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*Reduce the salt to 1 teaspoon if you use salted butter.
**Use the lesser amount of water if you use Pastry Flour Blend.
Weigh your flour, or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
Add the shortening, working it in until the mixture is evenly crumbly, like coarse beach sand; you want everything thorough. Cut the butter into small (about 1/2″) cubes.
Add the butter to the flour mixture, and work it in roughly with your fingers, a pastry cutter, or a mixer. Don’t be too thorough; the mixture should be quite uneven, with big chunks of butter in among the smaller ones. People get nervous about pie crust, and in their anxiety they tend to work the dough too much. Working the butter in completely makes a mealy crust rather than a flaky one. thoroughly combined. Drizzle 4 tablespoons of water over the flour mixture, tossing gently to combine. Add enough additional water to make a chunky, fairly cohesive mixture. It should hold together when you gather a bit up and squeeze it in your hand. Beware of kneading the pastry too much and/or adding too much water, as this will toughen the crust. Gently shape the pastry into a cohesive mass. Or before shaping, take it a step further: Transfer the shaggy mixture to a piece of parchment paper. Press it into a rough rectangle and fold the dough into thirds, like a business letter. If necessary, spritz any dry areas with cold water and flatten and fold again, repeating the process until all errant bits of dough have been incorporated. Folding the dough in this fashion will create more flaky layers in your final crust. Divide the dough in half. Gather each piece into a rough disk. Smooth the disks; it’s OK if they have a few cracks in the surface. Smooth their edges by running the disks along a floured surface like a wheel.Wrap the crusts in plastic or your favorite reusable storage wrap. Chill for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Or wrap in aluminum foil over the plastic, and freeze for up to two months.
This is the recipe that I use for my pies. I use them for any kind of fruit pie. The crust always comes out wonderful! Don’t get discouraged, if it is your first time, practice, practice, practice. The rolling is the hardest part and getting it into the pie pan. Then shaping your pie edge.
*If you use salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/2 teaspoon.
Whisk together the flour, salt, and buttermilk powder. Dice the butter into small cubes, or cut it into pats. Work it into the flour until it’s well-distributed, but not fully incorporated. Larger, pea-sized pieces of butter will be scattered throughout the mixture.
Tossing with a fork or your fingers, drizzle in the ice water. Stop adding water when the dough starts to come together, and grab it in your hands. If it holds together easily, without crumbling, it’s ready. If it has dry spots or pieces break off easily, add a bit more water until it’s totally cohesive. Gather the dough into a ball, and divide it in half. Gently pat/shape each half into a rough disk. Roll immediately, if desired. For better texture, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling. If dough has been refrigerated longer than 30 minutes, allow it to warm at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, until it rolls easily. Use as directed in your favorite pie recipe. Store unbaked pie dough, well-wrapped, in the refrigerator for 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Usually this crust, I use for Cream, Meringue and Custard Pies.
Process flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor for a few seconds until combined. If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this by using a pastry cutter. Add butter and pulse until mixture becomes crumbly and resembles coarse meal, about 15 pulses.
Add egg and vanilla extract and keep pulsing until the dough is no longer dry and starts to clump together, about 10-15 seconds. Do not process to the point that a large ball of dough is formed; rather the dough should be quite crumbly with large clumps. Another way to check if it’s done is to take a piece of dough and press it between your thumbs – the dough should stick without feeling dry or crumbly.
Turn dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. It should come together easily without being sticky. Flatten ball slightly with your hands to form a thick disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
If you don’t want to use the dough right away, you can refrigerate it for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to a month and then thaw overnight in the fridge.
Take dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften slightly for easy rolling. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin into an 11-inch circle, then place gently into a tart pan tart pan(preferably with a removable bottom); you can do this by flouring a rolling pan and rolling the dough loosely around it, then unrolling it into the pan. Brush away any excess flour on the surface. With a sharp knife, trim the edges of the pastry to fit the tart pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. Frozen dough is less prone to shrinking while baking.
Preheat oven to 375℉/190℃ and place rack in the center.
Press parchment paper or aluminum foil tightly against the crust, covering the edges to prevent them from burning. Fill with pie weights/dried beans/uncooked rice, making sure they’re fully distributed over the entire surface.
Press parchment paper or aluminum foil tightly against the crust, covering the edges to prevent them from burning. Fill with pie weights/dried beans/uncooked rice, making sure they’re fully distributed over the entire surface.
Bake crust for 20 minutes, until foil no longer sticks to the dough. Transfer crust to a wire rack and remove weights and foil. Return to the oven.
Bake for 5 minutes longer. You’ll now need to proceed with your tart recipe, add the filling, and finish baking. According to your recipe, the crust should be used either while warm or after it’s been left to cool on a wire rack.
Bake for about 10 minutes longer until golden brown and dry. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for a few times to mix. Add in the cold butter cubes. Pulse 8-10 times until butter resembles small clumps.
Turn the machine on and add in 4 tablespoons of ice-cold water in one tablespoon increments. At this point, it should start to come together and form into a ball. If not, add in the rest of the water until it does. Transfer onto a lightly floured surface, form it into a 4-inch disk, and wrap with plastic. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight. Take it out of the fridge 10 minutes before you are ready to roll it out. Lightly flour your working surface. Roll the dough into a large 12-inch circle. Transfer onto the parchment paper and then onto the baking sheet. Place your filling (depending on the recipe you are using) on top slightly mounting in the middle, leaving a 3-inch border around the edges. Roll the sides of the dough overlapping as you go around and pleating the dough. Brush the edges of the dough (the outer crust) with egg yolk. Bake according to the instructions of the recipe you are using.
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, (10 full sheets of graham crackers)
⅓ cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Process the graham cracker in a blender or food processor until you have fine crumbs. Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the sugar, mixing until evenly combined. Stir in melted butter with a fork until the butter is incorporated evenly. Press the mixture into a pie dish and up the sides. Make sure it is tight and compact. The bottom of a medium-size measuring cup works well. You want the crust to be thick.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Allow the pie crust to completely cool before adding the filling.
20 Oreo Cookies
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Put Oreo cookies into a gallon plastic bag. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal it; crush the cookies using a rolling pin. Continue to roll the rolling pin over the bag until the Oreo cookies are crushed into fine to medium size crumbs. Add the melted butter to the bag, and toss to combine until butter is well mixed into cookie crumbs. *You could also use a food processor to make the crust.
Press cookie crumb mixture into a 9 inch spring-form pan. Use wax or parchment paper to press crumbs firmly into the bottom of the pan. Freeze for 15 minutes.
In conclusion, I have provided you with some recipes for the different types of crusts that you can use. I hope that you will try them and let me know how they have turned out.
Until next month, Happy Baking!
Lucille
