Making Martha's Best Summer Pies

I'm a sucker for a good summer pie - pies that are laden with cooked in-season fruits, or pies that derive their personalities from vintage-diner days of yore. During the last lockdown in Ontario, I endeavored to make more pies and I was inevitably drawn to some of Martha's recipes.

First of all, I find her recipe for pate-brisee to be the best one I've encountered, mainly because it is an all-butter crust. Shortening is great for flakiness, but it is lacking in the flavour department. I also like how all-butter crusts turn a beautiful golden-brown colour, rather than the pallid beige of a crust made with shortening. Her recipe is quick to make, too, using a food processor - basically, just a few seconds. I've included her recipe below.

All of the pies I made, shown below, were made using one of Martha's recipes. I've provided a link for each one. They each appealed to me for different reasons, but I hope you find one of them alluring enough to make yourself this summer! Enjoy!

Banana cream pie is one of my favourites. Even as a kid, I would seek it out at restaurants and diners. They became increasingly difficult to find over the years as apple pie emerged as THE pie shown on almost every dessert menu. Thankfully, having this recipe in my repertoire means never having to search for one again! The filling is luscious and creamy, studded with slices of fresh banana, then topped with sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Click here for the recipe or find it in "Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts".

Rum raisin is my favourite ice-cream flavour, so rum-raisin pie was an obvious choice for me. The custard filling is very subtly-flavoured with vanilla and rum and sits atop a layer of golden raisins along the bottom of the pie crust, which when cooked become plump and juicy. Topping each slice with whipped cream is essential. Click here for the recipe, or find it in "Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook."

This decadent tart is also inspired by an ice-cream flavour: the ever-popular Rocky Road. I made this one for Father's Day, since Rocky Road is my dad's favourite ice-cream flavour. This one uses a simple graham-cracker crust and is filled with a chocolatey ganache studded with roasted salted almonds, mini marshmallows and chunks of dark chocolate. The recipe for the crust calls for five tablespoons of melted butter. I didn't find this to be quite enough. I would increase the amount to one stick (half a cup) next time, since I found the crust came out quite crumbly. But... this is one of the most delicious desserts I think I've ever made. My father loved it, as did my entire family. I was asked for the recipe several times. Click here for the recipe or find it in the August 2004 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

It was the plethora of fresh apricots at the market this month that inspired me to make this pie. When I saw Martha's recipe for apricot pie with a coconut-crumble topping, it wasn't long before I settled on it. The flavour is excellent and apricot and coconut is such a summery combination. It's best served slightly warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Click here for the recipe, or find it in the June 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Next on my list is a coconut-cream pie... or maybe a cherry pie, or maybe a peach pie...

Martha's Pâte Brisée (All-butter Pie Crust)

(Makes enough for one double-crust 9-inch pie or two single crust pies)

INGREDIENTS:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (one cup) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes

¼ cup to ½ cup ice-cold water

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step One: Ensure all your ingredients are cold before using, including the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt; pulse to combine. Add the butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about ten seconds. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in the butter with a pastry blender or use your fingers).

Step Two: With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until the dough begins to hold together without being wet or sticky. (If doing by hand, mix with a fork as you pour the water). Do not process for more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount together; if it is still too crumbly or sandy, add more water, one tablespoon at a time, until it begins to come together. It should still be somewhat loose but hold together when squeezed.

Step Three: Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape the dough into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight. The dough can be kept frozen for up to one month. Thaw in the fridge overnight before using. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before beginning to roll it.

 

PREPARING AND BLIND BAKING A PIE SHELL:

Step One: On a lightly-floured surface, roll out dough to a 13-inch round, ¼ inch thick. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim dough, leaving a one-inch overhang. Tuck overhang under, flush with rim, crimping edges. Pierce bottom of pie shell with a fork to allow steam to escape while baking. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

Step Two: Preheat oven to 425. Line shell with a large round of parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are slightly golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove pie from oven and remove parchment and pie weights. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and return pie shell to bake for an additional 20 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before filling. 

Martha.com is Live!

So many of us on the consumer end of the Martha Stewart spectrum have been wishing for a one-stop shop where all of Martha's products can be viewed, accessed and purchased. That wish has now been granted! In the wee hours of the morning, Martha.com launched - a new online portal to all of Martha's partnerships and product lines. No more skipping from one site to another to another to another in order to shop for Martha's wares. Martha calls it her "shop of shops."

The site is categorized by your shopping needs (entertaining, decorating, cooking, outdoor living, organizing, wellbeing and Good Things) with separate sub-shops linking to each of Martha's manufacturing and distribution partners, from Macy's to Marley Spoon. You can shop Martha's line of CBD products here, her wine selections, her furniture line with Wayfair and her products with Amazon. 

The site is still new and is still very much in development. Martha hinted that there will be new features to the site added weekly, including her full library of books, how-to videos and some of her favourite resources for the home, from gardening to antiquing. Be sure to keep watch!

"Martha's Flowers" 2022 Wall Calendar

I've always been something of a calendar buff. I love a bright, engaging wall calendar to hang in my kitchen each year: they keep me organized at a glance and the monthly change of imagery is always refreshing. I tend to go for art calendars most often; ones that feature the work of a particular artist or a collection of works that fall under a specific theme - Japanese woodblock prints, for instance. If the calendar doesn't feature artwork, then it's definitely something garden related. Currently, I've got Martha's 2021 "Flowers" calendar up, published by Andrews McMeel. It will be replaced in January with the follow-up, "Martha's Flowers" 2022 Wall Calendar which came out yesterday. You can find out details about it below.

The calendar arrived today, much to my delight. It measures 12" by 12" when closed and 12" by 24" when open, featuring 13 full-colour photographs from the "Martha's Flowers" book, which was published in 2018, many of them unused outtakes that have not been published before.

The calendar opens with the last quarter of 2021, so you can get a head start in putting it up on your wall. 

The photographs are beautiful, printed on semi-gloss paper that was sourced responsibly. The calendar is marked with a seal of approval from the Forest Stewardship Council of America, meaning the paper was ethically and responsibly harvested. Similarly, all the printing was done with non-chemical soy ink. The dates for the previous and following months are also presented in the upper righthand corner for easy reference, negating the need to flip back and forth from page to page - very handy. 

What I love most about this calendar, aside from the glorious photography and fine paper, is the format of the grid and the thoroughness of the prelisted dates. There is plenty of room to write any personal text or memo, and many of the highlighted dates are international, which is helpful when you have friends and family living in various countries, as I do. Lunar cycles are also listed. At the bottom of each page there is information about the flower featured in the photograph - very helpful to novice gardeners.

The calendar is available to order online now and will soon be available in stores where calendars are sold. I highly recommend it. Two more Martha Stewart calendars (a ring-bound planner and a desk calendar) are slated to be released later this year, based on her "Organizing" and "Martha Manual" books.

Martha's Dried-Apricot and Sage Scones

Sometimes you just need a scone. I grew up with my grandmother's scones and still use her extremely simple recipe when I want to make a quick batch. But I was intrigued by a recipe I found recently in the January, 2004, issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine: dried-apricot and sage scones. The imagined flavour combination sparked my curiosity and I had to try them out. I'm very glad I did!

The scones were flaky but moist and studded with soft, orange pieces of dried apricot. The real brightness of the flavour, though, comes from the addition of finely-chopped fresh sage, which infuses the batter with an unusual but perfect dash of something herbal to counteract the sweetness. (These scones smell amazing as they bake in the oven!) 

They are ideal served with a very good apricot jam at the breakfast table. I've even had them with slices of smoked turkey meat and a bit of salted butter, using them more as a sweet-and-savory biscuit. Below is the recipe. If you're a scone aficionado, I highly recommend trying these.

Dried-Apricot and Sage Scones

(Makes 8 scones)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon fine salt

5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup chopped dried apricots (about 4 ounces)

2 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh sage

1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing

Sanding sugar (or regular sugar) for dusting

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step one: Preheat oven to 375. Place flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Work in butter with your fingertips or with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in dried apricots and sage. Add cream. Gather mixture together with your hands until it starts to hold together. (Don’t be too rough with it; this could toughen the dough).

Step two: Place mixture onto a lightly floured work surface. Quickly bring the dough together: pat into an 8-inch round disk that is approximately one inch thick. Smooth the top gently with a rolling pin. Cut into eight wedges using a metal bench scraper or a large, sharp knife dusted with flour.

Step three: Arrange the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with cream and then dust with sanding sugar, or regular sugar if sanding sugar is not available. Bake until cooked through and lightly golden-brown, about 30 minutes. Immediately transfer scones to a wire rack to cool. Let cool at least ten minutes before serving.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Cook’s note: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days.

Martha Gets Down and Dirty for Discovery+

Discovery Plus has unveiled its summer 2021 roster of streaming programming and Martha is taking center stage with her series, "Martha Gets Down and Dirty", which premiers on July 1. The eight episode series will follow Martha, her friend and colleague Kevin Sharkey and her head gardener, Ryan McCallister, as they prepare her Bedford, NY, farm for the spring/summer season. There will be celebrity guest appearances and questions from her viewers and readers seeking advice about how to plant their summer gardens. 

If the premise sounds familiar, you're not dreaming. It is essentially the same program as "Martha Knows Best," which was developed for HGTV and aired for two seasons on that channel. 

You can watch the trailer for the show here.

You can find a full description of the series by clicking here, as well as the other Discovery Plus programs on offer this summer.