While an egg wash — a layer of beaten eggs or egg yolks brushed on top of baked goods — does brown in the oven to form a shiny, crisp crust, it’s not the only thing that can do so.

In a video posted on Food Network's Facebook page, celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis brushes apricot jam onto her pie crust as an alternative to using egg wash.

The jam adds some fruity sweetness, and the sugar in it browns just like beaten eggs. Plus, if brushed onto a bottom layer of pie crust, its stickiness binds the crust and filling.

Before using the jam, microwave it briefly to make it thinner and easy to apply. If your food starts browning too much in the oven, cover it with foil to keep the jam from burning.

That said, jam doesn't work well when gluing pastry dough together, as the oven‘s heat can dissolve its thickening pectin, leaving it thin and soupy rather than thick and tacky.