Looking for an unusual pie for your holiday events? Try this Fresh Pineapple Pie recipe. The only pineapple pie I’ve ever eaten was made by my Sicilian grandmother. I can’t fathom where she got the recipe because Sicilians are not pie bakers, and a pineapple pie was certainly not run-of the mill fare in Illinois. I suspect she must have learned it from one of her American friends. In any case, it makes a delicious dessert.
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For the Crust
My pie crust recipe may seem a bit overly fussy, but I have incorporated every technique I’ve ever learned to make the most tender, flaky crust. To my mind, a great crust is what makes a pie more than just a pedestrian dessert.
Cut the butter into tiny little pieces and freeze it until it’s very hard. The colder your ingredients, the more successful your pie crust.
Cut the butter in tiny pieces.
Freeze the lard or vegetable shortening until it’s hard. I believe that half lard gives you the best crust. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1 minute.
Chop the frozen lard or vegetable shortening into small pieces. Add it, as well as the frozen butter, to the flour in the food processor bowl.
Add the shortening to the flour.
Pulse the mixture several times, just until the butter is about the size of peppercorns. You should be able to see tiny pieces of butter in the mixture.
Pulse the shortening.
Gradually add ice water by the tablespoon. Add just enough water until the pastry begins to come together in the processor bowl.
Allow the pastry to form a mass.
If you have a small-bowl food processor bowl, as I do, you may need to do this whole procedure in two batches—one a little larger than the other.
Remove the pastry from the food processor. Kneed the pastry slightly. If you’ve made the pastry in a single batch, cut it into two pieces, one slightly larger. Form each into a round disk. Cover both disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate them overnight.
Form disks and wrap in plastic.
Trust me, refrigerating the pastry overnight will make your rolling it out a much easier job.
For the Filling
You can greatly simplify this recipe by using two large cans of pineapple—as my grandmother did. Just adjust the sugar accordingly. I find, however, that using fresh pineapple makes for a superior pie, without too much extra effort.
Peel and core the pineapple, then cut it into small chunks. Place the chunks in a medium- sized saucepan. Add 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. Cook the pineapple over medium- low heat for about 10-15 minutes until it is quite tender.
Poach the pineapple.
Taste the pineapple for sweetness. You may need to add as much as another cup of sugar, depending on how sweet your pineapple is. Place the cooked pineapple in the bowl of a food processor and pulse just until it reaches the consistency of crushed pineapple.
As you can see by the photo below, I decided to try out my new immersion blender and found that it was big mistake. It made the pineapple into a purée, losing the nice texture of crushed pineapple.
Don’t use an immersion blender.
Drain the juice from the pineapple into a measuring cup then a small saucepan.
Drain the liquid.
Depending on how much juice your pineapple yields, you will need to whisk in 4-5 teaspoons of potato starch. I much prefer using potato starch rather than cornstarch as a thickener because it thickens better without leaving a gluey texture. I use Bob’s Red Mill brand potato starch.
If you use cornstarch, you may need to use more than 5 teaspoons. Cook the juice over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, just until the mixture begins to thicken.
Cook the liquid with starch.
You don’t want to overcook it because that can cause the starch to break down in the oven. Stir the juice back into the crushed pineapple, along with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
For Assembling and Baking the Fresh Pineapple Pie
Remove the larger disk of pastry from the refrigerator and let it sit on a floured board for about 7 minutes. Rolling out a cold pastry will make it crack. Roll out the pastry on a floured board until it is 1-1 1⁄2 inches larger than your 9-inch pie plate. Lightly dust the pie plate with flour. This helps prevent the crust from sticking when you slice the pie.
Flour the pie plate.
Wrap the pastry around the rolling pin, and carefully unroll it onto the pie plate. Gently lift the edges of the pastry with one hand while pressing the pastry gently against the sides of the pie plate with your other hand.
Place the bottom crust.
Freezing the pastry for 30 minutes makes it bake better.
Remove the smaller disk of pastry from the refrigerator, place it on the floured board for about 7 minutes. Roll out the pastry into a rough square that is an inch or so larger than your pie plate. With a straight edge, using a ravioli cutter or a sharp knife, cut the pastry into 3⁄4- inch strips.
Cut strips.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet that is slightly larger than your pie plate, invert the pie plate on it, and draw a circle around the edge of the plate, giving you a template on which to build your lattice crust.
To form a lattice top, place 5-6 strips of the pastry horizontally onto the parchment paper, spaced evenly apart. (My spacing required 6 strips.)
Layout horizontal strips.
From left to right, fold the first, third, and fifth strips back. Place another strip vertically just against the fold of the horizontal strips. (Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph those two steps.) Unfold the first, third, and fifth strips over the vertical strip.
The first vertical strip.
Then fold the second, fourth, and sixth strips back from left to right.
Fold strips.
Place another vertical strip to the left, leaving the same amount of space between vertical strips that you have between the horizontal strips, then unfold those strips.
Unfold over 2nd strip.
Continue this process with the remaining strips.
The full lattice crust.
Freeze the completed lattice crust until firm. Of course, you can do this process right on the filled pie if you wish. I’ve found that the folding and unfolding on the pie covers the strips with residue from the filling, making them difficult to handle and somewhat unsightly.
Place a large metal tray or baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven, and preheat the oven to 425°.
Crack the egg and separate and save about 1 tablespoon of the white from the yolk. Beat together the egg yolk and its remaining white, with 1 tablespoon of milk. Remove the bottom pie crust from the freezer and paint the crust with the egg-yolk wash. This helps prevent a soggy crust.
Brush egg wash on the crust.
Scrape all of the pineapple mixture into the bottom crust. Dot the top of the mixture with pieces of butter.
Dot the filling with butter.
Remove the lattice top from the freezer, and gently loosen it from the parchment paper with a thin spatula, moving it just off the edge of the paper. Then take the paper off the baking sheet, and gently slide the lattice top over the pie. Trim off any excess ends from the lattice strips, and press them into the overhang from the bottom crust. With the second finger of your right hand on the inside and your thumb and second finger on the outside, crimp the edges to get a scalloped border.
Ready-to-bake Fresh Pineapple Pie.
Paint the strips and edges of the pie crust with the reserved egg white, and carefully sprinkle sugar over those strips and edges. Place the pie on the baking sheet or tray in the preheated oven, and bake it for about 25 minutes until it’s beginning to brown. Lower the heat to 375°, and continue to bake until the crust is a deep golden brown. Remove the Fresh Pineapple Pie to a rack, and let it cool for about 2 hours before serving.
