Creating the perfect pie

Baking Fruit Pies

By: Allrecipes Staff

There's a fruit pie for every season: strawberry-rhubarb for spring, cherry in summer, pear in the fall, and apple in winter.

Baking fruit pies is a rather straightforward technique, but a few tips can help to make your pies come out looking and tasting perfect.

1. Preheat the oven to the temperature the recipe you are following recommends. Most fruit pies bake at a temperature of between 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Some recipes call for baking the pie in a 450 degree F oven for the first part of baking, then turning down the oven to about 350 degrees F. This helps set the shape of the crust in recipes that contain a lot of fat; it can keep your crust from slouching.

2. To add a richer color to a double-crust or lattice-topped pie, brush the top crust with milk or lightly beaten egg before baking.

3. Baking a pie with a raw fruit filling will take about an hour. Always bake pies on a baking sheet to prevent spillovers in the oven. Berry, apple, and pear pies cook for approximately 45 minutes. When using a pre-cooked filling, pies can bake at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time, just enough to thoroughly bake the crust and heat the filling.

To check the doneness of the filling, insert a knife into the center of the pie. If it meets with little or no resistance, the pie is done. If the pie is not quite done but the top or edges are becoming too dark, loosely cover the top of the pie with aluminum foil to shield it from the heat. A glass pie dish is a great way to ensure the bottom crust is fully baked; using a baking stone or pizza stone is another trick. Baking on a stone ensures that the bottom crust on even the juiciest fruit pie will be done when the top is brown.

See Perfect Pie Crusts for more information.

* Perfect Pie Crusts

4. For shine and sparkle, thin a quarter cup of light corn syrup with very hot water. When the pie is done, brush the thinned syrup over the top of the crust. You can add granulated sugar or decorative sugar at this time. Return the pie to the oven for two to three minutes to let the glaze dry and set. Once the pie is done baking, carefully remove it from the oven. Let the pie cool to room temperature before slicing to allow the filling to set.