Thanksgiving: A Morning of Dough

Date: 18 Nov 2012

By: Curvy Mama Pies

Comment: 7

Thanksgiving minus 3: A morning of sipping coffee and listening to jazz while rolling out dough. Lots of dough.

All 19 of the single-crust pies that my beloved customers ordered for Thanksgiving–pumpkin, pecan, and sweet-potato bourbon–are now rolled out and in their pie tins. They will be par-baked and filled in phases, depending on their pickup times.

Next: the 11 two-crust apple pies. That’s 22 more dough disks to roll out… oh, and then there are the couple of extra non-Thanksgiving fruit pies that I need to prep or bake tonight for tomorrow. Thank goodness my awesome local jazz station has an inspiring Sunday lineup. 😉

Please send a hand-and-forearm masseuse.

7 Comments

Alicia November 18, 2012 at 12:43 pm

Well, you're ahead of me! I've got about 10 rolled out, and 52 more to go!
Cathy November 18, 2012 at 4:37 pm

Par-baked??? Never tried that. Does it affect texture in the end? how far in advance can you do it? Fridge or freezer. I think I'm just trying to find excuses not to do my homework and just play in the kitchen.
CurvyMama Pies November 18, 2012 at 5:12 pm

Yes, in my experience, for pies like pumpkin, sweet potato and pecan, par-baking keeps the bottom crust from being doughy when the pie is done.
Sandy November 19, 2012 at 9:36 am

I'm enjoying following along with you, as I can relate albeit on a smaller scale - I bake primarily mini pies. Don't you feel a sense of accomplishment seeing all of those crusts stacked in the freezer. I once told my teenage daughter that it felt like money in the bank and she gave me an odd look!
CurvyMama Pies November 19, 2012 at 9:43 am

Hello, Sandy! Nice to meet another pie baker! Yes, I totally get that sense of satisfaction you're talking about. But I'm not sure my scale is smaller than yours... You have to cut and shape far more pies than I do to feed the same number of people! I have been wanting to develop the mini-pie section of the business. Would love to know what size/type of pans you use; what have you found best for this kind of pie?
Sandy November 19, 2012 at 9:57 am

Hi! You are right - it is very time consuming shaping the petite crusts and dividing up the filling, adjusting the baking times etc. Yesterday, I made 3 full size pies for my cousin and they went together so much more quickly that I started questioning my devotion to mini pies! To answer your question, I use standard size muffin tins, and cut dough rounds about 5".
CurvyMama Pies November 19, 2012 at 11:13 am

Interesting! I definitely need to try that. I've seen muffin tins with shallower, wider cups that struck me as good possibilities for mini-pies, as well. Both sound like mouth-watering possibilities!