Pie Gets Upgraded at Baking School

Apple pie is pretty basic, right? But, if you're a baking and pastry school student, pie might be a more complex and serious topic.

Ask anyone at pastry chef school and they'll tell you there are thousands of scrumptious pie recipes, from grandma's basic apple pie to other luscious fruit pies. There are chocolate, banana, and coconut cream pies; New York cheesecake; spicy pumpkin; and sinfully rich pecan pies.

Perfect for dessert, pies can also be savory entrees such as quiche Lorraine and shepherd's pie. Even Beef Wellington is an elaborate pie. With an education from a baking and pastry school, you can turn the simple pie into a culinary masterpiece.

Pie's the Limit

A good baking school class can teach you a variety of options for pie fillings and crusts. Filling choices are limited only by your imagination. They can be sweet, creamy, cheesy, or spicy. Pies can be filled with fresh fruit or pudding or hearty vegetables or even meat or seafood. Pie crusts can be the traditional dough crusts or they can be made from nuts, cookies, graham crackers, or corn flake crumbs. The top of a dessert pie can be golden brown pastry dusted with sugar, a fluffy meringue, or a rich Chantilly whipped cream.

Crusty Creativity

When you attend pastry chef school, you learn that there are at least nine different ways to make the edge of your pie crust eye-appealing. Some methods are as simple as pinching the edge with your fingers or pressing it with a fork. Other more complex methods involve using dough to fashion leaf shapes or make braids and add them to the edge of the crust.

In baking school, you can also learn how to make the top of your pie crust fancy and eye-catching. You can weave a lattice or add swirl patterns with extra dough, cut out a leaf and berry motif, or add fanciful dough shapes. You learn, in pastry class, how to use a pastry bag to create elaborate creamy decorations.

Pie in the Sky

With a little help from a good pastry chef school, you can learn how to elevate the simple pie to the mouth-watering, sky high status it fully deserves.

Sources

Hormel Foods

About the Author

Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. Judi has also worked as a training consultant on contracts with Duke University and Bell Atlantic. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton, with a BA in English Literature.

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