Picture an enormous Pop-Tart, bursting with juicy summer berries and encased in a flaky scratch-made crust. Perhaps it has a drizzle of lemon laced icing if you’re feeling fancy. This is slab pie at its finest – a rustic and ever-changeable creation that feeds a crowd with minimal fuss. Baked in a rimmed 10-inch by 14-inch jelly roll pan, slab pies happily accommodate whatever fruit is ripe and ready. June – strawberry and sour cherry season here in central Illinois – is replaced in the blink of an eye by blueberries, peaches and green summer apples.
Slab pies can even shoulder the entire meal when they’re filled with savory ingredients such as creamy chicken and spinach or heirloom tomatoes and sharp cheese. Whether sweet or savory, round or rectangular, a couple key techniques will ensure that the finished pie has a flaky, crispy crust and perfectly set, cuttable filling.
In spite of the old adage “easy as pie,” making homemade pie crust can be an intimidating prospect for many home bakers. For those with a food processor, preparing the dough takes just seconds, but it can also be easily produced using a box grater. Be sure the butter is thoroughly chilled and have all of the crust ingredients ready to go, especially if it’s a hot day. Crust is made flaky as a result of the little pockets of cold butter suddenly melting when they hit the hot oven, so it’s critical to keep all the ingredients cold until the very last minute. Rolling a perfect rectangle of dough can be enough to stress even an experienced baker, but thankfully the dough can be easily pieced together and patched up into whatever shape it needs to be.
When it comes to the fruit, its juiciness, which is indeed one of fruit’s main attributes, often presents a soggy problem. For firm fruits such as apples or even savory players like zucchini, this can be mitigated by briefly roasting at a high temperature (400 degrees) to remove excess moisture. For juicy fruits like cherries, peaches and tomatoes, draining the excess juice in a colander helps to remove excess liquid and keeps the filling thick and dense when cutting into the finished pie. As a bonus, the strained liquid can be mixed with sugar to taste and brought to a quick simmer in a saucepan. Once thoroughly chilled, it can be used in cocktails, Italian sodas or over ice cream.
Berry slab pie
For the crust:
5 cups all-purpose flour (or use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 4 cups all purpose)
2 teaspoons each salt and sugar
1 pound cold butter, cut into pats
2 tablespoons vodka
14 tablespoons cold water
For the filling:
8 cups berries (drained if juicy)
1 to 1 ½ cups sugar, to taste
⅓ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon zest
A drop of almond extract, optional
1 teaspoon of vanilla or brandy, optional
A pinch of salt
Cream or milk for glazing, optional
For the glaze (optional):
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
First, make the crust. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Add the cold butter. Turn on the machine and immediately add the cold water and vodka. Process for 30-45 seconds until the dough comes together into a ball. Do not overmix. Divide the dough in half, shape into ½-inch thick rectangles and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
While the dough is chilling, combine the filling ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a clean, floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-inch by 16-inch rectangle. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect. Use a tiny amount of water on a pastry brush to patch cracks or glue misshapen pieces together. Do avoid excessively kneading and re-rolling the dough as this will yield a tough, rather than flaky, crust. Roll the crust lightly around the rolling pin to pick it up and lay it over a 10-inch by 14-inch jelly roll pan. Roll out the second piece of dough into a slightly smaller rectangle. Pour the filling into the dough-lined pan, then top with the second rectangle of dough. Fold the overhanging edge from the bottom crust over the top crust, then pinch the edges to seal. Brush the crust with cream if desired and cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake the pie in a preheated 400-degree oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes more, until the crust is golden and the juices are bubbling up through the slits in the crust. Set aside to cool. While the pie is cooling, make the glaze by whisking together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and lemon zest/juice. Add cream or water as needed to create a thick, pourable glaze. Drizzle over the cooled pie and serve.
This article appears in The College Crisis.
