Easy as Pie

Entertaining

by

On a perfect spring Sunday afternoon, Elisabeth Edelman took one last lap around her house to make sure everything was in place before her guests arrived. She emerged from the kitchen carrying a gorgeous mixed-berry pie, its fruits glistening like rubies, and placed it triumphantly in the center of her dining room table. After a quick trip upstairs to ditch flip-flops for party shoes, Edelman returned, cranked up the tunes and sat down, ready to receive her 70-plus guests. She never broke a sweat.

“I throw events for work all the time,” explains Edelman, 31, vice president of branding and communications at Ledbury. “I just wanted to have a party to relax and have fun with friends. But I tend to go a little overboard. This was meant to be a humble open house, and all of a sudden it’s a pie contest with judges.”

Billed as the “First Annual Meadow Pie-Off,” Edelman’s casual Sunday get-together was an exercise in effortless entertaining. Guests furnished the food — home-baked pies — while Edelman provided the libations (beer from Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, a bourbon bar and coffee from Alchemy) and the venue, her 1908 home on Meadow Park in the Fan District. Simple flowers from Deanna King at Strawberry Fields Flowers and Gifts and twinkle lights — a permanent fixture in Edelman’s home since a New Year’s Eve party a few years back — created a festive atmosphere that allowed both hostess and guests to relax and enjoy. Meg Gipson, manager of Garnett’s Café, and Isabel Eckrosh, co-owner of the Dog and Pig Show, served as the expert judges for the pie contest.

Edelman’s home is just a few doors from Garnett’s Café, and she says her pie party was partially inspired by the restaurant. “I stop in there often for pie,” she says. “I have a huge sweet tooth.” For the party, Edelman made a mixed-berry pie with a gingersnap crust. “My mom and I used to make it together when I was little,” she says. “This is the first time I made it by myself. I think I called her four times to ask questions.”  

Gipson, who faced the difficult task of judging the entries, knows good pie.

“I am from a Southern family,” she says. “I grew up with all those Southern desserts.”

So what was she looking for in the winning pie?

“The crust is crucial,” Gipson says. “The pastry has to be flaky. A pie has to have a good balance — I don’t like sweet on sweet. It needs some tartness or some texture. But taste trumps all.”

Dawn Coleman’s fluffy sweet-potato pie was the first-place winner; Coleman received a Japanese indigo-stripe apron from Jones of Boerum Hill as her prize. Cheryl Dawson’s strawberry pie with crème Anglaise took second and Eric Waters’ bourbon chocolate pecan pie received third place.

Guests are already plotting next year’s pies. “I love the notion of traditions,” Edelman says.

And who doesn’t like pie?

Sweet Potato Pie

Filling Ingredients

    1/4 cup of softened butter

    2    eggs, separated

    1    cup of sugar

    1 1/2 cups of cooked mashed sweet potatoes

    1    teaspoon of vanilla extract

    1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

    1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

    1/4 teaspoon of ginger

    1    teaspoon of vanilla extract

    1    9-inch pie crust

Pie Crust Ingredients (Makes two pie crusts)

    2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

    1     tablespoon of granulated sugar

    1     teaspoon of kosher salt

    2     sticks of very cold, cubed, salted butter

    1/2  cup of cold water

Directions:

Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Add the cubed butter to the mixture, using a pastry cutter to incorporate it until the mixture is crumbly. Slowly add 1/2 cup of cold water, working it into the dough. Knead the dough with your hands until it forms a ball. Divide the ball into two equal parts and flatten each into a disc. Turn one disc out onto a lightly floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll it out to form a 12-inch circle, about 1/8 of an inch thick. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming the edges to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the dish. 

Gingersnap Berry Pie

 Ingredients

    1     cup of finely crushed gingersnaps

    3/4  cup of finely crushed vanilla wafers

    1/4  cup of finely chopped walnuts

    1/3  cup of melted butter

    1     envelope of unflavored gelatin

    1 3/4 cups of unsweetened white grape juice

    8     ounces of cream cheese, softened

    1/4  cup of sugar

    1     teaspoon of vanilla

    2 1/2 cups of blueberries

    1 1/2 cups of sliced strawberries

Directions

For the Crust:

Mix  the crushed  gingersnaps, crushed vanilla wafers and walnuts together in a bowl. Add the melted butter and mix well. Press the mixture into the bottom and 1 1/2 inches up the sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan to form a firm, even crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the crust to cool.

For the Filling:

In a saucepan, soften the gelatin in the grape juice for 5 minutes. Then stir the mixture over low heat until the gelatin dissolves. Chill the gelatin mixture for 40 to 50 minutes, or until it has partially set, stirring it occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer, until it is smooth. Spread the mixture over the bottom of the prepared pie crust. Spoon half of the gelatin mixture over the cream cheese layer. Top the gelatin with 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries and all of the strawberries. Add the remaining blueberries to the topping. Spoon the remaining gelatin mixture over the berries. Chill the pie for 4 to 6 hours, or until it has set.