El amor de pineapple pie

Pineapple pie is kind of like my culinary secret weapon. Most people are like, “I’ve never heard of such a thing!” And then they try it and make pleasurable moaning noises. Or at least, pineapple-lovers do.

I made it for Crayton when were first dating. He loved it so much, he ran out and bought another pineapple, so I could make it again. The pineapple ended up rotting on his counter. And that’s how we figured out that overripe pineapple actually makes a pretty good air freshener.

Yesterday was Crayton’s birthday, so I decided to make it for dessert. Plus, since I’m a pie nerd, I was super excited to try Smitten Kitchen’s all-butter crust. It’s the best I’ve ever had — flaky and shatteringly crisp. Mmm. My stomach’s rumbling just thinking about it.

The recipe’s after the jump for folks who want to try it. In the meantime, another photo for you. (I ended up eating that already-cut slice as soon as I was done writing this post.)

Glazed Pineapple Pie
Adapted from Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking (Viking Penguin, 1993)

Note: The recipe calls for a can of crushed pineapple, but I usually like to buy a whole one, because it’s kinda fun to carry it home from the grocery store. Also, lemons are hard to find in Mexico City, so I used limes. And I substituted turbinado for white sugar. Also, I forgot to add the butter below, and I forgot to cut slits in the pie (sheesh! And she calls herself a baker?), but it still turned out fine.

Crust: Smitten Kitchen Pie Crust 102

Filling:
3/4 c. coconut, shredded
1 scant cup turbinado sugar
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 small limes, juiced (or 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
1 tablespoon margarine or butter, melted
1 whole pineapple, roughly chopped (Tough skin peeled, core removed)

Glaze: (optional; I usually feel to lazy to do it after I’ve peeled and chopped an entire pineapple)
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
1 to 2 tablespoons pineapple juice, reserved from your earlier chopping

Directions: Prepare pie crust. While dough is chilling in the fridge, start cutting up your pineapple. If you’re like me and hate chopping things into tiny pieces, chop the pineapple into smallish pieces and then crush them with a potato masher. It’s fun! Pineapple will be really juicy at this point, so drain it as best you can using a dish towel. (If the pineapple is still juicy, no biggie. You just don’t want it swimming in juice.)

In medium bowl, combine all filling ingredients EXCEPT coconut; mix well.

Preheat oven to 400 F or 206 C. Roll out your pie dough per Smitten Kitchen’s awesome directions. (Don’t be stingy with the flour!) Carefully unroll one of your crusts into your ungreased 9″ pie tin. Sprinkle coconut over the bottom. Spoon pineapple filling mixture evenly over the coconut, and top with your remaining pie crust. Fold edge of top pastry under bottom pastry. Press together to seal; flute edge. Cut slits in the top of the pastry.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. (High elevation time: Probably around an hour.) Cool slightly.

In small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients, adding enough pineapple liquid for desired spreading consistency. Stir until smooth. Drizzle or spread over slightly warm pie. Serve warm or cool.