Raised Pie Problems

[Gentleman Jim]

I have just made Paul Hollywood's Christmas Pie which is a cold 'Leftovers' savoury hand raised pie with a hot water crust. It was delicious and the family devoured it. BUT although it looked good the crust crumbled as soon as I started cutting and I couldn't get any nice slices. What went wrong? I followed the recipe closely and used the recommended 150gms strong bread floor and 450gms plain flour with 175gms lard....help.

 

[justme4910]

no idea as to what happened,but I would like to see the recipe and what does hand raised mean ?

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

Paul Hollywood's recipes are usually pretty reliable, how thick did you have the pastry? Also, was it cold or warm when you cut it? A chilled pie will be far easier and neater to cut.

 

[Becky]

no idea as to what happened,but I would like to see the recipe and what does hand raised mean ?

I think it must have been this one:

http://paulhollywood.com/recipes/christmas-leftover-pie/

 

[Gentleman Jim]

I think it must have been this one:

http://paulhollywood.com/recipes/christmas-leftover-pie/

yes that's the one.

 

[Gentleman Jim]

no idea as to what happened,but I would like to see the recipe and what does hand raised mean ?

Hi, see the post below for the recipe and method.

 

[Gentleman Jim]

Welcome to the forum!

Paul Hollywood's recipes are usually pretty reliable, how thick did you have the pastry? Also, was it cold or warm when you cut it? A chilled pie will be far easier and neater to cut.

My pastry was a tad thicker than his and I let it go cold before I sliced it

 

[Gentleman Jim]

The offending article....

 

[Gentleman Jim]

Hi, see the post below for the recipe and method.

Sorry it's above now, not below!

 

[Becky]

My pastry was a tad thicker than his and I let it go cold before I sliced it

Hmmm, well you've got me stumped! Was the filling packed tightly? You could maybe try increasing the proportion of strong flour, but I wouldn't know what else to suggest I'm afraid!

By the way, it looks lovely in your photo!

 

[justme4910]

this is just a wild guess and I am probably wrong,but check the protein content of your flour,isn't it better for baking the higher the content ? or maybe you need a lower percentage,like I said I'm just guessing

and thanks for the link Becky,I will definitely give this one a try Gentlemen Jim and it looks great in your picture,the main question is how good did it taste ?

 

[ChesterV]

Usually, for me, when crust crumbles like that, it is because it was --

1. Over baked
2. Over worked
3. Too thin
4. Too thick
5. Not enough ingredients for binding
6. Old flour/stale flour
7. Wrong kind of lard/butter
8. Was baked too fast at a hot temp

 

[Gentleman Jim]

Usually, for me, when crust crumbles like that, it is because it was --

1. Over baked
2. Over worked
3. Too thin
4. Too thick
5. Not enough ingredients for binding
6. Old flour/stale flour
7. Wrong kind of lard/butter
8. Was baked too fast at a hot temp

Thanks for these suggestions Ithink 1 or 5 are just possible but I think the others were all ok.

 

[Gentleman Jim]

this is just a wild guess and I am probably wrong,but check the protein content of your flour,isn't it better for baking the higher the content ? or maybe you need a lower percentage,like I said I'm just guessing

and thanks for the link Becky,I will definitely give this one a try Gentlemen Jim and it looks great in your picture,the main question is how good did it taste ?

 

[Gentleman Jim]

Hi Justme, well far be it from me to boast but....it was fantastic! I added some of the original turkey stock, which had jellified, to the original recipe. It was devoured by the family in no time flat with none left over!

 

[justme4910]

that sounds like it was pretty good then Gentleman Jim,I will have to give this a recipe a try,I have no idea what a chipolata sausage is ,I will try those little BBQ ones,I know they work great with cranberry sauce in a crock pot ,mmmmmm I haven't made those in for ever ,we called them monkey peckers

for those that want to know,all it is is a can of cranberry sauce with and the snack sized sausages ( I can't think of the name for them) and cook them in a crock pot,great snacks for a ball game or what ever

is there a link with US measurements available ? supposedly with my new measuring utensils coming,I will be able to convert stuff easily,supposedly