Baked fruit fillings (fresh fruit is mixed with spices, sugar and starch, fill
unbaked pie shell), then bake
• Baked custard: a soft filling that bakes along with the crust i.e.
pumpkin pie & key lime pie
• Chiffon: a fruit or custard filling with gelatin added then lightened
with whipped egg whites before filling pre-baked or crumb crusts
ChefMichaelScott
LeadChefInstructorAESCA
Boulder

3. Types of Dough
• Basic Pie Dough (Pâte Brisée)
• Flaky pie dough
• Brisee: “Broken Dough”
• Keep all ingredients cold
• Keep fat in small pieces (similar to biscuit method)
• Do not overwork
• Bake at a higher temperature
• Sweet Pie Dough (Pâte Sucrée)
• Sweet pie dough
• Mealy, more tender
• Bake at a lower temperature (sugar will burn at high temps)
• Crumb Crust i.e. cookie, graham cracker, cake crumbs
• More delicate
• Usually contains melted butter
ChefMichaelScott
LeadChefInstructorAESCA
Boulder

4. Techniques
Blind Baking
• Using weight to prevent dough from rising during cooking
• Roll out dough
• Place into desired pan
• Chill
• Use parchment paper or foil in between dough and weights
• Bake ¾ of the way, remove weights and finish baking
• Docking
• Poking holes into the dough prior to baking to limit the amount of
rise
• Can be used in addition or in place of weights
ChefMichaelScott
LeadChefInstructorAESCA
Boulder

5. Assembly
• Crusts may be pre-cooked (blind baked) or raw
• Crusts should be cooled before adding filling
• Do not over fill
• Fruit pies can be baked from raw or filling can be cooked then
added to crust
• Topping
• Sweetened whipped cream (Chantilly cream)
• Merengue
• Pie dough
• Sliced or whole fruit (nappage)
ChefMichaelScott
LeadChefInstructorAESCA
Boulder

6. Storing
• Keep components out of the danger zone
• Cool fillings quickly
• Custard fillings can not be frozen
• Raw unbaked fruit pies can be frozen
• Pies shells can be frozen
ChefMichaelScott
LeadChefInstructorAESCA
Boulder