A Pie Per Week: Mango Pie

Mango Pie

Brian:  The only thing I contributed to this pie is the purchasing of the mango.  It looked like it might rain today, so I went out to  do some yard work.  When I came back inside, Angie was already halfway there, so I just decided to make myself the taster.  :)

A Microplane is great for zesting lemons

Angie:  I looked through several recipes, and borrowed from several to come up with the final pie.  Some of the pies featured a single crust, others featured a top crust as well, like many fruit pies have.  I decided to go with the single crust.

Adding confectioners sugar to flour for the crust

I didn't use my standard crust, which I know we are behind on blogging about, because I found a specialty crust recipe just for mango pie.  The crust featured confectioners sugar and lemon zest, so it was fun to venture out from the norm.  I also pre-baked the crust, which is something I learned about from watching the new Jeff Foxworthy show "The American Baking Competition."  This helps keep the bottom of your crust from getting soggy.  The judges kept going on about "soggy bottom" and that doesn't sound like a good thing!

Crust performs best with real butter and nice cold ingredients

I love this mat my mom gave me for rolling out the crust!

For the filling, we decided to use frozen mangoes because we couldn't find any decent mangoes today, but you can use fresh if you would like.  Another nice thing about frozen mango is that they are difficult to cut and the frozen came in the perfect size cut pieces.  We thawed the mango in a colander, and then I started adding the other elements of the pie filling to the mangoes.

Mangoes thawed and ready for the filling

The first ingredients you add are cinnamon, sugar,lemon juice, lemon zest, and almond extract.  Mix those together well.

Add all ingredients except for the flour

You then add some flour to keep the mixture from getting too moist.  I think the frozen mango are a bit moister than fresh would be.  The flour is a drying and bonding agent, and it keeps the texture from being too soupy.

Add the flour to dry some of the moistness

After I added the flour, I added to the pre-baked crust to finish baking the pie in the oven.

Pie ready to enter the oven

The next part is our favorite... sampling the pie after it has cooled!  I like fresh mango, but I don't love it.  I did like this pie though, it reminded me of peach pie in texture.  After tasting it I would have preferred the double crust.

Brian:  I absolutely love mangoes, and often make them in smoothies, so I thought this pie was awesome.  It really reminded me of a peach pie, with the flavor of a mango substituted for the peach.  Mango has a real piny aftertaste that you either love or hate, and I'm on the side of the coin that really digs it.  I advise topping with whipped topping to balance out that flavor, it is a good combination.

Pie Recipient of the Week:

Our pie recipients of the week are Tim and Katherine.  Brian actually attended high school with Tim, who like Brian, has a twin brother.  They have known each other for years and are involved in a long standing accountability group with other members from church.  

Katherine and Angie are good friends and have also worked together in the women's ministries at church.  They have a family of 8, so that probably only means one slice of pie per person.  When we mentioned the possibility of a mango pie, Katherine's eyes lit up, as their three children from Ethiopia are big fans of mangoes.  They are an awesome family, and it was great to send a pie their way.  

I contacted Katherine on Facebook asking her if she was home, which prompted  "Are we the pie people this week!?!?" from her.  I love that!  They were so busy running to meetings and kid events tonight the only time they had before late tonight was a switch off of kids and going in different directions.  They came by our house to pick it up instead of us delivering it!

Recipe

Crust - This is enough for a double crust pie!

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

3/4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into small pieces

15 T ice cold water

Filling

5 cups mangoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces (4-5 large)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons flour (or more depending on how wet mixture is)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons lemon juice or 2 teaspoons lime juice

For egg wash

1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water

whipped cream or ice cream, for serving if desired

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare pie crust by mixing together flour, confectioners sugar, salt and lemon zest.

Cut butter and shortening into flour mixture to form coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle ice water over and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture starts to come together.  Gather it up by hand and press to form ball.  Divide into 2 parts, form disks and wrap each in plastic and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.  

Roll out half of dough on a floured surface and place into a 9 inch deep dish pie pan.  Trim edges.  Prick crust with a fork and bake in oven for 10-14 minutes until just turning golden brown.  Allow to cool while preparing filling.

Prepare filling by combining mango pieces, granulated sugar, almond extract, cinnamon.

Add flour, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Mixture should be moist but not wet.  Pour into pre-baked crust.  Roll out remaining half of dough and fit over pie.  Crimp edges and brush top of pie with egg and water wash.  Cut vents in top and cover edges with foil or pie guards and bake 45-50 minutes until crust is golden and filling is tender and bubbling.  

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

About Your Bakers