Any way you slice it, pie is limitless. There are fruit pies, cream pies, mousse pie, frozen pie, hand pie, flaky crust, graham cracker crust, double crust, lattice top and all sorts of pie flavors and crusts. It should be no surprise that sitting down to write this article I feel slightly overwhelmed. Every year around the holidays I get my pie books out and start picking out recipes to make. With the vast number of pie recipes, it can sometimes be a challenge to decide which ones to bake. No matter what flavor of you pie you choose, it all starts with the proper crust. Here are some pro tips for making a great crust and baking the perfect pie.

Flour: Pastry flour is the best choice for pie dough. It has enough gluten to give the dough structure and flakiness, yet low enough in gluten to yield a tender product. Note: all purpose flour has more gluten than pastry flour, so if you’ve ever made a pie crust and thought it turned out tough, try pastry flour next time.

Fat: Butter contributes excellent flavor to pie pastry, but it melts easily. Shortening has the right consistency to make a moldable, workable dough, but has no flavor. Lard is excellent because it is firm like butter but moldable like shortening, however, it’s rarely used anymore. If you’re opposed to using lard, try half butter and half shortening in a recipe to provide a good balance of both flavor and workability. Whichever fat you use, make sure to chill or freeze it before working it into the flour. Fat melts in the oven to produce steam which creates flakey layers. That won’t happen if your butter is warm or melted during the mixing process.

Liquid: Whether water or milk is used, it must be added ice cold, about 40 degrees. This helps keep the butter and overall dough cold. Too much liquid produces a tough crust. But use too little and your crust will crumble and fall apart.

Flakey vs. mealy: The two basic types of dough are similar. Flakey dough happens when the fat is combined with the flour just until the pieces are the size of peas or hazelnuts. This produces a dough with visible pieces of butter. When those pieces melt, they create flakey layers. Mealy dough is made by more thoroughly blending the fat into the flour until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Mealy crust is very tender, but not flakey. It is best used for the bottom crust of liquid pies because it absorbs less liquid from the filling and is less likely to become soggy.

Chill and rest: Keeping dough cold, 60 degrees or less, while mixing is important for keeping the butter from melting. Resting is also important. Some gluten is developed during mixing. Resting the pie dough in the refrigerator after mixing and again after rolling it out into the pan gives the gluten a chance to relax and helps prevent the crust from shrinking during baking. A good 20-30 minute chill after each step should do the trick.

Bake upside down: Blind baking is the term used when a pie recipe calls for baking the crust separately from the filling. It is used when the filling is precooked and prepared then poured into the prebaked pie shell. Pie weights or beans are often used to keep the empty crust from collapsing in on itself and to keep the bottom of the crust from puffing up during baking.  However, a method I like to use is to bake the empty crust upside down and sandwiched between two pie pans. Roll out the dough and place in pie pan. Stack an empty pie pan on top, so that you have sandwiched the dough between two pans. Place the pie upside down on a parchment lined sheet pan. During the last 10 minutes of baking, flip the pie over and remove the inside pan, allowing the bottom of the crust to brown.

Remember, baking is a science, and the methods of production are what determines the outcome of the final product. Knowing the reason why we use certain ingredients, why the temperature of the ingredients matter, and why dough needs to rest will help you bake the perfect pie crust. Enjoy!

Pie crust

Yield: 1 single crust for a 9-inch pie

• 1¼ cup (160 grams) all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup (115 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt to combine. Add the butter, tossing the cubes through the flour until the pieces are separated from one another and each piece is coated.
2. Cut the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your palms or fingertips, flattening the cubes into big shards and continuing to toss them in the flour to recoat the shards. Or use a pastry blender or the tines of a fork. The size of the butter will vary from hazelnut to about the size of peas.
3. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add 3 tablespoons ice water and mix it in by tossing the flour in the bowl. (This tossing movement lets the moisture incorporate without allowing too much gluten formation.)
4. Continue to add ice water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough begins to come together. As it comes together, fold it over itself a few times to make sure it’s homogenous. The dough should hold together without noticeable cracks (a sign of underhydration), but it should not be wet or tacky to the touch (a sign of overhydration).
5. Form the dough into a disk about 1-inch thick. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using, and up to 2 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months, then thawed overnight before using.

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.