It is the middle of October and I’m craving peach pie. Last month, I had the tastiest slice in Portland from Lauretta Jean’s. I was perusing the farmers’ market and couldn’t resist. “I’m just going to look” I said. There were 6 pies to choose from but once the cashier said streusel, I was sold. The topping was really chunky and completely covered the sweet fruit. I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
What’s great about individual pies, besides being portable, is when you’re having a craving, you can just de-frost as many as you’d like and pop them in the oven! No need to bake an entire pie. It’s as easy as having cookie dough ready in the freezer.
This is one of my favorite Martha Stewart recipes. The result is so impressive and yet the technique is quite simple. You really can’t mess it up. It involves scrunching up layers of phyllo and coiling them into a round pan. If you tear the sheets a bit, that’s okay. It will still look beautiful. Then a simple custard is poured over the baked phyllo base and baked again. The result is a crispy, layered top with a tender eggy base. Watch my Ruffled Milk Pie how-to video.
See my Pumpkin Ruffled Milk Pie recipe.
Typically when there is a recipe I like, it gets filed into the “must-make” folder and I’d forget I put it there. Not with this one. After seeing the Cinnamon-Swirl Apple Slab Pie in the Martha Stewart November issue, I knew Sunday would be pie day in my PJs. I told my friends I was busy. Apology was given in the form of homemade pie.
If you’ve seen my slab pie assembly how-to video, I made it in a jelly roll pan as stated in the recipe. For bake number 2, I used a 9″ pie dish. See the how-to! I love slab pies but thought a round pie would be pretty given the swirl shapes were also circular.