What's the Secret to a Perfect, Golden Brown Pie Crust? An Egg or Cream Wash—Here's How to Do It (2024)

FAQs

What's the Secret to a Perfect, Golden Brown Pie Crust? An Egg or Cream Wash—Here's How to Do It? ›

Whole Egg + Whole Milk: In a small bowl, combine 1 large egg with 1 Tbsp. whole milk; whisk until fully combined and no streaks remain, then brush over the dough. This egg wash will give your baked goods a nice golden brown color and just enough shine.

The general rule of thumb for an egg wash is one well-beaten whole egg plus one to two tablespoons of water. More water will lighten the golden color, or for a shinier pie, you can substitute the water with cream or milk. Sometimes, an egg wash is made with just yolks for extra color—or just whites for extra shine.

If you are looking to achieve a darker golden brown color on your baked goods, simply whisk an egg and brush it over the dough before baking. Using whisked egg yolk as an egg wash will give your baked goods a golden hue, "which was a big trend in the '50s, '60s, and '70s," says Hysmith.

Egg wash is a mix of beaten whole egg and water (or milk or cream), which is used to brush onto the top of baked goods before baking. The purpose of egg wash is to provide a nice golden brown, shiny finish on your baking. I use this egg wash for pie crust, or this also makes a great egg wash for bread recipes.

About this method: Dairy is a classic pastry wash. The natural lactose sugars gild the crust with a golden hue, and the more fat the milk has the deeper the color you'll get. What you won't get is as high a shine as egg washes give you. As with oil, this wash is easy to apply, but also easy to over-apply.

It's All About the Glaze. Getting a golden color on a pie crust usually doesn't have to do with the crust itself – it's what you brush on top. From milk to egg yolks, the sugars and proteins in the glaze will caramelize before the crust itself, giving the pie extra color and a burnished look.

Mix equal parts of brown and yellow to make a goldenrod shade. If you have a tube of brown paint on hand, this is the easiest way to make gold.

Adding a small amount of sugar to a pie crust, as well as using real butter, will both help a crust to brown in the oven.

Sugar gives sweetness to baked products. It also has a tenderizing effect and helps crusts brown. In yeast breads, sugar serves as food for the yeast.

Brushing an egg wash on a pastry not only lends it a nice golden color, but it also gives it an appealing shine. The second is that it acts as a glue. It can either help something stick to the pastry such as sugar, or help pastry stick together, such as in this Pop Tart recipe.

How do you keep pie crust from getting soggy with egg wash? ›

Brush the Bottom with Corn Syrup or Egg White

Adding a layer of corn syrup or a slightly beaten egg white before pouring in the filling will form a seal between the pie dough and the filling and will help make the crust crisp and flaky.

1. Milk or Cream. According to David Joachim, author of The Food Substitutions Bible, the very best substitute for egg wash is milk or heavy cream. Simply brush the baked good with 1 tablespoon of milk or heavy cream for every ¼ cup of egg wash the recipe calls for.

It sounds obvious, but bread generally needs to be baked at a high temperature. A golden-brown, glossy crust is achieved when sugars and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) in the dough react together at high temperatures in the oven. For a simple dough of flour, water, salt and yeast, bake at 220 – 225C.

Browning

You can thank sugar for that. Baked goods with higher levels of sugar are more prone to browning due to the tendency of sugar to caramelize when exposed to heat. Higher levels of sugar, and higher temperatures, are more likely to result in significant browning.

Line the crust with foil, parchment, or a paper coffee filter. Fill it about two-thirds full with dried beans, uncooked rice (or other uncooked grain berries), pie weights, or granulated sugar. Bake the crust in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes, set on a baking stone or steel if you have one.