Holiday video tip: Creative pie crust borders

When you’ve gone to the trouble of making a homemade pie, you want the work to show. Even if you’ve made a lot of pies, sometimes you want to do things a little different for each pie to keep it fresh and dazzle your guests. One of the easiest ways to impress is with the pie border. There are so many ways to shape and decorate the crust. Check out the video above for some ideas.

And here are a couple quick tips for working with pie dough. Pie dough is temperature-sensitive, and needs to be kept as cold as possible while you’re handling it. If your fingers get too warm while working the dough, grab an ice cube or two, or soak them in ice water to cool. If the dough softens and becomes sticky, dust your fingers with a little flour, or place the dough in the fridge to chill.

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Want to give your finished crust a nice sheen? A brushing of egg white will give the final crust a nice sheen, and a brushing of beaten whole egg will give both color and sheen. Add a little water to the egg to thin, if it’s too thick to brush.

If you have any gadgets, kitchen tips or questions you’d like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an email at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

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