Secret to the Pie is in the Crust

Last year, Penny Keaton, award-winning pie maker, let me print her Los Angeles County fair first prize-winning pumpkin pie recipe in time for Thanksgiving.

The recipe we published did not include ingredients or directions for the pie crust. Penny had just started a new business, teaching classes in pie baking. Her pie crust ingredients and preparation technique were at the heart of her course.

Since then, Penny’s business has grown, aided by a local cooking school and an affiliation with King Arthur’s flour. Bob went to a bread baking class presented in Pasadena by King Arthurb after I wrote about it here. Penny uses King Arthur flour exclusively in her pie crust.

Ever since I tasted Penny’s pie at her home, I have been pondering the pie crust. When a call came from the organizer of a fund-raiser at Fremont Elementary School inviting me to a parent/child pumpkin pie baking class taught by Penny, I was thrilled. Then I realized that the date of the event conflicted with a long-planned trip. Bob agreed to take my place. He arrived in the auditorium/cafeteria at Fremont bright and early on a recent Saturday morning with my notebook and camera.

He was warmly greeted by the event organizer Kim McComas. I became acquainted with Kim by e-mail. She wrote to me about an orange cake she wanted to re-create for her husband’s birthday. As we reviewed the details of the pie class after the event, I arranged to interview her family. Next week I’ll write about my visit with the McComas family.

Penny began the Fremont pie class with a demonstration. As she worked, she invited the children to help her. Kim wrote, “Penny, was very kid-friendly and involved each kid in the making of her demonstration pies, getting them to measure out the vanilla, stir the mixture, or roll the dough. They were listening intently as she spoke about the health benefits of using honey in the pumpkin pie instead of sugar, and using non-hydrogenated oil in the crust. I really liked her guilt-free attitude towards adding a dollop of whipped cream to the top of the pie, as long as its wholesome cream sweetened with organic cane sugar and the eater of the pie maintains an active lifestyle.”

After Penny’s pies went in the oven, the students set about making their own mini-pies. Bob said that Penny filled her pie crust right up to the top of the crust fluting and then carried the pie several feet over to the ovens. When it came time for the participants to take their pies to the oven, according to Bob, “That was a different story. Penny carried her pies without spilling a single drop. It was fun to watch the students figure out alternate ways to get their pies to the oven safely. Some used trays and others took the pies closer to the oven to fill them.”

Nolen Rea, 9, wrote on his evaluation sheet that the most interesting thing he learned from the class was “not to stir the dough too much.” When asked if he would be baking pie for Thanksgiving with his family he answered, “Definitely.”

Kim’s son, Will, 11, paid close attention to Penny’s direction to handle the pie crust dough as little as possible. He was careful to avoid over-handling the dough when he showed off his new pie making skills later at home.

Fremont’s Parents and Community Foundation received the profits from the class. The foundation raises money for enhanced programs such as computer classes and chorus. Penny discounted her fee to make the class affordable to families. Local grocery stores donated ingredients: Ray Ortiz, manager of Vons Montrose; La Crescenta Ralph’s; Lori at Trader Joe’s in La Cañada; and HOW’s Family Grocers of Glendale.

Kim also wrote, “The families who attended Fremont’s pie-baking class had such a fun time. Even our fabulous custodian, Lalo, and everyone’s favorite cafeteria manager, Jasmin (who came with her daughter) had a great time and went home with pies.”

Bob took a photo of the Gabor sisters, Jessica, Abigail and Madison, who came with their mom Vicky. Others who attended included Fremont’s principal Cynthia Livingston, Shannon Barber, Beatrice Breckheimer, Rebecca Drooks, Anais and Dionne Lignan. Also learning the pie baking art were Emily, Will and Kim McComas, Pete, Shane and Robyn Ragland with grandmother Gwen Cochran, Nolan and Manisha Rea, Lynn Rude, Grace and Fay Woo.

The class recorded the ingredients for Penny’s pumpkin pie filling. It’s based on Libby’s famous recipe with the addition of vanilla and honey substituting for sugar. If you missed it last year, email me for a copy. Bob brought home the recipe for the pie crust and preparation techniques. I was delighted to have the recipe at last, because I knew it must have a secret ingredient. It does have one! If you have a chance to enroll in one of Penny’s classes, take it.

To assuage your disappointment, in case you’d hope we’d print the pie crust recipe, Kim sent along a delicious autumn soup recipe. She describes it this way: “Although this soup is lovely as a starter for Thanksgiving dinner, it makes a beautiful light dinner served with some French bread and salad. It is so wonderful, that it does deserve to be the highlight of the meal rather than have the turkey steal the show. Perhaps a perfect “Thanksgiving eve” dinner, or served with turkey sandwiches the day after.”

Write Lynn Duvall at boblynn@ix.netcom.com or in care of the Valley Sun.

Zesty Pumpkin Soup

1/4 cup butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

2 to 3 teaspoons of cayenne pepper, to taste

3 to 4 dashes of cinnamon, to taste

3 cups chicken broth

1 3/4 cups (16 oz. can) pumpkin

1 cup half & half

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter; sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add curry powder, salt, coriander, cayenne, and cinnamon; cook 1 minute. Add broth; boil gently, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in pumpkin and half & half; cook 5 minutes. The soup can be served at this point or you can purée it in a blender until it is creamy. If you blend the soup when it is still warm, fill the blender only half way and hold the top down tightly. Makes 6 cups.