I came across this wonderful recipe of making a flaky pie crust for desserts. The technique definitely makes a huge difference in quality and texture. I used this for the pumpkin pie I made for Christmas, and will definitely use it for other purposes. The recipe yields dough enough for the shell and bottom of a 10" pie, but for some reason it's barely enough for a 9" base. I will figure out the reason next time I make it again. But be mindful that it might not be enough for the whole pie.
The trick of making pie crust dough is that you need to make sure the butter is icy cold throughout the whole process. Make sure the water and ingredients you mix in won't affect the temperature.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water
Steps:
- This step does not require food processor. For those who need instructions for food processor please refer back to the original recipe. For those who don't have a food processor to pulse the ingredients (like me), you can use your fingers to quickly rub the butter into the flour. The mixing has to be quick to avoid the butter from melting. Combine flour, salt, and sugar, then add butter into mixture. Rub butter into flour until it resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and mix again. Note that too much water will make the crust tough.
- Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. If you want an extra flaky crust, shmoosh the dough mixture into the table top with the heel of the palm of your hand a few times. Gently shape the dough mixture into two disks. Work the dough just enough to form the disks, do not over-knead. Sprinkle a little flour around the disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.
- Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.
- Add filling to the pie.
- (you can skip this step if you are making open top pies like pumpkin pie. Keep the dough for a second pie) Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough around the edge. leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.
