At first glance I didn't see anything wrong - but its possible that I prefer a deeper bake (if that's a term!) for things like sweet pastry tarts, etc. brings out more flavour I think.
However if its now glued into the pan, it might not be so good!
I think it still looks good though. It's quite a fiddly job slicing up the filling for tarts like this. Cut a slice, get some thick cream and off you go...
So many creams, so little time to take them alll..
So there is your basic cream. This is the stuff that floats to the top of the milk (that's not been brutally homogenised). This is called double cream. Single cream is a mix of that and some milk. There are various types of double cream - normal stuff and extra thick. The extra thick stuff has been briefly heat treated but same fat content. There are mild variants - e.g. whipping cream which has slightly less fat (waste of time IMO).
The crème de la crème is clotted cream. This is heat treated to reduce the water content more - it's not a cultured cream, just rich, thick, yellow nectar. Traditionally served with scones and jam, but ...
I live in Devon, England, UK and the best clotted cream in the world comes from a farm about 3 miles from me.
Cultured (or fermented) creams include sour (or soured) cream, crème fraîche and probably a few others but you start to get into cheese territory then.
It seems for the most part we have equivelants here in the States, with the possible exception of 'Clotted Cream'.
I don't believe I've ever had that, but I'll poke deep into the shelves of the specialty markets and see if it's available. I'll bet it will be. Sounds wonderful.
And lucky you to be 3 miles from a proper Dairy farm. That would be very interesting to me. I don't know if I could handle it. Be sure tho, my life would be significantly different if I were so close to one. The nearest one to me is about 40 miles away, which is a safe distance ;-).
And I agree that once you are fermenting milk or cream, you have essentially begun the cheese making process.
Thanks for your comments. There was nothing wrong with the flavor of this pie, the second slice was just as good as the first. I guess I was mainly talking about the edge of the crust being darker than I would have liked. It might have been easier to arrange the sweet potato slices if I hadn't used a deep dish pie plate. I had to double up on the layers. I didn't use their crust recipe.
The depth/colour of a bake is something that seems to vary wildly - there's obviously personal preference, but maybe also expectations?
I think the Great British Bake-Off has maybe conditioned people to not over bake anything - images of the contestants peering into the ovens to make sure nothing is over done - to the point that some of it ends up being under baked! Also in my own patisserie work, I try to keep e.g. pastry cases, etc. barely a golden shade of white, but for other stuff, I do like to take pastry darker.
I've also just been given a copy of Bertinets "Pastry" book (nice book too!) and he seems to bake things quite dark - I was somewhat surprised when I saw the photos.. But dark gives flavour, so it seems that there is no right or wrong, just what works for you and is enjoyed by the people you're sharing (or selling!) with.
Everyone has their own definition of the perfect outcome - and you may have just redefined yours, if you like the darker crust. If you would have liked it a little lighter, there's always next time. ;-)
And the double layer of potatoes could only have made it better!. When I make apple pie I always use a deep-dish pie plate and it holds about 10 apples - Yum!
I've just bought the Kindle edition and the recipes seem to have been converted to ounces by someone working in the publisher's office, so you get weights such as 9.8 ozs or 4.3 ozs listed in the recipes. Convert to metric and you find that they're just badly rounded conversions from metric but far enough out so that what was probably a 2:1 flour:fat ratio is now not quite 2:1. A real shambles.
I also find it odd that he's giving exact amounts of water to use when different flours will need different hydration levels. A consideration I'd have thought was probably more critical in pastry-making than in bread-making.
That said, I'd never made pastry before but my second attempt at savoury pastry using his method, but with lard, not butter, was greeted with an enthusiastic thumbs-up by my pastry-loving wife.
However I have a copy of his "Dough" book and it was a (cheap) US import to the UK - cups and ounces, and badly converted at that. (It was a present, so not complaining - too much :)
If you want a scan of a particular page out of "Pastry" just send me an email.
I make a lot of pastry and for the most part have my own recipes, but it's always nice to see & try other ones and techniques. Just made 10 pastys for a market tomorrow and I regularly make 20 for another market through the week - that's a 50:50 butter:lard plus bread flour recipe... Seems to go down well and I'm glad I have my A200 to mix it all up as I typically make enough for 26 8" rounds at a time. (It's about 4Kg of dough)
And of-course it's mince pie season - and I make my own pastry for those too - lost count how many I've made this season as I make them in batches of 48 (500g wholemeal pastry flour, 250g butter, 80g sugar and enough water to bind it together - enough for 48 pies plus decoration and a little left over for a bakers treat :-)
No one seems to object to the dark crust except me. I guess that puts me in the minority. As you said it is probably what I am use to seeing on TV. Pastry cookbooks are still on the wish list and the library has none. This pastry is from the serious eats website. It is odd because it adds the flour in two separate stages, it is all butter. In the future I may substitute some lard or shortening for part of the butter. Link follows.
As Gordon said, that's a lot of butter (not that that's a bad thing).
And by the method, it would seem to me as well that it would be more of a shortbread type of crust (again, nothing wrong with that).
I did note that you didn't use their pastry recipe, so I really can't ask you, but they seem to say that it would be tender and flakey. I wonder if that could be? Has anyone tried it (or something similar)?
Thanks for the link, Rube. There's a lot of other good information regarding pie and crust on site as well.
I wish I could add something to this thread. But, all of you folks are better bakers and more knowledgeable than me. I look forward to seeing someone's version of this pie.
Rube, you've posted a very nice thread. That should be enough to offer.
I can't wait to try one.
Should be this week. If so, I will post a pic.
dobie
ps - please don't be so humble. Or a least don't put me up on a pedestal (I just might fall off). And I do fall/fail quite frequently, as do we all I think (at least those who are trying new things). No offense, in any way, meant to anyone. Sincerely.
So I actually did make this pie. I made it in a shallow tart pan tho.
Just as I was about to bake it, I was invited to an impromptu party. It was late, but transportation provided so I went with unbaked pie in hand.
So I baked it there, let it cool, cut a slice and walked away. I came back to the kitchen in about a half an hour to find 6 or more folks standing around what little was left of the pie.
The comment I remember most was 'World Class'. So, it went over well and of course, there are no pics. But there will be a next time shortly, and I will then 'show and tell'.
It went over much better than I thought it would, particularly with the adults. Not so much with the kids (not sweet enough for them).
Not for childish tastes can be a good thing. There might be some left for the adults.
Half way thru the bake I brushed it with some melted butter as I was afraid it was dehydrating too much. That seemed to be helpful, if for no other reason than to squeeze a little more butter in there.
Next time I think I will be prepared with a little melted butter/honey glaze. Of course the danger is that that just might make it palatable to the kids. We'll see.
I over-baked my Persian-Spiced Sweet Potato Pie! It made me so mad I wanted to scream! It was still delicious though.
The recipe is from the Washington Post and it looked different from your ordinary sweet potato custard pie. Link is here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/recipes/persian-spiced-sweet-potato-pie/13665/
At first glance I didn't see anything wrong - but its possible that I prefer a deeper bake (if that's a term!) for things like sweet pastry tarts, etc. brings out more flavour I think.
However if its now glued into the pan, it might not be so good!
I think it still looks good though. It's quite a fiddly job slicing up the filling for tarts like this. Cut a slice, get some thick cream and off you go...
-Gordon
Gordon
Not to step on this thread, but when you guys in the UK refer to 'thick cream', what is meant?
Whipped cream, sour cream, other?
dobie (in the States)
ps - sorry Rube, but this has been mentioned so often on TFL and I would really like to know.
It's all good. :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8744000/8744481.stm
Rube
Thank you for that.
That is a fascinating link. Yet, it is too late of night for me to say further than that (tho it is quite mind opening).
I will regest in the morning (and thank you very much).
dobie
So many creams, so little time to take them alll..
So there is your basic cream. This is the stuff that floats to the top of the milk (that's not been brutally homogenised). This is called double cream. Single cream is a mix of that and some milk. There are various types of double cream - normal stuff and extra thick. The extra thick stuff has been briefly heat treated but same fat content. There are mild variants - e.g. whipping cream which has slightly less fat (waste of time IMO).
The crème de la crème is clotted cream. This is heat treated to reduce the water content more - it's not a cultured cream, just rich, thick, yellow nectar. Traditionally served with scones and jam, but ...
I live in Devon, England, UK and the best clotted cream in the world comes from a farm about 3 miles from me.
Cultured (or fermented) creams include sour (or soured) cream, crème fraîche and probably a few others but you start to get into cheese territory then.
-Gordon
Thank you Gordon
It seems for the most part we have equivelants here in the States, with the possible exception of 'Clotted Cream'.
I don't believe I've ever had that, but I'll poke deep into the shelves of the specialty markets and see if it's available. I'll bet it will be. Sounds wonderful.
And lucky you to be 3 miles from a proper Dairy farm. That would be very interesting to me. I don't know if I could handle it. Be sure tho, my life would be significantly different if I were so close to one. The nearest one to me is about 40 miles away, which is a safe distance ;-).
And I agree that once you are fermenting milk or cream, you have essentially begun the cheese making process.
Thanks again,
dobie
The one in the paper looked unbaked. Yours looks bold. Caramelization and brown food taste the best! Never made one like this one but will soon enough
Thanks for your comments. There was nothing wrong with the flavor of this pie, the second slice was just as good as the first. I guess I was mainly talking about the edge of the crust being darker than I would have liked. It might have been easier to arrange the sweet potato slices if I hadn't used a deep dish pie plate. I had to double up on the layers. I didn't use their crust recipe.
The depth/colour of a bake is something that seems to vary wildly - there's obviously personal preference, but maybe also expectations?
I think the Great British Bake-Off has maybe conditioned people to not over bake anything - images of the contestants peering into the ovens to make sure nothing is over done - to the point that some of it ends up being under baked! Also in my own patisserie work, I try to keep e.g. pastry cases, etc. barely a golden shade of white, but for other stuff, I do like to take pastry darker.
I've also just been given a copy of Bertinets "Pastry" book (nice book too!) and he seems to bake things quite dark - I was somewhat surprised when I saw the photos.. But dark gives flavour, so it seems that there is no right or wrong, just what works for you and is enjoyed by the people you're sharing (or selling!) with.
-Gordon
Everyone has their own definition of the perfect outcome - and you may have just redefined yours, if you like the darker crust. If you would have liked it a little lighter, there's always next time. ;-)
And the double layer of potatoes could only have made it better!. When I make apple pie I always use a deep-dish pie plate and it holds about 10 apples - Yum!
--Mike
What measurement units are used in your copy?
I've just bought the Kindle edition and the recipes seem to have been converted to ounces by someone working in the publisher's office, so you get weights such as 9.8 ozs or 4.3 ozs listed in the recipes. Convert to metric and you find that they're just badly rounded conversions from metric but far enough out so that what was probably a 2:1 flour:fat ratio is now not quite 2:1. A real shambles.
I also find it odd that he's giving exact amounts of water to use when different flours will need different hydration levels. A consideration I'd have thought was probably more critical in pastry-making than in bread-making.
That said, I'd never made pastry before but my second attempt at savoury pastry using his method, but with lard, not butter, was greeted with an enthusiastic thumbs-up by my pastry-loving wife.
However I have a copy of his "Dough" book and it was a (cheap) US import to the UK - cups and ounces, and badly converted at that. (It was a present, so not complaining - too much :)
If you want a scan of a particular page out of "Pastry" just send me an email.
I make a lot of pastry and for the most part have my own recipes, but it's always nice to see & try other ones and techniques. Just made 10 pastys for a market tomorrow and I regularly make 20 for another market through the week - that's a 50:50 butter:lard plus bread flour recipe... Seems to go down well and I'm glad I have my A200 to mix it all up as I typically make enough for 26 8" rounds at a time. (It's about 4Kg of dough)
And of-course it's mince pie season - and I make my own pastry for those too - lost count how many I've made this season as I make them in batches of 48 (500g wholemeal pastry flour, 250g butter, 80g sugar and enough water to bind it together - enough for 48 pies plus decoration and a little left over for a bakers treat :-)
http://moorbakes.co.uk/the-festive-mincepie/
-Gordon
Rube
That's a beautiful looking pie.
The recipe is very elegant as well and the spices are all on my list of favorites.
Next time I make up some pie dough, I will give this a try for sure.
Thanks for sharing.
dobie
No one seems to object to the dark crust except me. I guess that puts me in the minority. As you said it is probably what I am use to seeing on TV. Pastry cookbooks are still on the wish list and the library has none. This pastry is from the serious eats website. It is odd because it adds the flour in two separate stages, it is all butter. In the future I may substitute some lard or shortening for part of the butter. Link follows.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/07/easy-pie-dough-recipe.html
and method - but it's a lot of butter - almost shortbread!
-Gordon
Rube
As Gordon said, that's a lot of butter (not that that's a bad thing).
And by the method, it would seem to me as well that it would be more of a shortbread type of crust (again, nothing wrong with that).
I did note that you didn't use their pastry recipe, so I really can't ask you, but they seem to say that it would be tender and flakey. I wonder if that could be? Has anyone tried it (or something similar)?
Thanks for the link, Rube. There's a lot of other good information regarding pie and crust on site as well.
dobie
I wish I could add something to this thread. But, all of you folks are better bakers and more knowledgeable than me. I look forward to seeing someone's version of this pie.
beggars would ride.
Rube, you've posted a very nice thread. That should be enough to offer.
I can't wait to try one.
Should be this week. If so, I will post a pic.
dobie
ps - please don't be so humble. Or a least don't put me up on a pedestal (I just might fall off). And I do fall/fail quite frequently, as do we all I think (at least those who are trying new things). No offense, in any way, meant to anyone. Sincerely.
Rube
So I actually did make this pie. I made it in a shallow tart pan tho.
Just as I was about to bake it, I was invited to an impromptu party. It was late, but transportation provided so I went with unbaked pie in hand.
So I baked it there, let it cool, cut a slice and walked away. I came back to the kitchen in about a half an hour to find 6 or more folks standing around what little was left of the pie.
The comment I remember most was 'World Class'. So, it went over well and of course, there are no pics. But there will be a next time shortly, and I will then 'show and tell'.
It went over much better than I thought it would, particularly with the adults. Not so much with the kids (not sweet enough for them).
I think I will bake the crust blind next time.
So, thanks.
dobie
Not for childish taste? LoL. I'm glad the pie was a hit with the adults. I look forward to seeing pictures.
Not for childish tastes can be a good thing. There might be some left for the adults.
Half way thru the bake I brushed it with some melted butter as I was afraid it was dehydrating too much. That seemed to be helpful, if for no other reason than to squeeze a little more butter in there.
Next time I think I will be prepared with a little melted butter/honey glaze. Of course the danger is that that just might make it palatable to the kids. We'll see.
Thanks for the recipe.
dobie