You'll Love This Shortcake

Tips and Tidbits

• Use refrigerated and frozen piecrust before the expiration date printed on the package.
• Bake a refrigerated piecrust in a glass pie plate--it absorbs the radiant heat of an oven, unlike shiny metal or aluminum pie pans that reflect heat and can prevent the bottom of the crust from browning. When using a frozen piecrust in a disposable aluminum pan, bake the pie on a preheated cookie sheet.
• Brush an unbaked piecrust with lightly beaten egg white before adding the filling. The egg white acts as a seal, keeping the bottom crust crisp. Bake pies on the lowest oven rack, and cool on a wire rack after baking.
• Leave the excess dough around the outer edge of the pie plate for fluting, or use it to seal the top crust of a double-crusted fruit pie.
• When preparing a single crust pie, fold the excess dough underneath itself, even with the pie plate's rim, and crimp.
• After folding dough under, create a checkered border by cutting decorative slits at 1/2-inch intervals. Gently press the tabs in opposite directions.
• Rather than cutting and weaving strips of dough, use a small canapé cutter to create the look of a lattice-top crust for fruit pies.

Related Recipes For Shortcakes

• Caramel-Apple Shortcakes
• Cinnamon-Crunch Shortcakes
• Ginger-Pear Shortcakes
• Party-Perfect Strawberry Shortcakes

This article is from the June 2005 issue of Southern Living.