Lattice Pie With Pears And Vanilla Brown Butter Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, sugar and salt until blended. Gradually beat in flour. Divide dough in 2 portions so that 1 portion is slightly larger than the other. Shape each into a rectangle; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., Preheat oven to 350°. For filling, in a large bowl, combine sugar, flour and lemon zest. Add pears and candied fruit; toss to coat., On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger portion of dough into an 18x13-in. rectangle. Transfer to a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of pan; add filling., Roll out remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick rectangle; cut into 1/2-in.-wide strips. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern. Trim and seal strips to edge of bottom pastry. Brush pastry with milk; sprinkle with coarse sugar., Bake 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

Steps:

• On a lightly floured work surface, roll 1 disk of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Trim edges flush with rim. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• On a piece of lightly floured parchment paper, roll out remaining disk of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Top with an inverted 9-inch pie plate or a cake ring, and gently press to make a light indentation (this will be your guide for cutting the lattice to fit the pie). Using a 3/4-inch square cutter, cut a lattice pattern out of the round, leaving at least 1/2 inch between cutouts and edge of round. Transfer squares to a parchment-lined baking sheet. To make partial squares where the lattice meets the rounded edge, make a very light indentation with the cutter, then cut out the portion of the square that is inside the round with a knife. Using a paring knife or a pizza cutter, cut out the round, leaving an additional 1/2 inch of dough beyond the marked circle. Reroll scraps, and cut out as many additional squares as possible. Transfer parchment with the lattice top to a baking sheet. Refrigerate lattice top and squares for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with racks in middle and lower positions. Peel, halve, and core pears. Very thinly slice 3 pears lengthwise, and cut remaining 2 pears into 8 wedges each.
• Toss together pears, cranberries, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape vanilla seeds over pear mixture, and toss until seeds have been evenly incorporated. Pour filling into piecrust, gently pressing to make it as level as possible. Dot filling with butter.
• To make egg wash, whisk together egg yolk and cream in a small bowl. Lightly brush edge of piecrust with egg wash. Remove lattice crust and squares from refrigerator. Gently place another baking sheet on top of lattice, and carefully invert. Slide lattice on top of filling, and remove parchment. Gently press edges of crust to seal, trimming edges of lattice if necessary.
• Lightly brush lattice with egg wash. Arrange dough squares around edge of pie, overlapping them slightly. Lightly brush top of each square with egg wash as you work to help them adhere.
• Place a foil-lined baking sheet on lower oven rack to catch any juices. Place pie on middle rack, and bake until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling gently, 90 to 100 minutes. Tent with foil if crust browns too quickly. Let pie cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat preserves in a saucepan over medium heat until warm. Puree in a food processor until smooth. Press through a fine sieve into a bowl or another saucepan, and reheat if necessary. Brush warm pie with a generous amount of warm apricot glaze. Let cool completely on rack.

Steps:

• For the Crust: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Use your fingers to break up butter and cut it in, until mixture resembles mostly coarse meal with a bunch of hazelnut-size pieces remaining. Drizzle with ice water and stir with a fork until most of flour is moistened (mixture will still be shaggy and not at all formed into a dough). If there is dry flour remaining, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a piece will hold together when pressed between your fingers.
• Turn dough out onto a clean surface and gather into a mound. Using the heel of your hand, smear dough away from you, working your way down to create long layers of butter. Fold dough over onto itself, as if closing a book. Repeat twice more. (There should be plenty of large, flat pieces of butter visible in dough.)
• Divide dough into two pieces, one about 12 ounces, the other about 1 pound. Pat smaller piece into a round and larger into a rectangle. Wrap each loosely in plastic, then use a rolling pin to flatten and finish compacting (use plastic rather than your hands to maneuver dough-the less body heat transferred, the better). Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• For the Pie Filling: Prepare an ice-water bath and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut an X in flower (non-stem) end of each peach. Drop in boiling water and cook just until skins begin to peel back, about 30 seconds. Transfer to ice-water bath, then peel and pit peaches. Cut into 1/2-inch wedges (you should have 7 to 8 cups).
• In a large bowl, stir together sugar and vanilla seeds, then add peaches, lemon juice, and salt; stir to combine. Let stand 30 minutes, then stir in cornstarch. Set a colander over a heatproof bowl; transfer peaches to colander to drain. Transfer liquid in bowl to a small saucepan, then transfer peaches to bowl. Bring liquid to a boil over medium-high heat, then cook, whisking constantly, until thickened to the consistency of loose pudding, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir into peaches; let stand 15 minutes.
• Assembly: On a lightly floured surface, roll out smaller piece of dough into a 13-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch pie dish. Fill with peach mixture. Roll larger piece of dough out into an approximately 12-by-16-inch rectangle, a scant 1/8 inch thick. Using a pastry wheel or large knife, cut into 1 1/2-to-2-inch-wide strips.
• Place 6 strips atop pie, leaving a little space between them. Fold back every other strip, and lay a strip across center of pie, perpendicular to original strips. Unfold folded strips, then fold back remaining strips. Lay another horizontal strip across pie. Repeat folding and unfolding strips to weave a lattice pattern. Repeat on remaining side. Press edges together to seal. Trim dough to a 1-inch overhang, fold under, and crimp as desired. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush top of chilled pie with beaten egg. Place on middle rack of oven and slide a baking sheet or a piece of aluminum foil onto rack below to catch any overflow. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375°F and bake until bubbling in center and top and bottom crusts are browned, about 1 hour, 30 minutes more.
• Let cool completely on a wire rack, at least 4 hours. Pie is best eaten the day it's made, but can be stored, lightly covered, at room temperature, up to 2 days.

Steps:

• Make topping:
• Pulse together flour, almonds, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped. Add butter and pulse just until blended. Coarsely crumble in a shallow baking pan and chill at least 1 hour.
• Make filling and bake crisps:
• Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.
• Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a small heavy saucepan, then add pod and butter and cook over medium-low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until butter is browned and fragrant, about 4 minutes.
• While butter browns, stir together sugars, flour, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Add pears and brandy and toss to combine.
• Discard vanilla pod, then toss butter with pear mixture. Spoon filling into gratin dishes and sprinkle with topping, mounding it slightly in centers. Put in a shallow baking pan and bake 30 minutes, then rotate baking sheet and bake until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes more. Cool to warm or room temperature on a rack.

Steps:

• Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and allspice. Add pears and cranberries; toss to coat. Spoon into crust; dot with butter., Roll out remaining pastry; make a lattice crust. Trim, seal and flute edges. , In a small bowl, whisk egg and milk; brush over pastry. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Cover pie loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. , Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and remove foil; bake for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.