As a baking novice I sought out the guidance of a veteran: my 74 year old grandmother.
We took some liberties and diverged occasionally from the provided recipe. Opting for healthier alternatives, we used organic whole wheat flour and cane sugar. Unfortunately Whole foods did not stock Kahula. Confession: I had to look this up to see what it was! My grandmother would later explain that at dinner party days gone by, it was protocol to cap off a big meal with a shot of coffee liquor because it was believed to help “settle ones stomach”. Hmm not too sure on that one.
My grandmother coached me as I gingerly made my way through the instructions, providing a few ‘in the know’ tips on how to expedite and ease the process. She suggested I use two knives in graceful crisscrossing strokes to break up the butter, flour, sugar and water mixture instead of the lone fork, and advocated the use of a rolling pin to flatten the pastry dough. She also cautioned that to prevent the dough from sticking and tearing, I should smother my utensils in flour.
Our desert hungry family members played a game of Scrabble as they waited for us to finish our masterpiece (as advised in the instructions we were sure to hide our warm pie crust in the laundry room to prevent the vultures from sneaking bites of our crust)
The starburst configuration of pear slices was a design inspired entirely in the moment.”
- Danielle Sheridan
We had a lot of fun doing this. I would change the water to orange juice and encourage you to use a rolling pin to flatten the dough.. Not sure if this is cooking or art??