Diamond Pane Pie Crust from Scratch

Hello again, and welcome. No sooner did I finish writing about a favorite soup of mine in the previous post, than I began to think of recipes for other dishes I enjoy in the Fall. So where does this inevitably lead? Why to pie, of course.

This will be a very brief post, and I won't even include a recipe. It is just a method I discovered for the preparation of the top crust of a sweet, or savory pie. I came up with it on my own, but I'm certain it's been done a million times before.

I'm posting it because the end result is such a beautiful thing, like a time consuming lattice, but consuming no time at all.

You prepare the bottom crust as usual, and place the pie tin with the bottom crust laid into it into the freezer. (By the way, I make all butter pie crusts, substituting butter for the shortening in my favorite recipes, and instead of cutting it in with two knives, or a pastry cutter, I use the large grate side of a cheese grater and work the grated butter in very quickly with my fingertips.)

Next, I roll out the top crust between two sheets of waxed paper. Then, carefully removing the top sheet of paper, I take an ordinary table knife and cut a series of straight lines, about an inch apart, all the way across the crust. Then I turn the crust to an angle of about 45 degrees and cut another series of lines, creating a surface of diamond shapes. You need to be careful not to press so hard with the knife that the paper below the crust is damaged, but I've never had this happen.

Now place the upper crust sheet in the freezer for a moment to chill.

Remove the pie tin with the bottom crust and add the pie filling.

Take the sheet of top crust out of the freezer, carefully up-end it and center it onto the pie.

Now, gently peel off the waxed paper and crimp, as you would normally, the overlapping dough onto the bottom crust, blending and repairing as you do, the cuts in the dough at the edges.

Gently apply just enough pressure on the diamond shapes, with your fingertips, to be certain that the cuts you made go all the way through.

Finally, brush with an egg wash, or whatever you generally do, and bake as usual.

The end result is really impressive, and with practically no effort at all.

I hope this works for you.

Best Wishes, Scratch