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Oh, god I love pie. And I NEVER have pie - because all pies in Greece are pitas, and because I'm no baker, hate making pie crust, and always end up with a kitchen with a counter the size of a postage stamp.
I still can't get my mind around saying "I love pie". I think of pies as individual items, and would say "I love pies". Which I do. Individual meat pies, steak and cheese for preference, or Jimmys brand mince (ground beef) and cheese. It's what we southern kiwis eat on the way home after a night drinking. I guess it's a slice in the US, and a kebab in the UK, huh? Or at least in my experience.
I've had the worst luck with pie crusts lately. Even when I think I've followed the recipe precisely, they don't roll. Rather the stuff just sticks together and I have to put it in the pan and smoosh it around until it covers the surface.
Well, when I say "I love pie" I think I really do mean it in a pretty general sense... I can't remember ever having had pie and thinking "oh, no, this isn't good!"
Not that all pies are good... I just haven't met one I didn't like, so far!
If I could have a magical pie appearance right now... damn. I can't decide between pecan, apple, peach, and banana.
If you find yourself in Key West you must try the key lime pie at the Blond Giraffe. It's to die for. Actually there is a lot of great key lime pie to be found in Florida. It's easy to make. I even like our local grocery store's (Publix) version.
from Wanda's Pie In The Sky.
UNBELIEVABLE GREATNESS. Not too sweet, perfect crusts.
She used to have a cafe 2 blocks away serving slices..BooHoo, it's gone.
I buy that Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough now. It's really good - even my ex sister in law the baker swears by it - and god, it makes it all so easy. Just unroll it & add the fillings. . . mmmmm, pie.
Indeed, how could you forget lemon meringue, gaspode.
Let's hear it for wild blueberries, fresh picked yourself in Sudbury. WooHoo. In season, you should see all the cars parked on the side of the highway — blueberry pickers.
A great instant pie crust is Robin Hood's Flaky Pie Crust mix. Just add water, perfect every time and tasty.
"... Are your ingredients room temperature¿ You have to adjust liquid or flour measurements. ..."
Pie dough is easy and fast, once you understand a little baking chemistry, and the results you have from freshly made dough are so far superior to those Pillsbury pre-mades, that there is simply no comparison in either taste or flake.
Don't use bread flour, as bread flour is normally high gluten. Cake flour is generally the lowest gluten, but for common pie dough, a little too precious, to my taste. Good old all purpose Gold Medal, in all its bleached, bromated glory is great. (It's pie for God's sake, and who cares if it's nutritious?)
If you can get it, real lard is wonderful in pie crust. If you have found a butcher who can supply you with real pork suet, you can easily make your own as called for, from frozen suet, by simply frying the suet in a cast iron skillet over low heat, until the lard is rendered. Then cool in the fridge until solid. Otherwise, Crisco is the common American substitute, but for taste, Crisco is to pie crusts what corn oil is to cornbread, whereas fresh lard is to pie crusts what bacon drippings are to cornbread.
You absolutely do not want your ingredients at room temperature, unless you want tough, flat crusts. At least, the fat and the water must be ice cold, for the flakiest crust, as it's exactly the action of cutting the fat into the flour that creates the tiny layers of flour laden fat leaves, upon which a truly flaky pie depends. You cut the fat into the flour, with 2 knives, using fast, opposing knife strokes, until the flour forms mealy pea grains. A minute of cutting is a lot (90 to 100 rapid cross cutting strokes). Ideally, do this in chilled bowl, too, with cold knives. It's obvious when you've reached the right stage, as the flour gets a definite mealy texture about it, that is unmistakeable. Avoid, like the plague, overworking the fat/flour mixture, or the crust will be hard to form into a working ball, and very, very dry. If you think you need a lot of water, you haven't used enough fat for your flour, or you've badly overworked it cutting in the fat.
And then, you add ice water, at the very last, only sufficient (3 tbl-single crust, 4 tbl-large single crust, 6 to 7 tbl-double crust, and maybe +1 to 2 tbl water, if you're baking in the dry Negev desert) to dampen the flour enough to create a dry ball as worked lightly with a fork. You definitely don't want to wet the flour appreciably, else the crust become tough by forming gluten, so I use a small spray bottle, filled with just enough spring water, and chilled in the freezer. Just enough icy water to barely dampen the flour, to make a dry ball, and never do any real kneading, or working of the dough, beyond merely forming a dry ball, to discourage gluten formation. Then pop back in the refrigerator, about 20 to 30 minutes maximum, to allow the dough to "rest." Actually, the dough isn't resting, the flour is autolyzing. Autolyze is just a fancy word for saying the flour grains are adsorbing (not absorbing) the water, to become slightly sticky to one another. It's critical to making a pie dough that holds together enough to roll, but doesn't stick to everything like crazy. If you have to flour pie dough much to roll it, you've rested it too long. If it crumbles too easily, it hasn't autolyzed. It might have been too dry, or not had enough fat, or just not rested quite long enough. Timing is everything, but it seems to be related to the grain size and gluten content of the flour. 20 minutes minimum, not more than 30, in a normal refrigerator, for common Gold Medal all purpose flour.
Starting with your cold ingredients from the freezer (flour, lard, and ice water), mixing the dough should take less than 5 minutes, resting 20-25 minutes, rolling less than 5 minutes. It's quite literally, "easy as pie" once you have a little practice.
Then, roll out quickly, between sheets of waxed paper, for easy reliable handling. Minimal rolling, minimal handling, to keep the dough flaky and light, not tough. The waxed paper makes it easy to tranfer to pie pans, without tearing or extra handling.
Single 9 inch crust:
1 & 1/3 cups flour
scant 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup lard or shortening
3 tblsp ice water
Double 9 inch crust:
2 cups flour
1 level tsp salt
1 level cup lard or shortening
4 tblsp ice water
Deep dish, or 10 inch double crust (or extra thick crust for impressive heaped up apple pie):
2 & 2/3 cup flour
1 generous cup lard or shortening (maybe 1 & 1/8 actual cup)
1 rounded tsp salt
7 or 8 tblsp ice water.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
