I made 2 lattice pies for Christmas this year and both lattice’s ended up being submerged in the filling.  I used pyrex pie plates (pretty standard) and Rose’s cherry pie recipe and also made a Saskatoon berry pie (similar to blueberry—so I used her fresh blueberry pie recipe with about half of the lemon).  In both cases the lattice was submerged.  Should I be “stretching” the lattice so it suspends over the filling or should it be resting gently on top?  Also, both pies were baked from frozen as I had to make them in advance and travel with them.  They tasted fine, but some of the lattice was not fully cooked as it was in the filling.  I also thought about reducing the amount of filling, but 4 cups seems pretty standard.  The cherries are exceptionally juicy…I may also try concentrating some of the juices if/when I make that pie again.  If you have suggestions, I’d love to hear them   Happy New Year!

I’ve never had this problem.  I would post this question on the Blog.  Rose doesn’t usually read the Forums…and although one of the people hear may know the answer…I think she should chime in on this one. If you go to the main page of the plog…I’m sure there’s a section on pie and pastry questions.  If you post the question there…she usually responds pretty quickly.

Did you treat the cherries how Rose does?  Seems that the issue is too much liquid.

I agree, you should consider posting this question over on the blog.  Did you make one of Rose’s pie crusts without substitutions?  It was the lattice that fell into the filling, not a case of the filling bubbling up over the lattice, is that right?

I have made the Concord grape pie with a lattice top and baked it from frozen.  It is one of the most “liquid” pies in the book, and there wasn’t an issue with the lattice.

Hi Sherrie,

I have had this problem in the past, and it is due to too much liquid. What happens is that the fruit exudes even more liquid when it bakes, adding to the liquid already in the pie pan, and it is like a rising tide that submerges the lattice. Sometimes I have had to use a turkey baster in the middle of baking to suck out some of the juice to keep a total, overflowing flood from happening.

My current solution is to pre-cook the filling before I put it in the pie. If you look at one of the cherry pie recipes in PPB (I think it is the Designer Cherry Pie), Rose gives directions for pre-cooking the filling, and then putting it into the unbaked crust. I have done this on the last few cherry pies I’ve made, and it has worked very well. I have also used Pomona’s Universal Pectin to firm the filling (as opposed to using cornstarch), because I simply prefer the texture.

I have also begun to pre-cook my apples for double-crust apple pies. I like the slight carmelized flavor of apples sauteed in butter (which is what you would do for a tarte tatin), and I find it works well for a classic American apple pie. I simply put the cooled filling into the unbaked shell and freeze the pie until I am ready to finish baking it. The advantage of a pre-cooked filling is that you never have to pay attention to when it is cooked. You need only watch to be sure the crust is done.

Thanks Christine and others.  I feel better knowing this happens to someone else and that it’s not just me.  I do treat the cherries as Rose does and in most cases it’s the juices bubbling up.  Rose seemed to think it was b/c I was baking from frozen.  I do like the baster idea…not sure why I didn’t think of it…I guess hoping for a miracle.  I also think that I may try straining the cherries…they are so very juicy.  However, the Saskatoon (blueberry like) pie I made still had some similar issues, but not as pronounced and they are far less juicy than the cherries…in both cases I guess I can precook the filling, but I love the ease of making a pie all at once.

The only other thing I can think of is that your oven may have been too cool, allowing the butter to melt before the pastry was set. 

When I have baked a lattice grape pie from frozen, the lattice and bottom crust joined up and rested on the rim of the pie plate.  I have noticed that if you don’t rest the side of pastry on the rim of a pie plate, they sometimes shrink or fall a little lower.

Thanks Julie for your pie insights too…I did bake from frozen and WAS using a lower oven temperature as I was having trouble with overbrowning (I tried a suggestion from the forum—bake at 350F until centre is 140F then increase to 400F until filling is min. 200F—which did help with the browning).  I also discovered that my pie crust shield (make of nonstick type coated metal) was not helping, but making the situation worse.  I now use an aluminum disposable pizza pan with a hole in the middle (much better) and I also put one under the pie to catch drips.  So what you’re suggesting is to make sure the pie dough forms a bit of a “hook” over the edge of the plate to keep it from sliding down (I don’t do this) or do you just mean resting it on the lip without going over (I do do that…infact I usually do the finger pressing the dough into two fingers in the shape of a V - style edge)?

Sherrie, I definitely think you need to start out baking in a hot oven (following Rose’s instructions) without a pie shield, until the top lattice has set and is starting to brown.  This is how I have successfully baked lattice grape pies from frozen.  After that, if you need to cover it with tented foil or your perforated pizza pan, that’s fine.  I suspect the lattice is baking too slowly at first.

It sounds like you are already forming the crust in the way that I asked about- resting on the lip, as opposed to resting below the lip on the side of the crust, no worries there.