9" apple pie, pie crust flower
Techniques Used-lattice top, fondant/gum paste Lily
Focus-making fondant/gum paste Lily out of pie crust
I wanted to know if the flowers made with fondant or gum paste could also be made with pie crust. I think the hardest part about it was making a form for the oven. There are plastic formers out there made by Wilton and other companies, but I needed to bake the flower, and the former wouldn't be able to handle the heat. All I did was take a strip of aluminum foil and mold and shape it to be a ring the size I wanted. I didn't take a picture of it, but you can see it underneath the flower.
I cut out six petals; they look like stretched tear drops. I then thinned out the edges of the petals to make them look more realistic (this also makes the edges brown slightly for a neat effect). Here's a video of how I thinned the edges, although the video is about making an anemone. I then made a line on each petal using a veining tool. Next I started placing the petals. As you can see, there are two layers of three petals, so I just divided the ring in thirds for the bottom layer, and then placed the next layer of petals in the spaces. I didn't want the tips of the petals to just droop down, so I made aluminum foil balls to lift them. The picture above shows some of the petals pointing upward. Then it's just baking it and placing it on your pie.
I wanted to show you the pie without the flower. I really like this design, how it gives the pie some texture without adding more pie crust. If anything, there is less pie crust, or at least that's how I do it. I like the strips to be fairly separated, but the strips can vary by size and distance between them.
For those of you that want to learn this technique, I found some videos and written instructions for you to follow. This first video is the way that I do it, except my pie recipe doesn't require egg whites. Here are written instructions with pictures as well. I also wanted to show this video, because it's another way to do the lattice top, so you can choose which way you prefer. I also like it that he cuts his own strips without using a ruler, and they look really nice.
Here are some more ideas for the tops of pies. This first site shows a few different borders as well as the lattice top. The second site is more focused on borders, but also shows pie pops, which are pies on a stick. I hope this has gotten your creative juices flowing, or at least gotten you to crave some pie!
This pie was decorated January 2012.
