Pie

This versatile crust, which is extremely easy to make, adds zip to any pie, and its enticing flavor offers many intriguing possibilities. In this book it’s paired with the Never Fail Lemon Pie (page 73), but you can also try it with pies like Cinnamon Sugar (page 84), Willard’s Chocolate (page 80), German Chocolate (page 79), Peanut Butter Custard (page 83), Peanut (page 92), or Layered Ice Cream (page 96). You can crush the crumbs using a food processor, rolling pin, or kitchen mallet. This crust should be baked before being filled.

The vinegar in this crust is a flavorless stabilizer, making the dough more forgiving and patchable. In addition to being easy to work with, it also tastes great—even butter-loving pastry fans enjoy the flavor.

Mildred’s light touch took years to master. Too much flour will make the dough tough. Use just enough to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Make the dough ahead of time and place it in the refrigerator wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. If you don’t have a pastry blender, you can use a fork here, as well as your fingers—if you start with cold hands and work fast. The more the shortening melts, the less flaky the crust will be.

A simple pie crust with countless creative possibilities, the Chocolate Cookie Crust has been paired with the Frozen Strawberry Margarita Pie (page 90) and Grasshopper Pie (page 94) in this book, but also consider using it with any of the lemon or peanut butter pies, or even the Spicy Pumpkin Pie (page 48). You can crush the crumbs using a food processor, rolling pin, or kitchen mallet. This crust should be baked before filling.

This crust, which has a nice tangy flavor, can be used in any recipe that calls for Plain Pie Pastry (page 17) or Vinegar Pie Crust (page 19). It’s a good idea to chill the crust for at least 15 minutes before baking; this will help the crust stick together better.

Chocolate wafers (or nearly any wafer cookie) make a delicious crumb crust, especially for cream pies.

A savory short crust flavored with manchego envelops Spanish-inspired hand pies filled with oven-roasted cauliflower, toasted hazelnut paste, chopped rosemary, and more of the grated cheese. Serve them as an appetizer, with slices of membrillo (Spanish quince paste often served alongside cheese, for tapas) and a glass of fine sherry.

Just a sliver of this ultra-rich tart will satisfy even the heartiest appetites. It features a quick herb-infused custard, made by blending softened Brie, eggs, and cream in a food processor, then pouring over sautéed Granny Smith apples in a deep pâte brisée shell.

Consider this tart a welcome alternative—or an addition—to pecan pie at Thanksgiving. The recipe is virtually the same, but with walnuts filling in for half the pecans, and maple syrup replacing the corn syrup. You can incorporate other nuts, such as almonds and hazelnuts, as long as the total volume remains the same.

Single-serving patriotic pies—each slightly different from the rest—are embellished with a host of cutout and appliquéd shapes. Use cookie cutters to make pastry-dough stars in various sizes, and a pastry wheel to cut strips that stand in for stripes; arrange them in whatever patterns you please. Here, a top crust is spangled with tiny star cutouts; a ring of stars frames a bed of blueberries; and stripes and stars suggest the American flag. Red raspberries, sliced strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries in the fillings carry along the Fourth of July color scheme.

Treat Dad to something special on Father’s Day: an over-the-top, unforgettable chocolate dessert. Just like the fudge and the ice-cream variety of the same name, our Rocky Road Tart is jam-packed with mini marshmallows, salted almonds, and chocolate chunks, all in an easy graham-cracker crust. It’s sure to become an annual tradition.

It’s as nice a Mother’s Day present as a bouquet of fresh flowers, but even sweeter: Delicate poached apple slices, rolled up to resemble blooms, make a pretty arrangement atop a bed of buttermilk cream in a flaky puff-pastry shell. You can bake the pastry and poach the apple slices a day ahead; refrigerate apples submerged in the poaching liquid. Because the filling needs half an hour to set, spread it on the cooled baked pastry and shape the roses (page 342) while you wait.

John Barricelli, an excellent baker, television host, and a longtime friend of Martha’s, learned to make this Italian grain pie, known as pastiera, from his grandfather. The wheat berries are fitting for the Easter holiday, as they symbolize rebirth and renewal. The grains get soaked in water overnight before they are cooked in milk. Afterward, they are mixed with ricotta cheese and pastry cream to make an exceptionally delicious filling. John sells the pies—and many other wonderful baked goods—at SoNo Bakery in South Norwalk, Connecticut.

A refreshing chocolate-and-mint cocktail was the inspiration for grasshopper pie, a favorite of Southern hostesses in the 1950s and ’60s. It’s just as appealing today, and its green palette makes it a fun and festive choice for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. To make the pie, a crème de menthe concoction is whipped into a cloud of nearly weightless filling and chilled in a chocolate wafer shell. Each slice is topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. This recipe has been updated from the original one, with fresh mint in the filling and shredded sweetened coconut in the crust.

The crimson filling is only part of this pie’s allure. A gorgeous, sugar-coated crust is also sure to impress any valentine, and you can take your pick of two different styles: Heart-shaped cookie cutters create windows in a double crust, near right, and fashion an overlapping shingled top, far right. Baking times are the same for either variation.

A thin double-crust slab, baked in a rimmed sheet pan, is perfect for pie lovers who prefer a high crust-to-filling ratio. The pâte brisée crust is peppered with polka-dot cutouts made with a round pastry tip; you can try this technique on a double-crust pie in any shape, size, or flavor. For easy unmolding, line the baking sheet with parchment paper with a one-inch overhang on long sides before baking the pie.

A winning combination of tart and sweet, this county-fair favorite is marked by a tightly woven lattice crust. Sour cherries enjoy a short season—typically a few weeks in late June and early July—so snap them up when you see them, and freeze any extras: Line a baking sheet with parchment and freeze pitted cherries in a single layer. Transfer frozen cherries to a resealable bag; they should keep in the freezer up to one year.

This dessert is a specialty of Pennsylvania Dutch country. Chock-full of dark and golden raisins, and flavored with cinnamon, the pie has become a Martha Stewart Living reader favorite since the recipe was first published in the magazine.

In this pumpkin pie with Italian flavors, loosely arranged scraps of pasta frolla are draped over the filling to evoke a lattice design without any weaving. Pine nuts, clustered in groups of three, punctuate the grid.

The layered finish that tops this apple pie is created by shingling the leaves. Pastry cutouts in any shape can be arranged in this manner; here, a flurry of leaves accentuates the pie’s autumnal nature.