All language subtitles for Zoe.Bakes.S01E01.Porch.Party.Pies.720p.WEBRip.x264-KOMPOST.[eng]

[music playing]

Yes.

Yeah.

Wow.

So this is dessert first?

ZOE FRANCOIS: Well, in my world,
it's always dessert first.

I'm Zoe Francois.

I'm a cookbook author
and a pastry chef.

I've made it my
life's work to eat

sweets, make sweets, and create
beautiful things out of sugar.

I want to show you how
much fun baking can be.

We're also going to visit
some of the talented bakers

and unique places around my
hometown that inspire me.

It's all going to be super
simple and, of course,

delicious.

Oh my gosh.

And the great thing is
we can do it together.

It's finally springtime
in Minneapolis.

Everything comes alive.

Hey, boys.

Thank you so much
for doing this.

Yeah, no problem.

I just need you to bring
the rest of the furniture

in from the garage.

We've been waiting a whole long,
long, long winter for this.

That's why you have kids, right?

Free labor.

Yes, exactly.

So every spring, we
open up our porch,

we invite the neighbors over,
and we celebrate the end

of a really long winter.

Are you going to help us?

Yes, I'm going
to make you a pie.

Everybody in--
Well, not everybody.

Most Minnesotans love rhubarb.

It has a really tangy,
tart flavor to it.

And baked with
sweet strawberries,

it's absolutely perfect.

So it's super exciting
when the rhubarb comes up.

That's when we know we've
made it out of winter.

And this year, it's just
absolutely spectacular.

This rhubarb, I cannot wait
to make this into a pie.

People are intimidated
by pie dough.

But I promise you, this
is so, so easy to make.

All we need are a
few basic ingredients

and my secret to a
tender, flaky pie crust--

Vodka.

I highly, highly recommend
that you bake with scales,

because then every
time you do it,

you get the precise measurement.

I have all-purpose
flour, salt, and sugar

for my dry ingredients.

Now we have to
deal with our fat.

You want the butter
to be cold so

that you end up with actual
pieces of butter in there.

And that's what
creates the flakiness.

But it also has a little
bit of shortening.

That's what really gives
the tenderness to it.

Everything has to be cold,
cold, cold in order to get

to the perfect pie crust.

Using a little bit
of vodka in the water

means you can add more liquid.

But it won't create gluten.

And the gluten is what
creates the stretch

and the structure in the dough.

But it also can make
your dough tough.

So now we're ready to assemble.

I'm doing this by
hand, but I'm also

going to use a pastry blender.

I got this in the 1980s
when I was in college

and I haven't replaced it yet.

By the time I'm done
working the butter into it,

it'll almost have a
creamy yellow color to it,

and nice sort of pea-sized
pieces of butter.

Minneapolis is actually
nicknamed the mill city,

because the mills for
the flour were built

right on the Mississippi River.

This is looking good.

If I squeeze it gently,
it stays together.

And that's how you know
that you've got butter

coating all of that flour.

And my shortening and then
we'll work that in the same way.

I don't want to put
all the water in

at once, because you don't
want too much water in there.

Otherwise, again, like I
said, it might get tough,

which is also why
we added the vodka.

I'm just sort of tossing it.

You don't see any powdery flour.

But it's not a
solid mass either.

You could just
squeeze this together.

But I like to use the pastry
scraper to press it together.

And it's almost like it's
creating layers in your dough.

It generally takes
about six, seven,

sometimes eight, if
you're tentative, turns.

And then your pie crust
will come together.

Oh, this looks so good.

That butter smells incredible.

I like to press it into a disk
because then it chills faster.

So this needs to chill
for about an hour.

And then I can go ahead
and roll out all my pies.

You can see I have
lots of pie dough

ready and waiting for
making my strawberry

rhubarb lattice pies.

Along with the pie, I like to
offer my porch party guests

a little something extra.

But it has to be just as
quick and easy to make

as it is delicious.

So I'm visiting Diane Moua
of Bellecour for inspiration.

She's one of the most
incredible pastry chefs,

not just here in
the Twin Cities,

but anywhere in the world.

I'm just going to
start over here, OK?

Go for it.

I'm good.

I had plenty this morning.

Oh.

Diane, that's incredible.

Thank you.

So I see this over here.

Yep, any time we put
rhubarb on the menu here,

you sell out of it.

My mom just called me up,
like hey, I have rhubarb.

Do you need some
for the restaurant?

And I'm like yes, I do.

ZOE FRANCOIS: Oh, so your
folks grow the rhubarb?

DIANE MOUA: Yeah, she
has a whole field.

We used some already, so
there's just a few left.

And so are you going to use
the rhubarb in something that--

Yes, I am.

--You're going to make today?

DIANE MOUA: So I
made some jam here.

ZOE FRANCOIS: Diane
has a knack for turning

whatever she has on hand
into incredible desserts.

I have a bunch of strawberries.

ZOE FRANCOIS: OK.

I made a cake the other day
and I have all these scraps.

I hate wasting stuff, so we
just basically collect it.

No, in a restaurant,
you can't waste anything.

Yep, you can't waste anything.

I try to utilize everything.

And so I figure
we're going to make

a strawberry rhubarb shortcake.

ZOE FRANCOIS: Diane uses those
tasty, overripe strawberries

to make homemade ice cream.

So exciting.

I want to paint a room
in my house that color.

And then she layers
that together

with the other leftovers
for fun take on parfait.

This is so beautiful.

And it's easy. I mean--

DIANE MOUA: It's super easy.

ZOE FRANCOIS: --you could
totally do this at home.

DIANE MOUA: And you can
do it with your kids.

Whoops.

Messy is good.

ZOE FRANCOIS: This is
like the perfect sundae.

DIANE MOUA: Doesn't it
just make you happy?

Mm, it's delicious.

It says Minnesota summer--

Mm-hmm.

--Right here in the glass.

Diane has inspired me to
turn some of the strawberries

I'll have leftover from the
pie into a second dessert

for my spring porch party.

Mm.

My dad is in the backyard.

And he is such an
amazing gardener.

I can bake with all the
things that he grows.

But I can't grow anything.

He always supplies
my fresh rhubarb.

But today he wants to make sure
I have it whenever I need it.

Perfect.

ZOE FRANCOIS: Hey, Dad.

Yeah, hi.

How are you?

I'm great.

This looks fantastic.

Good.

I just planted some rhubarb.

Oh, good.

Do you want me to do something?

Here, you can hold that.

OK, thanks.

Squeeze this out.

OK, now turn it over.

Set it in.

Bring the soil around.

There you go.

Ooh, it feels so good.

Perfect, perfect.

I remember having rhubarb, but
I always thought it was a weed.

Did you actually plant that?

Well, a weed is an
unwanted plant or vegetable.

That's all a weed is.

Yeah.

It's so funny that some
people don't love rhubarb.

It's kind of like the
cilantro of the dessert world.

I grew up loving it and I
just assumed everybody would.

It's that tartness and
crispiness and a little bit

sour.

And I promise you, married
with these berries,

you are going to love this.

If you can't find rhubarb,
you can do a berry pie.

Any kind of fruit pie you
can do this filling with.

The leaf is actually poisonous.

So we want to make
sure that that's gone.

If you don't have
rhubarb in your garden,

frozen rhubarb
works just as well.

These strawberries
are just gorgeous.

And they smell so good.

If you're using frozen
ones, they sort of

break down on their own.

But the fresh ones need
a tiny bit of help.

I'm just doing a few
little turns with this.

So the other thing that's
crucial to this recipe

is vanilla.

It just perks up all
of the other flavors.

I'm going to add the rhubarb.

And then I'm going to add
the sugar and corn starch.

And I'm going to bind everything
together on the stove.

When it's done, it's
going to be thick.

It's going to be translucent.

It's almost going to
look like jewel tones.

It smells sour and sweet.

And it's a combination I love.

Terrific.

So just pop this into
the refrigerator.

And as this is chilling, I'm
going to roll out my pie crust.

You want to make
sure that you have

enough flour on the counter
that you're not going

to have that pie crust stick.

But you don't want to be adding
a lot more flour to the recipe.

So just give it a
few turns like this.

And then with the
palm of your hand,

just beat it a little bit.

And that loosens up the dough.

And it helps prevent it from
cracking as you're rolling.

I'm just rolling
out to the sides

and sort of lifting up
as I get to the edge,

never over the edge.

I never want to sort of
press down on the edge

and get the edge really thin.

And then I turn the dough.

By turning it like that, I'm
always sure it's not sticking.

And just keep going until
you have enough dough

to cover the whole pie plate.

And now you can really
see all of that butter

and all of the places
that we have created

the flakiness in this crust.

So to get it into
the pie pan, I just--

And there.

That's it.

I'm going to slip this
into the refrigerator

so that butter stays nice
and chilled the whole time.

Well, that was graceful.

So now we're going to
do the exact same thing

with the top crust.

The goal is that I
want the dough to be

perfectly even throughout.

I don't want thin
spots or thick spots.

I want the whole crust to be
the same thickness throughout.

So I'm going to put this on
parchment to cut the lattice.

I'm going to make
a really, really

tightly woven lattice that
is an absolute showstopper.

This is one of my
sort of signature

moves in terms of pies.

Create the strips as
even as you possibly can.

I'm just going to
show you the technique

of weaving the lattice.

And then you decide what
size you want to go with.

This is a little bit relaxing.

It's almost like a meditation.

OK, I'm going to take
every other strip

and lay it down onto the
other sheet of parchment.

You can see it sort of
gradually tapering down.

So it's almost the same
shape as the round pie.

Great.

So to start our weaving,
what we're going to do

is we're going to flip
up every other strip.

And then I take the
middle strip and I

put it down on top
of the others and I

unfold these, so every
other one over that strip

that you put down in the middle.

And just keep going along.

And you'll see
this come together

as the weave is created.

You have to get sort of in the
zone or get the vodka back out.

OK, so you can see that I'm
doing this on the parchment

instead of right on the pie.

I find with berries and
other really soft filling,

if I tried to do this
right over the fruit,

the lattice could sink
down into the fruit.

And you'd lose the definition.

Slide it onto the baking sheet.

And then I'm going to drop
that right into the freezer

for about 10 minutes.

So I have my chilled bottom
crust and my chilled filling,

which looks delicious.

I don't know how anybody
cannot like rhubarb.

That is fantastic.

And you can see how
nice and thick it is.

So I know that this is
going to bake up properly.

And I'm not going to have sort
of a juicy mess at the end.

My lattice is firmer.

And slide it.

So you can see now
because we built

that on the parchment paper
just how beautiful it looks.

So in order to crimp
these two together,

I'm rolling the crust
up and into the lattice.

Terrific.

But now we want the
edge to be pretty.

I'm going to just take
my finger and my thumb.

And then I'm going to
press between them,

just like that, super simple.

There.

I'm going to freeze that.

You can do this days,
even weeks ahead and then

just bake it when you're ready.

My

Pie is thoroughly chilled.

Sometimes the outer
edge of the crust

will bake faster and get too
dark as it's in the oven.

So I like to make a tent,
a little bit of the center.

So I have a round bit here.

And then I can fit it.

This is so much easier
to do with a cold pie

than steaming hot in the oven.

And then I just have it
sitting on the counter.

Before I throw this in the
oven, I have an egg wash.

I just want enough
on there that it's

going to help the
color of this and also

act as a glue for the sugar
so that it's caramelized

and sweetens it.

And that's it.

I go at 425 because I want to
set that crust really, really

quickly so that I don't get
a soggy bottom on the crust.

It's been 30 minutes at 425.

It looks fantastic,
but that edge

is getting a little bit dark.

So I'm going to throw
my tent over it.

See how beautiful that is?

Then I'm going to
turn the heat down.

We're going to leave that now
until the filling is bubbling

and the crust is nice and
golden and caramelized.

I was so inspired by that
beautiful ice cream parfait

that Diane made
at the restaurant.

And just like Diane, I don't
like to waste food either.

So I'm going to use the
leftover strawberries

from our pie to make a fool.

And a fool is a really, really
simple, easy but elegant

dessert that you
can whip together

at the absolute last minute.

For mine, I'm going to
make a simple lemon curd,

puree some
strawberries, and fold

each into fresh whipped cream.

To make luscious lemon
curd, we need eggs.

And the fresher the better.

So the best thing about
living in this house

is whenever I need
eggs, I just go over

to the chicken lady's house.

And the chicken lady just
happens to be my best friend.

So it works out perfectly.

Hey, Jen.

Oh hey, lady.

So sweet, oh.

She's talking so much, I
figured I'd take her out.

She's [inaudible] beautiful.

[flapping]

Whoa.

I love these green ones.

You can never have
enough green eggs.

I know. Right?

I got to make some ham.

Hi, ladies.

Jen's chickens feed on nothing
but grass, scraps and stuff

from the kitchen.

So these are some pretty
healthy, beautiful eggs.

That egg yolk is just
the color of a marigold.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

To make my curd, I whisk
together the yolks, sugar,

and fresh lemon juice,
thicken it with butter,

and then cool it down
fast in an ice bath.

The lemon will add a nice
perk of flavor to my fool.

I think they call it that
because any fool can do this.

Actually, some believe that
it comes from the French term

fouler, which means to crush.

The actual origin of
the name is unclear.

But recipes for pureed fruits
folded into whipped cream date

back to 15th century England.

Just going around the bowl
and then up through the center

to fold these two together.

The strawberry puree
is much, much looser.

So this is going to end
up being a softer mixture.

You can layer this up
any way that you want to.

You can just put lemon curd
and then the strawberry.

Or you can do many, many layers.

Diced strawberries
tossed together

with brown sugar, lime
zest, and mint add

a little more texture and zip.

So super simple, super fast,
super fun, really colorful,

full of flavor.

That's it.

There is our summer
strawberry lemon fool.

Oh, it's just perfect.

Look at that.

The pie looks fantastic.

But it has to cool.

You can't cut into a hot pie.

So we'll just leave this
until our guests arrive.

And then it'll be all
set and ready to serve.

This is so fun.

And what a gorgeous day.

So here's who's going
to be here tonight.

Along with my sons,
Stephanie, who lives upstairs,

she's like one of the family.

Thank you so much for
doing this with me.

[interposing voices]

If I could spend
my whole day just

arranging flowers with you,
it would be like heaven.

Come on, girls.

There they go.

My best friend, Jen, and
she's leaving her chickens

at home, my dad, Craig,
who usually supplies

the rhubarb for the pies.

And it's always
fun to see who else

pops by from the neighborhood.

I have a quiet moment.

And this is the best part,
because I get to taste

all the desserts that I made.

So I have my lemon curd
and strawberry fool.

Mm, it's so refreshing
and creamy and delicious.

Oh, it's so good.

OK.

I'm going to cut
into one of our pies.

I made four pies because that's
sort of a Minnesota tradition,

to give a pie to somebody
that's been helping us out.

Mm-hmm-hmm.

Mm, hmm, the sweet
berries and tart rhubarb

are perfect with our
flaky, tender crust.

That is--

What you got there?

Oh, I should've known that
moment wasn't going to last.

Yeah, I mean, we saw
it through the window.

I can take that.

ZOE FRANCOIS: This
is a strawberry fool.

Fool?

Yeah.

So you named it after Charlie?

Oof, that was a
sick burn, right?

And strawberry rhubarb pie.

Yeah, this is really good.

Yeah, thanks.

So thank you, guys, for helping.

I have one more
thing for you to do.

See that giant bowl of lemons?

What time is
everyone getting here?

Around 7:00.

That looks great.

Well done, boys.

Help yourself.

Make yourself at home.

Wow.

ZOE FRANCOIS: And I made a
pie for you for helping me.

Whoa, that is beautiful.

Bring this home and you and
Nana can have some pie later.

JEN: This is amazing.

It is so good.

This is fabulous.

Oh, hello.

Hi, [inaudible].

ZOE FRANCOIS: This is what
springtime in Minnesota

means to me.

It's so sweet.

Oh.

CRAIG: So this is dessert first?

Well, in my world, it's
always dessert first.

That's right.

JEN: All right.