Pies are intimidating. Seriously. Most people approach a rolling pin with the same level of anxiety usually reserved for filing taxes or parallel parking in a tight spot. We’ve been told for decades that if you touch the dough too much, it’s ruined. If the water isn’t ice-cold, it’s a disaster. If you look at it wrong, the bottom will be soggy. It’s enough to make anyone just buy a frozen shell and call it a day.
But then there is The Book on Pie.
When Erin Jeanne McDowell released this massive, 350-plus page tome, it didn't just add another recipe for apple cinnamon to the shelf. It kinda deconstructed the entire mythology of pastry. Erin is a stylist and a baker who has spent years in the trenches of the New York Times food section and Food52, and she knows exactly why your crust is shrinking in the oven. It isn't bad luck. It's physics.
Why The Book on Pie Changed the Kitchen Game
Most cookbooks are just a collection of "do this, then do that." They are instructional manuals that assume you won't mess up. The Book on Pie assumes you will mess up, or at least that you’re worried about it. It’s huge. It’s heavy. And it’s arguably the most comprehensive look at flour, fat, and fruit ever printed.
The genius of this book isn't actually the recipes, though the Caramelized Onion and Gruyère pie is basically a religious experience. The real value is in the first hundred pages. This is the "Pie Academy" section. It covers the "why" behind the "how." For instance, did you know that the type of flour you use changes the actual structural integrity of the lattice? Use a high-protein bread flour and you get a sturdy, crunchy crust that can hold up a mountain of berries. Use pastry flour and it’ll melt in your mouth but might shatter if you try to serve it.
People think pie is about the filling. It’s not. It’s about the architecture.
The Temperature Myth
You’ve heard it a thousand times: "Keep everything cold."
Erin actually challenges the rigidity of this. Yes, cold butter creates flakes. When that cold fat hits a hot oven, the water in the butter evaporates, creating a little pocket of steam that lifts the dough. That’s a flake. If the butter is warm, it just soaks into the flour. You get a "mealy" crust. That’s fine for a quiche, maybe, but not for a showstopper.
However, The Book on Pie points out that if your dough is too cold, it cracks when you roll it. Then you get frustrated. Then you add more water to fix the cracks. Then you develop too much gluten. Then your pie is tough. It’s a vicious cycle. The book advocates for a "cool but pliable" state. It’s a nuanced take that most "Quick & Easy" blogs completely ignore.
Getting Real About the Soggy Bottom
Mary Berry made "soggy bottom" a household phrase, but Erin Jeanne McDowell actually gives us the cure. It’s not just about blind baking—though you absolutely must blind bake your crusts if you want them to stay crisp. It's about the rack position.
Honestly, most people bake their pies in the middle of the oven because that’s the "default." In The Book on Pie, the advice is clear: get that tin down to the bottom rack. You want the most intense heat hitting the base of the pan immediately. This sets the crust before the juices from the fruit can turn the dough into a gummy mess.
Let's Talk About Fats
- Butter: The gold standard for flavor. It’s roughly 15-20% water, which helps with steam and leavening.
- Shortening: 100% fat. It stays solid at higher temperatures, making it easier to work with. It creates a very tender, but often flavorless, crust.
- Lard: The old-school secret. It makes the flakiest crusts imaginable because of its large fat crystals.
- Oil: Generally avoided for traditional pies, but the book explores it for specific textures.
Many bakers swear by a 50/50 split of butter and shortening. Erin leans heavily into all-butter, but she teaches you how to handle it so it doesn't become a greasy puddle.
Variations That Feel Like Cheating
One of the coolest things about this specific book is the "Mix and Match" philosophy. It doesn't just give you a recipe for "Apple Pie." It gives you a dozen different crust options (all-butter, spice-infused, cocoa, cornmeal) and then pairs them with various fillings.
You want a ginger-infused crust for your pumpkin pie? Do it.
You want a cheddar cheese crust for your apple pie? (A Vermont classic, by the way). The instructions are right there.
This level of customization is why it ranks so high for serious home cooks. It treats the reader like an artist, not just a recipe-follower. It’s the difference between learning to play a specific song on the piano and learning music theory. Once you understand the theory in The Book on Pie, you can improvise.
The Mistakes Everyone is Making
Even with a 300-page guide, people still mess up. Here are the big ones that Erin highlights, and honestly, I’ve been guilty of every single one:
- Over-hydrating: You see a dry crumb and you panic. You splash in more water. Stop. Use a spray bottle to hydrate the dough evenly. If you pour water in, you get "hot spots" of wet dough and "cold spots" of dry flour.
- Over-working: We want to roll the perfect circle. We roll, and roll, and roll. Every stroke develops gluten. High gluten equals a rubbery pie.
- The "Peek-a-Boo" Problem: Opening the oven door. Every time you open that door, the temperature drops. Your crust needs that initial blast of heat to "set." If the temperature fluctuates, the fat leaks out before the flour can bake around it.
- Not Chilling the Shaped Crust: This is the big one. Even after you’ve rolled it and put it in the pan, you need to chill it again. If the dough is relaxed and cold when it hits the oven, it won't shrink down the sides of the tin like a pair of cheap jeans.
Beyond the Sweet Stuff
The book isn't just a sugar high. The savory section is where things get interesting. We’re talking about Shepherd’s Pie with actual structural integrity and galettes that don't leak all over the baking sheet.
She introduces the concept of "decorative" elements that actually serve a purpose. A heavy lattice isn't just for Instagram; it allows steam to escape from a watery fruit filling so the sauce thickens properly. A full top crust is better for "steaming" the contents, like in a meat pie where you want the filling to stay succulent and moist.
Practical Wisdom for the Modern Kitchen
Look, you don't need a marble countertop to make great pie. You don't even need a fancy food processor. In fact, many experts—McDowell included—often suggest using your hands. Your fingers are the best sensors for knowing if the butter chunks are the size of peas (good) or have disappeared entirely (bad).
If you're using a glass pie plate, you can actually see if the bottom is browned. That’s a pro tip that sounds simple but changes everything. Ceramic is beautiful, but it’s an insulator; it takes longer to heat up. Metal conducts heat the fastest. If you’re struggling with underbaked bottoms, switch to a cheap aluminum tin. It works.
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Actionable Steps for Your Next Bake
Don't just read the book and let it sit on your coffee table. It’s too useful for that. If you want to actually master the art as laid out in The Book on Pie, start with these specific moves:
- Audit your equipment: Get a digital scale. Measuring flour by the cup is wildly inaccurate. One person's "cup" is 120 grams; another person's "packed cup" is 160 grams. That 40-gram difference is why your dough is either a rock or a soup.
- The 24-Hour Rule: Make your dough today. Bake it tomorrow. Giving the flour time to fully hydrate (a process called autolyse) makes the dough infinitely easier to roll out.
- Par-bake everything: Even if the recipe says you don't have to, give your bottom crust 10-15 minutes of "blind baking" with pie weights or dried beans. It creates a waterproof barrier that protects against the filling.
- Embrace the "Ugly" Pie: Your first lattice will look like a disaster. It’ll be wonky. The juice will bubble over and burn on the bottom of your oven. It doesn't matter. A "failed" pie from this book still tastes better than a "perfect" store-bought one because the ratios of fat to flour are calibrated for flavor, not shelf life.
The real takeaway from Erin Jeanne McDowell's work is that pie is a craft, not a miracle. It’s a series of thermal reactions that you can control once you stop being afraid of the dough. Get the book, get some high-quality European-style butter (which has less water and more fat), and start rolling. You’ll mess up. It’ll be fine. Just keep the oven hot and the butter cool.