Tip & Trick: Triple-Baked Pie Crust

Thirty minutes outside of Seattle, there's a storefront diner called Twede's Cafe. It's perpetually packed, with a clanky kitchen and a long counter where teenagers in red T-shirts dispense milkshakes and massive platters of scrambled eggs and bacon. But if you find yourself atop one of the vinyl-cushioned stools that flank this counter, don't order those. Order, instead, a cup of coffee and a slice of cherry pie. Super-sweet, with a pale crust, this cherry pie won't change your life, but it will fill you with a sense of satisfaction. First, because it is pie, and no food provides comfort quite like pie. That's just, like, a fact. And second, because you'll be channeling Agent Dale Cooper: Twede's is the real-life inspiration behind the Twin Peaks diner favored by that fictional FBI man. And Agent Cooper knew that when you find yourself in strange and unsettling circumstances, there is no greater reassurance than hot coffee accompanied by some fruit-filled pastry.

But while a diner pie needn't be amazing to do its job well, a homemade pie kinda does. After all, you don't want to labor over a from-scratch turkey pot pie or banana cream only to slice into it and discover a soggy bottom layer. Or pull an old-fashioned apple pie out of the oven and discover that the top crust failed to reach the golden-brown goodness you imagined at the outset. To ensure you whip up perfect pies every time, Grant is sharing some of his top secrets to perfectly baked pie crust, from top to bottom. Follow his lead, and you'll be creating killer crusty comfort food for the ages.