After three nights of tossing and turning about it, it’s time to get this off my chest. Clearly I’m taking this whole pie thing a bit too seriously. I mean, who takes the failure of a crust to heart? But I’m getting ahead of myself. On Wednesday, I told you about the Cran-Raspberry Pie and the Chocolate Pumpkin Triple Layer Pie I prepared for Thanksgiving dinner. They both looked fantastic. And when we ate them, the fillings tasted very good; the crust did not.
I don’t know what happened, and believe me, I’ve gone over it in my mind a thousand times (see tossing and turning above). The crust, particularly on the berry pie was dense and unpleasant. The crust on the pumpkin was just not flaky enough.
Gah.
Of course this doesn’t mean I’m throwing in the towel. Of course I’ll try again. But next time? I’m not writing about the darn thing until I’ve had a bite myself.
O.K. St Louis Working Mom,
I’m going to give you some hints to a great pie crust passed down from my Mom, and you know what a great cook she was, and a legendary baker. First, the water MUST BE Ice Cold. I mean I fill a glass with ice, then water, then measure out my water from that glass. You MUST work quickly, if that shortening or lard or whatever you are using starts to get warm, you can forget the flaky light tasty curst. So don’t be beating the heck out of the mixture to get the water into the flour. Once it’s mixed thoroughly, slap it on the floured counter.
I get everything ready, right down to the counter and rolling pin floured and then add my water as the last step before rolling it out. I also add about 2 to 3 times the sugar the crust recipe calls for. I don’t try to reuse unused cut off crust into another pie crust more than once. If you work with the dough too much, it will warm up and it’s over with, you might as well use a store bought frozen crust. If the crust is waiting for the filling, it should be doing it in the freezer. If the crust is to be baked before the filling, bake it immediately, have the oven preheated before you even start rolling out the crust.
It’s all in keeping that crust cold so the shortening doesn’t melt before going into the oven. That’s when the magic of the heat melting the shortening interacting with the flour and other ingredients make that crust so flaky and light. Alot like me. Don’t give up. You can do it. Crust making is really an art form, and you’re a very artistic person.
Good Luck.
I thought your pies were delicious, Marijean. More generally, you are a terrific pie-maker.