It finally happened. [caption id="attachment_2298" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="My first pie: lattice-top raspberry peach pie"] [/caption] [caption id="attachment_2299" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Oh so juicy! "] [/caption] Last month I admitted I had never baked a pie. So our food director Annabelle Waugh offered to usher me into piehood in none other than The Canadian Living Test Kitchen. My life has changed forever. The Test Kitchen was my buke (武家). Annabelle was my Sensei (先生). And I, a budding samurai (侍) in the art of pie. For my training, I chose our August 2011 cover recipe: Lattice-Top Raspberry Nectarine Pie. There are keys to a successful pie that never make it onto a recipe page. They are revealed to you through guidance and training from moms, aunts and grandmothers. Or in my case, Sensei-Annabelle. :::I give you the Seven Virtues of Bushido, for pie::: Gi (義 ) - Right action Spoon & sweep your flour How I handled flour was immediately corrected. Instead of shaking and leveling your flour to measure, you spoon it in, pile it into the measuring cup, and sweep with the edge of the handle. By not doing this, you risk adding far too much flour, ending up with hard, dense pastry. [caption id="attachment_2304" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="No shaking. Spoon, and sweep. "] [/caption] Yu (勇 ) - Courage It's OK to replace nectarines with peaches, and do not fear juicy fruit My nectarines were too hard, so I ran to the store and bought soft, ripe peaches. Sensei-Annabelle said this was the right decision, as unripe nectarines would make an inedible pie. We scored, blanched in boiling water for 30 seconds, and plunged the peaches into an ice bath to remove the skins. They produced a juicy, soggy bowl of fruit, but that's also OK. "A juicy pie just means the fruit is ripe and delicious," she said. "Don't be afraid." [caption id="attachment_2311" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Score bottom with an 'X'. Plunge in boiling water for 30 seconds. Let cool in ice bath. Mix with sugar and raspberries."] [/caption] Jin (仁) - Benevolence Be kind to your pastry by keeping it cold Pea-sized lumps of cold butter and lard in your dough creates flaky crust. The fat globules melt, creating an air pocket in your finished pie. Begin with extra-cold butter and lard. Cut in the fat, do not touch with your warm hands. Cut until you see pea- and pebble-sized lumps. Refrigerate the entire bowl. Prepare ice water to mix. Your "raggedy" dough should look like it has granules of flour. [caption id="attachment_2312" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Pea- and pebble-sized lumps of butter and lard. Keep them cold."] [/caption] [caption id="attachment_2313" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Stir with ice water and fork until the flour begins to take on a granular form"] [/caption] Rei (礼) - Respect Don't over-flour your pastry discs "It's better for the dough be too wet at disc stage, and corrected with more flour later," cautioned Sensei-Annabelle. I dusted my work surface only lightly, turned out the dough, divided in half, and created two discs to be refrigerated again. My hands were covered in butter and the surface was greasy, but this is the way. [caption id="attachment_2314" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Do not over-flour. These discs should look greasy at this stage. Respect them. "] [/caption] Makoto (誠) - Honesty Use a clear pie plate to see if it's undercooked on the bottom When your pie is cooked, you'll be able to check and see if the bottom is raw and soggy, needing more time in the oven. Below I'm unfolding rolled-out dough into a clear pie plate. [caption id="attachment_2316" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Use a clear pie plate so you can check the bottom. "] [/caption] Meiyo (名誉) - Honour Roll your pastry gently, lovingly and carefully from the middle I wanted to smash that pastry into shape ASAP. Such dishonour would have ruined my pie. Sprinkle with flour. Press gently in the middle with your rolling pin, tease a few inches out, lift and flour , turn your disc, and tease out another corner. Press. Tease. Lift & flour. Turn. Feel the pastry at the end to ensure your dough is evenly rolled-out. [caption id="attachment_2318" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Chilled disc gets and ample sprinkling of flour now"] [/caption] [caption id="attachment_2319" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="You can see where I've turned the disc, and I'm now teasing out the back corner, with honour"] [/caption] [caption id="attachment_2320" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="This dough is nice and even, sized with the pie plate to ensure enough hangs over"] [/caption] Chugi (尽忠) - Loyalty Be true to your lattice I laid strips. I weaved. I grew over-confidant. I failed. See below, I forgot to weave the first middle strip, and my pie was baked with it laying on top. Click here to see a video on how to weave a lattice-top pie. Polish off your pie by crimping, fluting, lightly washing with egg yolk and dusting with granulated sugar: [caption id="attachment_2322" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Crimp. Flute. Egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar. "] [/caption] Bake in the bottom-third of your oven to ensure the pie is cooked evenly through. [caption id="attachment_2323" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Bake in the centre of the bottom-third of your oven"] [/caption] Enjoy your pie with your Sensei. [caption id="attachment_2324" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Annabelle Waugh, Colleen Tully, and Pie"] [/caption] Domo oregato, Sensei-Annabelle. Are you a pie samurai? Who was your Sensei?