Weave a Lattice Top

​Q: What is a simple way to make my pie look beautiful?
A: Topping your pie with a lattice top is a great way to make your pie beautiful and not sacrifice eating any of your delicious pie crust!

Lattice Tops can be very simple or very complicated, it is completly up to the pattern you choose. I prefer a simple "woven" top look because it takes very little time, looks great, and I am not loosing much of my favorite part of the pie -- the crust! 

 

Feel free to play around with your top crust pattern and do what you find to be beautiful!

 

How to Weave a Simple Lattice Top:

Step One: Roll out a pie dough to approximately 10" wide.

Step Two: Using a bench scraper, carefully trim off any raggedy edges (not too much!). This should leave your dough in a semi-square/rectangular shape.

 
Step Three: ​Using a bench scraper, carefully cut an even number of strips from your trimmed dough. The width of each strip is up to you! I like to change up the width of the lattice strips based on what pie I am making. For Blueberry Pie, I like a 1"+ strip, yet for Cherry Pie, I like a 1/4" strip. The choice is yours! I also find it helpful to cut them all to approximately the same width; however, if you want to experiment, feel free to do so! 

Step Four:Now that your strips have been cut, it is time to assemble them on top of your pie! Start by placing half of your strips horizontally across your pie. If you have 8 total strips, you should place four of them horizontally across the pie.

Step Five: Let the weaving begin! Once all of your horizontal strips have been laid, carefully pull back alternating strips and place another strip vertically across the pie. Push the dough all the way to the end of the pie, so it is aligned with the edge of your pie. 

Step Six: Once your first vertical strip has been laid, return the strips that have been pulled back to rest on top of the vertical strip. Then choosing alternating horizontal strip, repeat step five. 

Step Seven: Continue alternating pulling back horizontal strips and laying down vertical strips until you have completed weaving all of your strips.
Step Eight: Carefully trim an excess dough that is hanging over the rim of your pie dish. Do not trim all the way to the lip of the pie dish, only trim if the dough is touch your counter.

Step Nine: Using your fingers, gently roll the edge of your dough, including the lattice strips, so that it sits on the edge of your pie pan. Continue to roll the dough edges until the entire pie has been completed. 

Step Ten: To Crimp the edges of your pie, use the index finger and thumb of one hand and the index finger of the other, creating "U" shapes around the rolled edge. Place the completed pie in the refrigerator to chill for approximately 30 minutes prior to baking.

Happy Baking!!