Practically Perfect Pie Crust (Pie Crust Trilogy Part I)

Wait! If the mere mention of this topic makes you nervous, bringing up anxious memories of what your family now refers to in hushed tones as, ‘the pie crust incident’, causing you to reach for the chardonnay every time someone suggests making a pie... or even if you’re just a newbie and it never occurred to you that crust came in something other than a box(who knew?!)-please read on! I can help.

Pie crust is one of those things that can make a good cook cry; it is both science and art. But you don’t have to be a Rocket Scientist to do this. Just remember, practically is the key word in the title. There’s no pressure here, and certainly no need to self-medicate while baking!

Okay, first, if you are easily intimidated, DO NOT purchase The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I am going to walk you through the easy version of her Basic Flakey Pie Crust recipe on page 22. But unless you are a total baking freak you do not want to know all the steps and details that get you to page 22...and beyond... in this book.

Rose knows her crust, but she can take a simple recipe and beat it to a pulp with minute details that, while possibly resulting in a truly perfect crust (temperature and humidity of the day depending) will absolutely make the average person swear never to make their own crusts again!

So let’s back up a bit before we tackle this puppy, go over a few tips and come to a better understanding of the kitchen science at work here.

There are all kinds of things that can affect how your crust turns out, many of which we are just not going to consider-life is too short and we are trying to keep this simple! We won’t worry about mixing your flours to achieve the optimal protein levels (yes, Rose does that!). We absolutely will not be weighing anything, either. (Do you have a food scale? I know I don’t) But there are some things you can do to give yourself a ‘leg up’ on crust.

Kitchen Science/Pastry tips:

*Okay, I fibbed a bit about the flour, because I AM going to tell you that if you are really into this recipe, you can look for actual Pastry Flour (King Arthur makes a great version and it can be ordered online if you can’t find it in a store...which you probably can’t.) However, that said, I make the majority of my crusts with good old Pillsbury or Gold Medal All Purpose Flour. They may not be perfect for the task, but they are more than good enough.

*Two Words: Food Processor. I’ll get you through this without it, but really you would never regret this purchase for so many reasons besides pastry!

*Big Secret #1: COLD. Cold butter (even frozen), cold water, cold dough; up until you put it in the oven, the colder the better! Rose will keep you running back and forth between freezer and workstation for half the day to create one simple crust, if she could, but we’re not going to let her. For our purposes, we start with cold ingredients and then we just keep moving along. No time to stop and re-chill. I have other things to do today besides make pie crust, and I bet you do, too.

* Big Secret #2: Vinegar! Really. Vinegar will add acidity which weakens the gluten in the flour and makes the dough easier to roll, and, ultimately, flakier.

*Finally, keep those bits of butter chunky until you add the liquid. Recipes always say ‘pea size’, but, as with so many things, bigger is better (like brownies-what were YOU thinking of?), so just think lumpy. It bulks up the gluten which means a more tender crust. (Tender and Flakey are two different things in the crust world).

Okay, let’s get baking!

Basic Flakey Pie Crust (YF) (this is Rose’s recipe, as mentioned above, tweaked and commented upon by yours truly.)

This is a great pie crust, and pie cracker crust. Not familiar with pie crackers? We’ll tackle that in in a future blog, but let the kids know, something yummy is coming--and they can help!

FYI...read through this whole recipe before you DO anything! (this is a good rule of thumb for ALL recipes!) DON’T be intimidated by the length (I’m chatty, sorry). It’s really basic and simple.

Pastry for Two-Crust 9 inch pie: (if you only need one, make two and freeze the other one-you won’t regret it.)

*14 Tb. unsalted butter, COLD! (What did I tell you about the cold thing?!) You will seldom see a pastry recipe that calls for salted butter, by the way. These guys like to control the addition of salt themselves. You can use salted butter if it’s all you have--heaven knows I have!!... but it’s not preferred. Just don’t add any more salt! And yes, you can use something like ‘I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter’, but different products react differently, so I’d go with butter until you feel more confident.

*2 1/4 cups flour (she measures this with the ‘dip and sweep’ method-just what it sounds like)

*Salt 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. (think of it as a pinch-like I said, if you used salted butter above, don’t add salt).

*1/4 tsp. baking powder (Rose makes this optional, I’m telling you, put it in. According to Rose it, “helps to counteract the dough’s tendency to shrink...helps to lift, aerate, and tenderize it...” Why would you not want that?)

*5-7 Tb. Ice Water (put some ice cubes in a large cup, fill with water and set aside until needed-do this now!)

*1 Tb. cider vinegar (regular vinegar is fine if that’s what you have. BUT...1Tb. is a lot and can leave a lingering vinegar scent which Rose is not entirely opposed to, but I am. I’d go with 1 1/2 tsp.)

Food processor: (Plastic Baggie-i.e. Ziploc-directions below if you have no processor), mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Cut your COLD butter (right out of the freezer is okay) into 3/4 inch cubes and add to the flour mixer. Process in pulses until the butter is about the size of peas. Err on the side of larger, not smaller.

Baggie: mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl or in the baggie. If you start with a bowl, use a pastry cutter (usually available in any kitchen department) or your hands to ‘cut/rub’ the butter into the flour mixture until you get those little peas mentioned above. You can do this in the large gallon size Baggie too, just squeeze out the air first and zip it.

Both: Mix your vinegar in a small bowl with the first 3 Tb. of cold water and pour that into you flour mixture.

Food processor: pulse until mixed and add additional water up to 7Tb. maximum until the dough begins to come together and holds together when pinched. You don’t want it too wet, so don’t overdo the water.

Baggie: If you started in the bowl, pour it in the Baggie now, add the water/vinegar mix, plus additional water up to 7Tb. maximum. Squeeze the air out, zip the bag and squeeze and knead the bag to mix. (Kids like to help with this part!) When you are done you will pull it out in clumps and mush it together on your rolling surface. This actually works really well. Honest!

FYI...Somewhere between 5-7Tb. water will be just right, so add it in stages just to avoid getting your dough too wet and sticky-but if you do...add a bit more flour when rolling it out and you’ll survive!

Divide your dough in half-remember, this recipe makes TWO crusts! If you only need one, wrap the other in plastic wrap and put it in a baggie and freeze. It will be easy to roll out after a short thawing period some other day....

Rolling: Lightly flour a smooth, dry surface. Pat your dough into a ball and mush the ball into a thick and even pancake-about 5 inches across. Dust with flour and begin rolling evenly. Add a little flour if it gets sticky (check underneath-it gets sticky there sooner than on top!) You are aiming for about an 8^th of an inch thick. Try to keep it uniform...but let’s be realistic; this is part of the Practically Perfect feature of this recipe!

Congratulations! You have made a crust-now what? For now, if you’ve actually DONE this...you can lay the rolled out crust on waxed paper or foil on a baking sheet and wrap it in plastic wrap and put it flat in the freezer. Yes, it will keep!

But I won’t leaving you hanging...I’ve got a couple great recipes coming up next (pie crackers and apple pie) to help you put that crust to good use! Check back soon! J