The Pie Has Not Fallen!

One great investment I have made this year besides a set of virus-fighting mighty masks is a colorful set of measuring cups and spoons. It was time. Although late to the baking brouhaha that started this year, I was hoping the oven gods will still be forgiving. Baking with perfect measurements seemed like one of the rare acts where it was possible to minimize the level of uncertainty in life. So, this Thanksgiving I was left standing in ovation to the almost perfect pie crust I baked out.

It didn’t start out that way. I had no plans of baking a crust. A pumpkin pie was always on the Thanksgiving cards, with or without a large gathering. I had tried it a couple of times before. A cakewalk, or an easy pie walk it always turned out to be. Of course, when you can get a ready-to-bake pie crust and pumpkin in a can, you can rest assured of a fairly decent pie. Quite excitedly, I picked up a pack of pie crusts from the freezer section of the nearby store. What could be more inviting than that? Well, a gluten-free, non-gmo, allergen safe, vegan pie crust made of ginger snap made me toss away the whole-wheat ones. This one beckoned to be baked. I carefully rolled out of the store with it so as not to cause any cracks.

After whipping up a hodgepodge of Indian and American dishes for our Thanksgiving table, which included a zucchini Jalapeño bread, I peeled open the perfect-looking gingersnap pie crust. To my utter disbelief the whole crust snapped out of place. Like someone was trying to reverse engineer it! The powdered crust made a mockery of my judgement and left me crust-fallen. ‘Fragile’ was not written anywhere on the package.

Not willing to let the lost crust have the last laugh, I weighed the option of rushing to the store to grab a pack of regular crust. But it takes a strong person to step into a store on the day of Thanksgiving. I shelved the idea. After some quick searches for the easiest way to make pie crust, I decided to take it up as a challenge. Perhaps all those episodes of the Great British Baking Show have played with my senses. How hard could it be?

While measuring the all-purpose and almond flour--the second one was to ease the guilt--and shell-shocking amount of butter, I had the situation under control. Using ice-cold water to make the dough, which was underlined in the recipe, I left it in the fridge as suggested. Turning around I realized that I had only added half the amount of butter. The second bowl of butter I intended to add was giving me cold stares. Now will this crust also crumble like the other? There was no other way to know than wait for the oven to decide the fate of the desired dessert. My measuring spoons had already scooped up their part to perfection.

Rolling out a good-looking crust, I poured the pumpkin filling and immediately started praying. Any future pie dreams were in danger of becoming pipe dreams. They depended on how the butter-deficient crust was going to turn out. I could hear my heart pounding as if it was cruising through some unknown crests and troughs. When the timer gave me permission to check for the result, I wasted no time. A tiny piece of crust from the perfectly baked pie reinstated my faith in baking; and human ingenuity.

Eating the humble pie, I announced: The Pie has not fallen!