Feathered Beauty

Throughout this Thanksgiving and Christmas season, I made quite a few pies to go along with our holiday dinner.

But I think this one has got to me my favorite out of all the ones I baked.

I’ll bet you can guess why, can’t you?

I just love the delicate feathered beauty situated along the edge of this pie.

Yes, I am a little hooked on interesting dough-work lately.

pie face

This is also the first time I’ve tried a wide lattice top crust too and I love the way the dainty feathers look against the wide strips.

By the way, each lattice strip is 2-inches wide and I only needed eight of them for the entire pie.

I think this is a simple example of an easy approach to adding amazing visual interest to an otherwise plain old apple pie.

feathers dough

To make the feathers, you’ll need a little patience along with a straight edge knife and a steady hand to create these pretty feathered toppers.

Roll the pastry dough as you would normally roll it.

Then, just freehand cut the elongated shape of a feather.

After you’ve created your shape, use a straight-edge knife to slice thin cuts from the center out to the edge.  Make your cuts at an angle to duplicate the look of a real feather.

After, approximately every other cut or so, dip the knife into flour to keep the dough from sticking to the blade.

apple pie

After the feathered effect has been created (and before baking), slightly spread a few of the plumes apart to add a bit of free-flowing realism.

Carefully and artfully arrange the dough onto the pie across the wide lattice.

Curve the feathers and place them at a slight arc for more natural-looking appeal.

Make sure you brush the top of the dough with an egg wash to ensure the crust will bake shiny and even.

I also added a small amount of sprinkling sugar on top before baking.

NOTE: While I’ve made pastry crust from scratch before, lately I’ve been using an easy flour blend by King Arthur Flour (no, I don’t have any partnership/sponsoship with KAF but hey, if they come calling… I’ll definitely answer the phone).  

apple pie with feathers

Happy holidays and happy baking!

Thanks for popping by.

See you back here in the New Year (2018) ♥

 

SHOP THE LOOK

Copper Measuring Cups

Pastry Flour Blend

Wood Rolling Pin
13 comments

  • Penny at Enjoying The Simple Things 01/03/18

    Absolutely beautiful! I am pinning this!

    Reply

  • Jeanne 12/28/17

    Breathtakingly gorgeous, Lisa. Wow. The feathers are perfection and the sugar sprinkles add realism and look like water droplets. What kind of sugar is that? I agree, I might not want to cut this beautiful pie. 🙂

    Reply

  • Barbara 12/27/17

    I don’t know if I’d have the heart to cut this pie! 🙂 Thank you for sharing the recipe info as I will definitely want to try this variance. The crust is just lovely. Do you add the feathers at the same time as the rest of the crust or do you add them after the main crust has had a little time to bake. I was wondering if the feathers cook faster. Again, thank you so much for sharing all of your wonderful talents!

    Reply

  • Suz Kuhns 12/27/17

    love the feathers – the perfect touch! My Mom was a pastry chef and used King Arthur products exclusively. We’re fortunate enough to live about 45 minutes/an hour (depending on traffic, the season and the weather) from their main store – which is always fun to go to! This might be a fun project for the New Year weekend! Thanks for sharing and for sharing all your Christmas projects.

    Reply

    • Lisa Tutman-Oglesby 12/27/17

      Thanks, Suz.
      Oh, you’re so lucky to live near the Vermont store. My mom and I have talked about taking a road trip one day to Norwich to visit their main store and maybe take a few classes. That would be fun.
      Thanks for all the blog love this year, happy holidays to you.

      Reply

  • Marisa Franca @ All Our Way 12/27/17

    Gorgeous recipe, Lisa! I hope you had a Merry Christmas with your family and that everyone got together!! (Psst! I know what you mean about King Arthur — I certainly use their products 50# bags at a time.) I do love the feathering on the pie. Frankly, I’ve always loved the lattice top but your wide strips make it more elegant. Beautiful!!! Have a Happy New Year! Sending big hugs!!

    Reply

    • Lisa Tutman-Oglesby 12/27/17

      Thanks, Marisa.
      You’ll love the wide lattice because you’re pretty much done with just a handful of strips.
      I still love the smaller lattice but this is a nice change of pace.
      Big hugs for all your sweet support this year. You know I appreciate it.
      Hope you have a wonderful holiday season too.

      Reply

  • Diane | An Extraordinary Day 12/26/17

    Beautiful, Lisa! I’d love to know your pie crust recipe that allows you to make such beautiful crusts. I had a great recipe and I lost it and I don’t know what’s not working. 😉
    Happy New Year!!!

    Reply

    • Diane | An Extraordinary Day 12/26/17

      I found your recipe for an old glory pie and will use that… I think yours is more flour, less butter, and more water. My fingers are crossed to have fun making pretty pies. Thanks for the inspiration.

      Reply

      • Lisa Tutman-Oglesby 12/26/17

        Happy holidays, Diane!
        My favorite go-to pie crust now is made from a flour-blend by King Arthur Flour.
        I just add ice water, butter and buttermilk powder. It’s easy, and the crust is so flaky and delicious.
        You can get it online but I buy mine from my local Sur La Table.
        Of course, you can use my earlier recipe from scratch but I wanted you to know what I’ve been using lately.
        Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

        Reply

    • Lisa Tutman-Oglesby 12/26/17

      Thanks again, Diane.
      I’m going to add that info to the post.
      Happy holidays and equally happy baking.
      Let me know how your pie(s) turn out.

      Reply

  • Mary 12/26/17

    So beautiful. You have inspired my next pie design! Love the wide strips.

    Reply

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