The anatomy of a bake.
First, I drained all the juice from the sea buckthorn berries. I wanted to preserve the integrity of the sea buckthorn berries and also their nutritional profile as much as possible, so I did not cook them. I added the juice to the mixed berries and their juices. I cooked the mixed berries down with some sugar. Once off the heat, I immediately added my slurry of tapioca. When slightly cooled, I added 1Tbs of balsamic reduction and a 1/2 tsp of pure Madagascar vanilla extract. Once the thick mixed berry compote cooled completely, I gently folded in the sea buckthorn berries.
Next, I rolled out the bottom pastry and lined a 10" pie plate. After the pie shell was firmed up in the freezer, I loaded in the filling.
The filled shell was set aside in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, the pastry lid is rolled out and the rat motif is cut out. The pie is assembled, and the decorating completed.
While the oven pre-heats to 450F, the pie is kept chilled. Just before loading the pie into the oven, the decorated lid is washed with some egg white cut with a little milk.
It took 45 minutes in the pre-heated oven to achieve the golden brown color.
Happy National pie day 2020, from yours truly, The Roadside Pie King.
