I'm a bit disheartened by the way its not nearly as nice looking after baking. I think the decorations shrunk/shifted/expanded away from each other maybe?? Is there a way to prevent that?

by thereaintshitcaptain

39 Comments

  1. StripedZebra-1

    I don’t know the answer – but this is GORGEOUS!

  2. walwalun

    It’s still gorgeous even after being baked. Amazing work!

  3. DramaMama611

    It’s gorgeous but shrinkage happens. You can trying making your decorations larger than you want them to try to act it.

  4. Strange_Lettuce_6719

    If your oven’s not perfectly even, you could rotate the pie halfway through for more even browning. And I think there’s some debate about whether to cover the decorations with foil once they’re brown enough or cover them from the beginning and uncover later to let brown. Either way, you’ve done well already!

  5. You’re being much too hard on yourself. The pie is beautiful. Some of the smaller shapes are only slightly distorted so you can sort that out on your next go around. The reality is that the optics are secondary to the enjoyment of the pie. You created a beautiful pie 🙂

  6. ThatBroccoli5081

    Stunning, be sure to egg wash or heavy cream top before placing in oven and I agree when colour is right give it an open tin foil tent. Open at ends.

  7. DependentKick5015

    How did got cut the shapes and get them to stay that size? Mine always get tiny and don’t look good

  8. GhostNightgown

    This is amazing! If you wanted to play around with the designs on the embellishments, I wonder how it might look if the details were a little bigger on some of the embellishments (wider petals, wider leaf vein lines) and perhaps if the stamp designs were pressed in more deeply. The flowers on your pie with more distinct petals look fantastic. The same with the leaves – a simplified maple or oak leaf design might be worth a try.

  9. pockystiicks

    You’re overthinking it 😉 this is SPECTACULAR – you should be proud!

  10. Jocelyn_The_Red

    How is THAT your FIRST pie? You must be a very experienced baker of other goods, no got dang way you’re a noob. That’s beautiful and very well done. Looks delicious

  11. UndeadSloth_

    Donno if this is weird karma farming or something. Anyone who has actually made a pie, with the dough from scratch, will know that’s not anyone’s first pie.

  12. gwendiesel

    I think it looks absolutely fantastic, but if you want it to look like 3% more perfect, a couple of things you can try:

    -Strain your egg wash with a fine mesh strainer to get it perfectly smooth and use a fineer pastry brush to get the egg was perfectly even

    -Use a filling recipe that’s completely precooked to keep the top crust from settling when the filling cooks down

    -Roll your dough for the decorations a little thicker to make them less prone to over baking.

    -Try to freeze your totally assembled pie right before you bake it just long enough to harden the dough and no longer. That way you get the benefits of the chilled dough but it won’t bake any longer than necessary and risk over browning.

    -If your decorations are getting color faster than you’d like you can always loosely cover them with foil to slow that down.

    Hope that helps!

    EDIT: another thought. Did you re-roll your dough to make the decorations? If yes, they probably developed more gluten than the rest and were extra springy. Maybe just make an extra round of pie dough next time so you can use the first roll for your decorations too.

  13. StaticCloud

    It looks beautiful. Intricate designs commonly get lost in baking but you’ve got such detail here, it’s truly impressive

  14. bobicool

    If this isn’t a joke post then I’ll say that it looks amazing.

  15. How long did it take you to make that lattice? It’s so pretty!

  16. ArcadiaRivea

    By giving it to me to… dispose of… for you!

  17. 1960somethingbatman

    You don’t have to pretend to be a beginner just for people to compliment your pie. It looks good. Very good. But I do not for one second believe you’ve never worked with pie crust before.

  18. gngergramma

    I might brush it with a mixture of egg white and yolk to bring up the sheeting baking..just yolks alone are fine for this..then I might take my sifter out and lightly sprinkle some confectioners sugar on top..voila beautiful pie..

  19. Low_Committee1250

    Your finished pie looks great but I think you could improve the looks by: make the decorations larger and apply to pie frozen just before baking, use an egg or cream wash for a more uniform golden crust

  20. Jasmisne

    Damn thats like insane for your first pie it looks professional

  21. Eastern_Can_1802

    You have to make your extra pieces 1/4 the size bigger to account for shrinkage during baking

  22. DescriptionGreen4344

    Looks just right. Not sure what you’re trying to accomplish. I believe to do anything different yould have to actually not be good at it. But clearly it’s not the case

  23. hume_er_me

    I think it looks amazing, personally! And I bet it tastes great. 🙂

  24. DynamiteWitLaserBeam

    It’s probably considered old fashioned, but I still like to sprinkle some sugar on top after baking when I do a decorative top like this. It gets into the creases and gives it some contrast, which makes the design easier to see.

  25. Helpful-Archer-6625

    If you’re trying to imply this doesn’t look good, you’re being hypercritical of yourself.

    This looks amazing, and if anyone says otherwise, make them prove they can do better. If they can’t, you shouldn’t listen to their criticism as it’s doing nothing to actually help you.

    Seriously, be proud of this.

  26. unicornsRunicorns

    If you don’t like it, I’ll happily take it off your hands 🤤

  27. RepeatOffenderp

    As you gain experience, you’ll see which shapes keep true and which shift. Incorporate the elements that you know will retain their shape. Experiment, make a batch of pie dough, or even better short dough, shape it and bake it off. If you use short dough, it’s harder to work with, so you gain additional experience, and can be eaten afterwards.

  28. No mames! First time?! I’m quitting pie now.

  29. Beesandbutterfliesky

    That pie is gorgeous, you did an amazing job!

  30. frauleinsteve

    Can you color the dough of the decorative items that you want to “pop’?

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