How to Master Fruit Pies | Bake It Up a Notch with Erin McDowell

It's time for part three of our four-part "Bake It Up a Notch" pie spectacular—celebrating the release of Erin’s new cookbook, The Book on Pie. This #bakingtutorial is all about one of Erin's favorite pies: Fruit pies! As usual we'll run through all the equipment, ingredients, techniques, and where things could go wrong. Share your beautiful fruit pies with #bakeitupanotch. And let us know what else you want to know about pie in the comments. Happy baking!

RECIPES IN THIS EPISODE:

Also featured in this video

LOOKING FOR A SPECIFIC MOMENT?
0:00 - Intro
1:43 - Gather your tools
2:20 - Fruits done ripe
5:03 - Master the mix
6:32- Frozen is fine, too
10:34 - Tips for raw fruit
15:36 - Peeling PSA
17:48 - Pro tip: Opt for pre-cooking [your fruit]
23:20 - Partially pre-cooked meet raw [fruit]
24:43 - One filling, two ways
27:50 - Consider your crust
29:14 - Upside-down pies with Brimley
31:55 - Determining doneness
34:09 - Mistakes happen
41:45 - Save it for later
43:29 - The finishing touches


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[RoseLevyBeranbaum]

how honored i am to be acknowledged by Erin for the macerating technique in this extraordinary pie tutorial. i cannot imagine a more complete, empowering, or enchanting pie 'class". if anything could make us a pie baking nation Erin has done it! and to weigh in on cornstarch as thickener, i find that it actually enhances the flavor of the fruit. i have never made an oven-roasted pie and now that i've watched and listened to Erin it is next on my agenda of pie baking! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ brava Erin.

[isaacm.]

OMG I love her! She's so positive and an excellent teacher

[BrandonMGrimm]

I watch Food52 solely for Erin! What an incredible knowledge base and camera presence. Just Fabulous!

[davidsolow]

My nine-year daughter and I love watching Erin's video. I was happily surprised when she agreed to watch the videos on eggs and sugar, AND she ending up liking them a lot. Her absolute favorite is the pie crust one. We've watched that three times. She loved watching Erin use her fingers to break up the butter into the flour. My daughter has even come up with her own helpful hint. In addition to chilling the ingredients and tools. She suggested that we cool our hands in a bucket of ice water, before mixing the butter and the flower, and continue to keep our hands cold. She loves to cook with her hands: she peels shrimp totally by hand (no tool), she crushes tomatoes by hand to get the blend of different size pieces for the marinara sauce, crushes avocados, etc. She really gets that hands are often the best tool to use.

[galb]

This series changed my life as a baker. Erin you are one of the best cooking teachers out there. Can't wait to get my copy of the book on pie

[albablabla]

She's so charming and so articulate (and also so talented!! oh my god)

[RaieG]

This is everything I ever wanted in a channel about baking . Like, every question I’ve ever had is answered here !!

[GirlWantsANap]

I literally don’t care even a little bit about pies, but I always tune in because of Erin. 😍😍😍

[chimz]

What a kween!!! She's knows her stuff and explains it so well

[pianiman]

24:43 - One filling, two ways
27:50 - Consider your crust
29:14 - Upside-down pies with Brimley
31:55 - Determining doneness
34:09 - Mistakes happen
41:45 - Save it for later
43:29 - The finishing touches

[MichaelAlthauser]

I think this is honestly the most informative video on pie I've ever seen.

[michaelsmith]

Girl I spit my cereal out. “Scrape like it’s your Christmas bonus”. I absolutely love you. You make baking an art form and a science class all in one. I find new things to love about you every episode. Keep up the great and wonderful work.

[TheYolk]

i literally watch this every fall, Erin, you're my hero

[deidrekelly]

I have a love for pies and all baking! Even though there was 9 children in my family, my beloved mom made pies regularly! Baking is love, its delicous, its fresh and its creative!!

[lizmiller]

Oh, yes, the upsidedown pie is VERY interesting! Please tell us more. I’ve learned so much from you!

[evageline]

I love Erin! She's outgoing and her personality just shines. I have never preordered a book before, but I did for hers. This pie series with her have taught me so much and I am truly appreciative of her sharing her knowledge. Xx

[ryanryan]

So many more pie episodes !!! Give me all the pie episodes

[mayaralopes]

She thinks of every aspect you may ever wonder about, just the best guide there is

[yusefkhan]

This is an excellent series Mashallah I’m very happy about it. This is a lovely woman and she has great energy.

[HayesChristina]

Erin, I have been baking fruit pies for a long time, and in May of almost every year for the last almost thirty years we go pick olallieberries at a local berry farm. And I freeze them for pies. Well last night I needed to bake a pie fast, and I had defrosted a bunch of berries and quickly found this video (which I had previously watched) and I followed your directions to reduce the juice and add it back to the filling. It turned out to be one of the best pies that I have ever made. Thanks so much for your entertaining and information filled videos. You are awesome!