Vent: My grandma's pie crust recipe betrayed me at a holiday dinner

Last Thanksgiving at my aunt's house in Cleveland, I decided to make my grandma's famous apple pie from her handwritten recipe card. I've made it maybe a dozen times, but this time I used butter instead of shortening because the store was out. The crust came out like a soggy biscuit, completely falling apart when I tried to slice it. My cousin actually laughed and said 'did you forget something?' right at the table. I was so mad I almost threw the whole pie in the trash, but instead I scooped the filling into bowls and served it like apple compote with ice cream. People actually liked it better that way, which stung even more honestly. Has anyone else had a recipe fail so bad it turned into a totally different dish?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_fox7223d ago

Did you use the same pan too? Glass versus metal can mess with bake times and crust texture. I had a cornbread recipe fail exactly like this once. Forgot I was out of buttermilk and used regular milk with a splash of vinegar. It came out like a dense cornmeal pudding. My neighbor ate two bowls of it with chili and said it was the best cornbread he ever had. That was the day I learned recipes are more like loose suggestions than actual rules.

grant.jade22d agoMost Upvoted

Wait were you using a glass or metal pan? Because I swear glass turns everything into a dense sad brick if you don't drop the temp by 25 degrees. Did your neighbor actually like the cornmeal pudding thing or was he just being polite?