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DEL.ICIO.USDeluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough - from John Kessler
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Cuisine: Dessert
In her later years, my mother always started her pies with a prepared graham cracker crust. The filling would be a one-bowl affair and, depending on the pie, might include chocolate pudding, bananas and vanilla pudding, or a very yellow lemon gel.
When I excavate older memories, though, I recall a different pie — a blueberry one, bubbly and oozy, with a crisp brown crust that flaked into buttery shards. I was little, so I never learned the recipe.
Pie crust is one of those things that you don’t learn to make well until someone shows you. Forfeiting such a lesson, you make fruit crisp.
I became something of a fruit crisp maven in my parenting years. But once a year or so I’d haul out a cookbook and try my hand. Usually I’d end up with a thick, pale, floury shell from which people would surreptitiously excavate the filling.
When it came time for my annual attempt at pie this year, I cracked open the 1997 edition of “The Joy of Cooking.” Although sometimes-maligned, I’ve always liked this classic cookbook because the recipes leave so little room for error. When I alighted on a recipe titled Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough, I found a gift.
By following this wordy recipe, I suddenly understood pie dough — not with my mind but with my hands. Soft, pliable and speckled with bits of butter, it rolled out without ripping and puffed to about three times its thickness in the oven.
I’m two pies down and can’t wait for the third. -- John Kessler
Hands on time: 15 minutes Total time: 45 minutes Serves: 10-12
Ingredients:
-
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water, plus an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons as needed
Instructions:
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt with a rubber spatula. Working quickly to prevent softening, cut the butter into 1/4-inch pieces. Add the butter to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter into pea-size pieces. Add the shortening. With a few quick swipes of the pastry blender, cut the shortening into large chunks and distribute throughout the bowl. Continue to chop with the pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-size pieces. Do not let the mixture soften and begin to clump; it must remain dry and powdery. Drizzle 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water over the fat and flour mixture. Cut with the blade side of the spatula until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form small balls. Press down on the dough with the flat side of the spatula. If the balls of dough stick together, you have added enough water. If they do not, drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons more ice water over the top. Cut in the water, then press with your hands until the dough coheres. The dough should look rough, not smooth.
Divide the dough in half , collect each half in a square of plastic wrap and pull the plastic tight to form a cohesive round, flat disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably for several hours, or for up to 2 days before rolling. The dough can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw completely before rolling.
-- Adapted from “The 1997 Joy of Cooking” by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer
Becker and Ethan Becker (Scribner, $38)
Divide the dough in half , collect each half in a square of plastic wrap and pull the plastic tight to form a cohesive round, flat disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably for several hours, or for up to 2 days before rolling. The dough can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw completely before rolling.
-- Adapted from “The 1997 Joy of Cooking” by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer
Becker and Ethan Becker (Scribner, $38)
Notes:
This recipe calls for refrigerating dough for at least 30 minutes, preferably for several hours, or for up to 2 days before rolling.
Here are several key details that make this recipe superior:
* A small amount of shortening doesn’t interfere with the butter flavor and makes the dough easier to handle.
* The instructions on adding the ice water by “cutting” it in with a spatula are brilliant.
* Storing the dough as a flattened disc makes it easier to roll out quickly.
* Since this is a relatively wet pie dough, it patches easily with a swipe of water if you rip it while rolling.
* When it comes time to roll out and assemble the pie, you should have a very cold surface. I use a marble cheese turntable that someone gave us as a wedding gift and stick it in the freezer. This helps you add less flour and prevents you from smashing the butter bits.
Both the bottom and top crust should have a good half-inch of overhang. Press both together and fold them up on top of the rim, then crimp.
Here are several key details that make this recipe superior:
* A small amount of shortening doesn’t interfere with the butter flavor and makes the dough easier to handle.
* The instructions on adding the ice water by “cutting” it in with a spatula are brilliant.
* Storing the dough as a flattened disc makes it easier to roll out quickly.
* Since this is a relatively wet pie dough, it patches easily with a swipe of water if you rip it while rolling.
* When it comes time to roll out and assemble the pie, you should have a very cold surface. I use a marble cheese turntable that someone gave us as a wedding gift and stick it in the freezer. This helps you add less flour and prevents you from smashing the butter bits.
Both the bottom and top crust should have a good half-inch of overhang. Press both together and fold them up on top of the rim, then crimp.
Nutrition:
Per serving (based on 10): 324 calories (percent of calories from fat, 66) 3 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 24 grams fat (14 grams saturated), 50 milligrams cholesterol, 217 milligrams sodium.
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