Photo courtesy of Tare Panda

PEAR CUSTARD PIE

From Amy Rogol, Pastry Chef, Screen Door
2337 E Burnside, Portland

Pastry
2 1/4 cups cake flour (all-purpose works too)
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
1/3 cup water, ice-cold

Makes enough pastry dough for two 8-inch pie shells.

Combine flour, sugar and salt. Toss in butter and chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator. Once chilled, use your fingers to smoosh the cubed butter. This action helps to hydrate the flour. Next, add your water to the flour mixture a little at a time and combine using your hand in a scooping motion. Keep adding water until the dough feels completely hydrated but not wet. It should have a shaggy texture with no powdery dry parts.

At this point the dough can be compressed in the bowl. Turn it onto a floured surface and shape it into a rectangle. Use a rolling pin to lengthen the rectangle to 3 times its width. Like you would with a letter, evenly fold up the bottom and the top, one on top of the other, and gently press together. Cut the dough in half and wrap each piece in parchment paper. Let one rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour and up to 2 days before rolling. Save the other half in the freezer for another time.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. After the pastry dough has rested, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a round approximately 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to an 8-inch diameter glass pie dish. Fold crust edge under and crimp the edges. Line the crust in tinfoil, fill with dried beans, and parbake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven, remove the beans (save them for next time) and let cool. This gives you time to prepare your filling.

Change the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Custard
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pears, peeled and mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp bourbon (or whiskey or rum)
1 peeled pear, cored and sliced for garnish

Start with all ingredients at room temperature.

One at a time, in the order listed above, whisk the ingredients (except the sliced pear) together in a medium sized bowl. Place pie shell on a baking sheet. Pour filling into the pie shell and carefully place the pie into the center of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. At this point, remove the pie from the oven and fan the sliced pears around the perimeter of the pie. Return the pie to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the filling is just set with a golden hue.

It will continue to set as it cools. Chill the pie for at least 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream. For a special treat, steep the whipping cream with fresh chopped ginger, strain, and then whip.