If you run
screaming to the grocer’s frozen food section rather than face making a pie
crust from scratch, this is for you.
Don’t believe the propaganda that has been spread about making pastry. It only takes a few ingredients and no
special appliances. If you have a $7.00
pastry blender, you’ll be making pie crust with the master chefs. Just remember
KISS:
Keep it cold:
water, shortening and butter
Indulge in
pastry flour
Save the
counter. Use waxed paper.
Store the
crust in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling.
You can also
freeze butter and solid Crisco. Then you
can chop the required amount into tiny pieces or grate them on a cheese
grater. Pop this back into the freezer
until ready to use.
Pastry flour
(available from King Arthur Flour) makes a big difference in your final
product. You can use regular flour, but
if you are into pie making, I’d order some pastry flour.
I always
roll out my pie crust on floured
waxed paper. Then I just have to flip it
into the pan and peel the paper off the dough.
It is much easier to handle. I've tried folding it in fourths and all the other tricks, but the waxed paper works
the best. Roll your dough from the
center, out. Don’t roll off the
edges. Work the rolling pin in all
directions, keeping the dough in a circular shape.
If you are
making a fluted edge on the pie, allow about 1 inch of dough overhang. If you’re not into fancy edges, just trim the
dough (with a sharp knife) even with the edge of the pie pan and mark the edge
with a fork imprint.
Store you
piecrust in the freezer while preparing the filling. If you are making a pre-baked pie crust
(referred to as blind baking), place the crust lined pan into the freezer for
30 minutes before baking. After pricking the bottom with a fork, I usually put
a liner of foil against the bottom and sides of a pre-baked pie crust to keep
the sides upright. Place in oven to
cook. Remove the foil for the last few minutes of baking.
If you are
making a pie that will not have a pre-baked crust, then put the fully assembled
pie in the freezer for 30 minutes before baking. All this chilling of the dough makes for a
more tender and flakey crust.
Slits and
cutouts help release the steam from the baking pie. Every pie with a top crust should have slits or
cutouts. I like to brush the unbaked top
crust with milk and then sprinkle it with coarse sugar crystals. If you are
making a custard pie, brush the bottom crust with a beaten egg before adding
filling. No one likes a soggy bottom, and neither does your pie. Don’t place hot filling into your pie
crust.
When I make
an apple pie, I always cook the apples and sugar in the microwave for about 8
minutes to determine how much liquid it will make. Then I can add the appropriate amount of
flour so it will thicken. If there is
way too much liquid, I can discard part of it.
This method works well with other fruits fillings. If you want to be extra cautious, sprinkle
the bottom of the crust with 1 tablespoon flour mixed with 1 tablespoon
granulated sugar.
The trick to great pie crust is not to work the
dough too much, or add too much flour.
Rolling it out on waxed paper makes it extra easy. I make large batches of dough and freeze them
in single crust servings. It really
speeds up the pie making process.
2 cups
flour
1 teaspoon
salt
⅔ cup
Crisco
2
tablespoons Crisco
Mix flour and salt, cut in shortening with pastry
blender.
3
tablespoons cold water
1
tablespoon lemon juice
Sprinkle with water and lemon juice. Add only enough to moisten dough. Form into ball and divide in two. Roll half
of dough on floured waxed paper until 1 inch larger than inverted pie pan. Use
a little extra flour if the dough is too sticky. Gently turn dough over and set
in pan, peel waxed paper off. Pop it in the freezer while you prepare the
filling.
Fill the pie and make top in same way. Fit over
filling, seal edges and flute. Bake as directed for the filling. If you love the flavor of butter, just use 2
tablespoons of butter in place of the 2 tablespoons of Crisco. You get the same tender, flakey crust. Or add
1 tablespoon granulated sugar for sweeter dough.
1 cup
flour
½ teaspoon
salt
⅓ cup Crisco
1
tablespoon Crisco
Mix flour and salt and cut in Crisco with pastry
blender.
1 tablespoon
cold water
1
tablespoon lemon juice
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Sprinkle on water/juice as needed and mix well.
Roll out dough. Place in pan and flute edges and prick bottom of pastry or use
pastry rocks. Chill for 20 minutes. Bake 475°
for 8-10 minutes. Cool and fill as desired.
This year, instead of cutting in the shortening by hand, I made the dough in the food processor. It was very fast and efficient. I did not need to use as much water, so add this sparingly.
My all-time favorite pie tip is to make one additional single recipe of dough per 2-3 pie crusts. Then you never need to worry about having rolled out dough that is not a wide enough circle.
I have purchased enough glass pie pans so that I can roll out all the dough and form crusts and freeze them in the pan. If you don't mind disposable tins, that works, too. You can also just freeze the dough in flat discs. Wrap these for the freezer. I wrap the dough or loaded pie pans in plastic wrap and then double bag them in polypropylene bags. (I don't use Ziplocks or Baggies because I think they make the food taste funny.)
