Yes. I am starting with a pie crust.

 

     I really and truly have chosen a pie crust as my first recipe post on this blog.  I know, I know.  I can hear you already talking yourself out of reading this all the way through or of thinking you should attempt to make your own crust from scratch.  I have heard your reasoning in the voices of my friends through the years.  "Why in the world would I make my own pie crust?  I can buy them at the grocery store and they taste just as good."  "Pie crusts are too complicated.  There is NO WAY I can do this; let me leave those to the REAL bakers."

     Well, I am here, friends, to challenge you to not only keep reading but to put your aprons on and pull a made-from-scratch from your very own ovens!  I have faith that you can all do this.

     Let me begin with your first argument that the ones in the grocery store are just as good as the ones you make with your own hands.  While I will concede that there are a couple of brands that taste fine and will do in a pinch, I still say that homemade crust wins every day hands-down.  Not only do they taste better, think of all those ingredients that you can't pronounce much less identify.  I am here to offer you nothing more than butter, shortening, flour, salt, sugar, and water.   My guess is that most of you have those six ingredients in your kitchen right now.

    As for your second point about pie crust being something best left to the professionals, I have one word.  Bologna.   If I, just a little -better- than- average home cook can do this, so can you.  I have absolutely NO professional culinary training and yet I pull perfectly flaky, delicious crusts from my oven on a regular basis.  What I do have is a passion for research and I have researched the heck out of pie crusts.  You are here to benefit from my time spent researching.

    Let's get started with this pie crust project that you have now committed yourself to.  You will need:

• A cheese grater (yes, a cheese grater)
• A big bowl
• A medium sized bowl filled with ice and water
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Waxed paper
• Plastic wrap
• Glass pie pans 
• A food processor 
  

     OR a pastry blender

     For many years I have been researching and testing various recipes and techniques and have ultimately combined several different ones to make pie crust work for me.  My ingredient list comes from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.  This book is my go-to source for all baking basics.  I recommend this book for EVERY home cook's shelf!

For a double crust, you will need:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur's Perfect Pastry Blend or White Lily all-purpose)

2 T. sugar

1 t. salt

6 T. vegetable shortening

10 T. salted butter

8-12 T. ice water

The night before you plan to make your crusts, cut the shortening into small cubes and place in a small bowl covered in plastic wrap.  Put the entire bowl in the freezer.  

Freeze your butter (still in stick form) in the freezer the night before, as well.

Begin making your crust by first grating your butter on a cheese grater over a plate.  Do this very, very quickly so that the butter doesn't melt.  Be sure to pull all of the butter out of the middle of your box grater since it tends to clump. Don't worry about the last few bits that are left.  Just cut them into small pieces.  Place the entire plate of grated butter in the freezer until you are ready to add it to the flour mixture.

Go on and get your ice water really cold and ready to use in a few minutes.

Using either a food processor or the pastry blender, thoroughly mix together the flour, sugar, and salt.  If you are using a food processor, just process it for about 10-20 seconds.

Drop the shortening pieces directly on the flour mixture and turn on the food processor for about 15 seconds or until the mixture feels somewhat like sand.  With a pastry blender just keep working it until the texture is the same as with the food processor.

Add the butter to the top of the mixture and just pulse it about 10-15 times.  Don't worry about getting it all mixed in uniformly; you want these little butter and shortening clumps to help create the steam for your flaky layers.

At this point dump all of the ingredients in a big bowl and grab a spatula.  Here is where you have to be  REALLY, REALLY careful!  My tendency is to man-handle the dough and you do NOT want to do that!  

Sprinkle the minimum amount of water on top of the dough, tablespoon by tablespoon, and VERY gently start mixing the dough together.  According to Beth M. Howard, author of Making Piece:  A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Pie and the blog The World Needs More Pie, you are simply "fluffing" up the dough with the water.  

You will more likely than not need more water than the minimum.  Just be sure to add it slowly and tablespoon by tablespoon.  You just want the dough to come together when you press on it a little.

At this point, many cooks choose to shape the dough with their bare hands.  This method does NOT work for me at all and this is where I think my preferred method makes for the better pie.  While I won't pretend that I understand the exact science behind it, I can tell you for certain that you need those little clumps of butter and shortening to help make the flaky layers and I really can't keep those clumps if I touch the dough.  I think my hands are just too hot!  

Instead of shaping my dough with my hands, I pull out two very large sheets of plastic wrap and place them on the counter.  Once I have enough water in my dough, I just divide the dough in half (as best you can) and dump half of it on each piece of plastic wrap.   I find it easier to lay out one piece of plastic at a time and work with just half a batch of the dough at a time.

Begin pulling the opposite corners of the wrap together and squishing the dough together this way.  You will need to alternate corners and rotate the wrap.  Once it has come together, you can shape it in a disc through the outside of the wrap.  You want a disc that is about 4 inches wide but don't worry about  being too exact with the size.  You are going to roll it out anyway.  

At this point just wrap it tightly with the plastic wrap and maybe another piece, as well.  You can then just freeze it in a freezer bag for several months.  I usually try to make at least 6-8 crusts for the freezer every time I make them because the real work is cleaning up the mess!  If you do freeze them, just be sure to put it in the fridge to thaw several hours before you need one.

If you are planning on making a pie right away, put the wrapped dough in the fridge for at least an hour.  

Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit out for about 10 minutes before attempting to roll it out.

Again, I try to avoid touching my dough at all, so I roll my crusts out between two pieces of floured waxed paper.  Just be sure to keep turning it and lifting the paper up at times so that it won't stick to the waxed paper.  I don't worry too much about keeping it in a perfect circle because I end up trimming it after I place it in the pie pan.  Just be sure that you have rolled it out to be slightly larger than your pie pan.

Remove the top piece of the waxed paper and place the exposed side in the pie pan.  The good part about this method is that you can still move the crust around a little before settling it into place if you need to.  Carefully and slowly remove the piece that is now on top and begin to press your crust into your pan.   Just don't touch it too much or you will melt those clumps of butter and shortening!

Once you have your pie in the pan, trim the excess off and either flute the edge or simply press a fork into the crust.

Place the entire pie pan in the freezer for about half an hour to get it good and cold again.

You are now ready to bake a pie of your choice!  Just follow the directions for your pie recipe as some call for a blind-baked crust (pre-baked) and some call for you to just fill the pie straight from the freezer.

Remember that practice makes perfect and I promise you, this practice is very worth the effort!