Jack Skellington Pie

I originally planned to make a scary face pie, but was told it would be too disgusting to eat.

The pie itself is very easy to make if you use store-bought crust. I highly recommend you take this shortcut if you are just making it just for fun. Homemade pie crust is messy, difficult, and takes practice to do well.

I also recommend you to use frozen berries instead of fresh. Frozen berries are less expensive and the quality is more reliable. The only thing you have to make sure to do is thaw them. If you don’t thaw them, you will have a cold filling with a browned crust.

Good luck. Happy halloween.

Jack Skellington Recipe Success Guide:

Thaw the berries

If you’re not artistic, print out a template of the face, and trace it over the crust.

Don’t skip the egg wash if you want a browned pie like the one pictured

Pairings:

Jack Skellington Pie + Vanilla ice cream
Jack Skellington Pie + Whipped cream

Ingredients

Crust ( if homemade)

2 cups AP flour
2 tps sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 sticks frozen unsalted butter, diced into small cubes (or use salted and reduce salt to 1/4 tsp)
1/3 cup ice water

Filling

8-9 cups frozen mixed berries, About 2lbs
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup ap flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Half a lemon, zested

Egg Wash

1 egg yolk + 2 tbs milk

Step-by-step Instructions

Crust:

Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
Finely dice butter. Frozen butter will break into shards while chopping, which makes it easier. Work butter into flour, pinching large butter pieces to flatten. Pour in ice water, and work the dough together with a wooden spoon or your hands. Scrape into a ball. if it holds together nicely, with no dry parts breaking off, it’s a go. if it won’t come together, add another tbs of water until it forms a dough ball.
Divide in two and shape into disks. Roll the disks on their edge, like a wheel, to smooth out the edges. This prevents cracking when you roll it out. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes while you prepare the filling.

Pie:

Thaw frozen berries in a large glass bowl in microwave in 1-minute increments. It took me about 6 minutes total. Stick your finger in pool of berries, it shouldn’t be ice cold. if you do not properly thaw your berries, your pie will be a nightmare.
Once thawed, add flour, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Mix well to combine.
Preheat oven to 400F
Roll the pie crust into a circle slightly larger than the diameter of your pie dish. Try to make the edges thinner than the center. Keep rotating while rolling to keep it round, and make sure it’s well dusted with flour on both sides to prevent sticking. Lay the crust in the pie pan.
Bake for 8 minutes. It will look horrifying at first. It will look like melting skin. No worries. The edges will shrink and you will wonder why i didn’t tell you to use pie weights. Feel free, But no one sees this part of the pie and pie weights are a pain.
After 8 minutes, remove, prick the bottom with a fork, and bake for another 5 minutes. If you don’t pre-bake, your pie will have a soggy bottom.
Remove, and pour in the berry filling.
Roll out the top crust to a diameter as wide as the top of the pie plate. With the pie crust on the cutting board, cut Jack skellington’s face out. You can print out a template of his face from the internet, lay it over, and trace for perfection. I did it free-hand, and figured it was halloween so it wouldn’t matter if his face was scary messed up.
Lay the top crust over the pie, tucking the edges in and under. You can also do whatever you want with the edges. I don’t crimp or pleat edges for this pie because it’s a scary face.
For the egg wash, whisk together milk and egg yolk, and brush over the entire surface of the pie
Bake for 15 minutes at 400F, reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown.