“50 Pies, 50 States” is a delicious pie road trip across the United States

Cowl of the e book “50 Pies, 50 States” by Stacy Mei Yan Fong. (Excerpted from 50 PIES, 50 STATES by Stacey Mei Yan Fong. Copyright 2023 by Stacey Mei Yan Fong. Photographs by Alanna Hale. Meals styling by Caitlin Haught Brown. Used with permission from Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Firm )

I requested some pals what meals involves thoughts at the moment of 12 months. Solutions embody: consolation meals, applesauce, and the whole lot, like pumpkin and pies. Stroll into any grocery store, and you may see a show of the elements wanted to make the right pie.

As the vacation baking season approaches, house bakers are digging out and dusting off pie-baking gear, a lot of which is heirlooms handed down from household bakers.

What’s higher on a chilly day than baking a pie within the oven, warming the home, together with the scent of cinnamon and spices to dispel the winter blues?

Ask anybody what their favourite a part of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner is, and pie is usually on the high of the checklist. We appear to have a love affair together with her. Households move the custom of creating pancakes from technology to technology.

Making the veneer is usually the largest problem and might subsequently trigger a good quantity of worry. With trial and error, it turned potential to make excellent pies. And if rolling out dough is one thing you are feeling is exterior your consolation zone, a pressed crust is a simple different to a single-crust pie.

Crumbled or crunchy balls or cobbler are alternate options to conventional pie. Whether or not it is a candy fruit pie or a savory pie like rooster pot pie, the nostalgic affiliation with pies we style can evoke emotions of consolation and love.

Whereas researching the cookbook of the 12 months for this function, I used to be intrigued by the title “50 Pies, 50 International locations: An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the US By means of Pie” by Stacy Mei Yan Fong (2023, Gluttony imprint Little, Brown & Firm, $35).

Take into account the e book a scrumptious “pie” street journey throughout the US. The creator took her mission to Instagram the place she baked a pie for every state primarily based on the elements she chosen. Her mission culminates within the publication of the e book.

There are US states which have an official pie; Florida is the important thing lime. Shuffle is Pennsylvania, apple is Vermont. You may in all probability agree that totally different areas and cultures every have distinctive pie traditions. What makes the e book greater than only a cookbook are the feedback devoted to every recipe in addition to details about the situation and inspiration for every pie.

Throughout a latest interview, Stacy talked about that each chunk of pie transports us to the individuals and locations that imply probably the most to us, irrespective of the place we’re on the earth. She knew she was searching for one thing to name house when she moved to the US, the place she earned her diploma from the celebrated Savannah Faculty of Artwork and Design (SCAD).

Stacey was born in Singapore and grew up in Indonesia and Hong Kong. For some purpose, she felt like she had no roots. By shifting to the US, she was capable of perceive the which means of house.

After leaving her profession designing purses, she started her culinary profession, baking at 4 and Twenty Blackbirds, the well-known pie store in Brooklyn, New York. This job gave her the thought for the “50 Pies, 50 States” mission. This mission has given her a way of house and an appreciation for the US, which Stacy calls her adopted house. It was fascinating to know that pancakes are a scrumptious dish the place I grew up.

Her creations are spectacular and eccentric, incorporating the flavors of the state.

When requested which two pies within the e book one ought to put on the high of their checklist to bake, she mentioned: “Your state pie and Brooklyn pie (scallion pie).”

Along with the 50 states, Stacey pays tribute to the locations she’s lived by making a recipe for the pie: Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Savannah, Georgia, and her house for the previous 13 years, Brooklyn. She encourages you to be inventive when making a Brooklyn Bagel, by incorporating elements you get pleasure from in baking.

How about these inventive pies (utilizing taste combos that curiosity me).

California artichoke pie with scrumptious lemon crumb and crimson wine. It is a nod to the flavors of Sonoma County. Maine’s Blueberry and Moxie Pie is impressed by the state’s plentiful berry crop in addition to Moxie, the state’s official mushy drink.

Maryland’s Blue-Crab-Dip Pie with Scorching Outdated Bay Crust pays homage to crab, the state’s hottest meals. Outdated Bay was invented by a German refugee who got here to Maryland in 1939 and named the combination after a line of ships on the Chesapeake Bay.

Nevada pie, properly, it is extravagant and extreme. I will hold this away till you get the e book, however here is a touch…suppose “all you’ll be able to eat buffet.”

I wager your mouth is watering proper now….so let’s activate the oven and bake a pie!

Maple pie (New Hampshire pie) with glazed birch crust

Makes 1 pie

elements:

Shell:

Every butter crust (double recipe beneath), one for the underside of the pie, rolled out, becoming right into a 10-inch pie pan, and crimped, one for the birch tree crust design.

filling:

1 cup maple syrup

1 (15 ounce) can (1 7/8 cup) pumpkin (ideally Libby)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2/3 cup complete milk

2 massive eggs

1 teaspoon floor cinnamon

1 teaspoon floor ginger

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons floor birch espresso powder

Small paintbrush

X-acto knife for reducing birch tree design

directione:

To arrange the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium warmth, gently deliver the maple syrup to a boil. Flip off the warmth and let the maple syrup cool barely. In a big mixing bowl, whisk collectively the cooled maple syrup, pumpkin, cream, milk, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Put aside till able to fill the pie.

Assemble and bake the pie: Preheat oven to 375 levels. Place the ready crust on a baking sheet and pour the filling into the crust. Bake on the center rack for 1 hour till the filling is about however barely jiggly. Utterly cool.

Make the birch tree toppings: Whereas the pie is cooling, use a birch tree mould to chop out bushes from the rolled-out high crust. Place the minimize bushes on a floured baking sheet. Combine 2 teaspoons of floor prompt espresso with 1 tablespoon of water and use a clear paintbrush to color on the main points of the tree. Freeze completed bushes for 230 minutes. Bake within the oven at 375 levels, rotating 180 levels midway via, for 20-Half-hour, till golden brown.

End the pie: Place the birch bushes on the cooled pie. Take pleasure in with whipped cream.

All butter crust

The footnote reads: “The crust is the inspiration of all of your pies. Bakers have their preferences for what fats to make use of, however all I care about is the butter, my pricey. Fats is the flavour, and utilizing higher-fat butter when making your dough means crust.” A pie you may need to eat curly first!

Entire butter crust (single)

¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ teaspoon granulated sugar

½ cup (1 stick) chilly unsalted butter, minimize into ½-inch items

½ cup chilly water

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

½ cup of ice

Entire butter crust (double)

2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) chilly unsalted butter, minimize into ½-inch items

1 cup chilly water

¼ cup apple cider vinegar ½ cup ice

Sift the flour, salt and sugar collectively into a big flat-bottomed bowl. Add the butter items over the dry elements. Utilizing your fingers, additionally fold the butter into the dry combination till every dice is coated. Use a pastry blender or your fingers to chop in or rub the butter into the combination till it is in items a bit bigger than peas (a number of bigger items are positive, watch out to not overmix). You need to have the ability to get huge chunks of butter in your crust: it helps create a flaky impact, in addition to including a scrumptious buttery taste!

In a separate massive measuring cup or small bowl, mix water, apple cider vinegar, and ice. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the ice water combination over the flour combination. Don’t add ice, it’s only there to maintain the water chilly. Utilizing your palms in a round movement, combine the combination collectively till all of the liquid is integrated. Proceed including ice water combination, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time. Combine fastidiously till the dough comes collectively right into a ball, with some dry bits remaining. Flip the dough out onto a evenly floured floor and knead gently till it turns into a single mass. You do not need to overwork.

Form the dough right into a flat disk (if making a double recipe, separate the dough first into two equal parts), wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at the least an hour, ideally in a single day, earlier than utilizing.

The dough might be refrigerated tightly wrapped for 3 days or frozen for as much as 3 months. Thaw frozen dough in a single day within the fridge.

Tailored from the e book “50 Pies, 50 States” by Stacy Mei Yan Fong. Copyright 2023 by Stacey Mei Yan Fong. Photographs by Alana Hill. Meals styling by Caitlin Hott-Brown. Used with permission from Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Firm.