by Sheila Rae Watson

Created on: November 16, 2010

It is a beautiful pie whose alluring aroma fills the room with sweet, spicy scents. The crust is ideal, it flakes nicely, is perfectly browned and sparkles with just the right amount of sugar on top.  So, nothing more is needed, right?  One thing could have made this pie a gastronomic masterpiece – Pie Crust Art. (Pie crust decorations)

Pie Crust Art is that extra symbol of significance that a reputable pie might need, as the baker carefully sculpts small scraps of leftover pie dough into shapes and adheres them onto the top of the pie just before baking. A little pie crust art is like signing your name to your work of art – or an indicator of excellence.

Little is needed in way of supplies for this sculpting, just a little extra pie dough, a few nicely shaped, small cookie cutters or a paring knife, egg-wash, and a pastry brush; along with the finishing sugar which is commonly sprinkled over the crust just before baking.

The addition of small bits of pie dough to the edges of the pie can be any shape, or can be tinted any color. They do not have to be extravagant but some bakers do create grand piles of common shapes to create striking pie crusts.

Common pie crust decoration shapes:

-Dots-Round balls of dough rolled the same size and aligned along the edges of the un-crimped, sealed pie crusts.

-Leaves for apple, peach, pear, or apricot pies-Placed over-lapping in a garland.  These leaves could very easily be painted with thinned sugar cookie icing for a striking effect.  Paint only a few leaves for eye appeal.  

-Small hatchets for cherry pie (Signifying a reference to George Washington who as the story goes, did chop down his father’s cherry tree, and didn’t lie about it, a noble deed!)

-Small pumpkins-On Halloween fruit pies or Thanksgiving/Christmas Pumpkin pie

One example of pie crust art or pie crust decorations is very simple in its beginnings but the end result is rather dazzling.

Using a small 2 inch square cookie cutter, stamp out as many of these small squares as you can.

Place the cuts as close together as possible, keep cutting until you have no more dough left.

Make an egg wash with the whites of one egg, beaten slightly, add ¼ tsp. sugar and whisk until well blended.

The pie is ready for its decorations to be added, the top crust is in position and the pie has been vented.

Using a pastry brush, paint a single square piece of dough on the bottom and affix it to the outer edge of the pie. 

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