Given how unfussy this cutter is, we found that you could cut dozens of lattice crusts without having to do much more than pop out any leftover diamond pieces from the cutter holes. When you've finished a rinse in warm soapy water is enough to clean this cutter off, but it's not made for dishwasher use. Get a creative flair with your pie crusts by using this nifty tool. From beautifully crimped edges to fancy themed shapes, among other designs and uses, pastry chefs and home bakers enjoy adding a special finishing touch to their delicious pies and pastries.

If you have any experience molding fondant decorations into silicone molds, you've already got a good idea of how easy it is to produce impressive 3-dimensional shapes this way. Williams Sonoma has created a silicone mold specifically for molding pie crust strips, outfitted with five designs that would otherwise be difficult and time-consuming to create by hand.Not sure what to look for when it comes to the best pie maker? Take a look at this buyer’s guide. Dimensions Finally, the look of your pie making machine may also be a consideration. Some have a traditional vintage design, while others are more contemporary. Wattage If you don't have a pie crust cutter that crimps the edges for you, grab a fork and press the fork prongs down onto the rim of the pie dish. Do this all the way around the rim. You can also use your fingers to seal and make a design on the edge of the pie crust. With all of this pie-making practice (including recipe fails!), I’ve learned which kitchen tools are most helpful for making homemade pies. And I’m so happy to share it all with you.

Karen Resta, the original author of this roundup, is a writer specializing in food culture and history, cooking, pastries, and restaurants. She's also a former pastry chef and has traveled to Budapest, Kyiv, and Paris during their fashion weeks as a photographer and writer, always finding the best authentic pastries along the way. She now spends a lot of her free time baking at home and recommends quality within your given budget. Having the right tools available and knowing how to use them well (it can take practice, like anything else) makes all the difference, and she curated this list with that in mind. While the mold is about 10 inches long and we were only making a 9-inch pie, we noticed that the strips just barely made it from one side of the pie to the other, and we wished the strips were just slightly longer. It required three strips lined up end-to-end to decorate the circumference of a pie's edge. Being careful not to pull too hard or distort the general shape of the strands, we found that you can stretch your pie dough another inch or so if you need to, beginning from the center of the strip and working your way to the ends. All of the strips maintained their decorative shape while baking. It took the strips on top of the pie longer to bake all the way through than the strips on the edge of the pie, which is to be expected.Planning an under-the-sea theme? You’ll find fish shapes and even seahorses. Got a more general animal theme? You’ll see cutters in the shape of bees, owls, elephants and everything in between. We’ve even got a crown cookie cutter if you’re opting for a royal theme and want your cookie to match up! Using a pastry blender keeps your hands cleaner, and it also doesn't add as much heat to the ingredients as your warm hands might. But the most important reason is that pastry blender helps to evenly incorporate the fat into the dough, ensuring a lighter, flakier pie crust. From fruit pies like apple pie, cherry pie, peach pie, and blueberry pie; to rich and smooth cream pies like French silk pie, pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, and cheesecake pie… Note Before You Begin: These designs, with the exception of the baked cookie cutter shapes design (step 3 below), all go on top of an unbaked pie. So start with your pie already filled and ready for a pie dough topping. After topping with your designed top crust, bake according to the pie recipe you’re using, such as this apple pie, apple cranberry pie, caramel pear pie, or other pie recipe. Once cut, the lattice will expand to cover the width of the pie, but the length will stay the same. Plan accordingly, by making sure your dough is as long as you need it to be to cover the surface of your pie, although it only needs to be about half as wide. We found the lattice easy to stretch over the pie with attractive results, but don't worry if it takes one or two attempts to master.

For many years, I used only salt and nutmeg to season the dough, so one day, I decided to add a little quantity of sugar to see if there would be any difference. Lo and behold, it tasted much better! Egg The instructions suggest using this like a large cookie cutter—by pressing it into the rolled-out dough from above. But we found this method didn't cleanly cut through all of the dough without an extreme amount of pressure. Instead, we laid our dough over the cutter and gently rolled it with a flat rolling pin, cleanly pressing the lattice shape into the dough from below and making perfectly clean cuts. Not only was the lattice pattern crisp and elegant, but the resulting pie baked up with a delicate lattice crust that was as beautiful as it was crispy. Always take your time when working with pie dough. It’s not a race! Treat the dough with a little TLC. You are not angry at the pie dough (but maybe you are LOL). Don’t roll it out too forcefully or rush through a decorative topping. Set aside enough time to really concentrate on it. Put on some music or invite some friends or family to join you, and enjoy the process. I promise it’s worth it! As you can see, this is a great tool to have in the kitchen whether you’re a beginner home cook or a pro. It can replace some of the work done by food processors or electric mixers, which is helpful if the power ever goes out or if more than one person is cooking at the same time.

Site Customisation

The fondant cutter is what you see me use in the video below, but the wavy side of a pastry wheel can do the same thing. A pastry wheel is very handy because you can use the scalloped edge to make a pretty wavy design, or you can use the flat edge for a traditional lattice pie crust. We need both a wavy cutter (for the lattice) and a flat cutter (for the braid strips) for this particular pie design. I also used a pie punch to add apple shapes, but you can use any cookie cutter or pie punch shape. We used these cutters to make an organic-looking top pie crust of layered leaves on top of a 6-inch small pie, as well as decorative elements on top of several larger pie crusts, and we were incredibly impressed with how well they work. The cutters cleanly punch even delicate branches holding the leaves together without tearing. We've used these cutters often since our initial tests, using them on both store-bought and homemade pie dough, and across several different types of pies for decoration. We continue to be impressed with the decorations they make, and how surprisingly well they've held up over time. This set of four very different leaf designs provides the perfect embellishment for pies in any season. The cutters can be used to imprint on dough or to cut shaped, detailed leaves to add to pie crusts. The punches were so easy to use, that they ended up being one of our favorite ways to get creative with our pie crusts.