Pie Crust 101
Holidays in my home mean it’s time for pies. My dad was the pie master so when my early attempts at pie crust were less than spectacular, I didn’t worry because I could always collaborate on the project. But eventually he began insisting that if I wanted pie, I had to make my own crust. After all, if you’re going to take the time to make filling, taking that extra step of making crust is well worth the effort. With a little practice and the help of two cook’s tools, I became a homemade crust convert. Access to a marble rolling slab and a food processor turned me away from frozen pie crust for good.
When I was learning to make pie crust, my dad would always tell me to keep my hands off the dough as much as possible. That was perplexing considering that the goal was to turn loose flour into a dough ball. Moreover, how on earth was I going to roll the dough and keep my hands off of it? It looked so easy when he did it. But somehow, it just didn’t work for me. So my first pies were cobblers. If the crust tore, it didn’t matter because it was going to be slightly submerged anyway. The best cobbler crust pulls away from the edges a bit so that the filling can bubble up and flavor the crust. Cobbler crust also has to strike a delicate balance between being thick enough to keep the filling in while being thin enough to remain crisp. After a few tries I learned that cobblers are pretty forgiving though the crust may be rolled out a little unevenly.
However, the use of a marble rolling slab made my pie life so simple. Using the cold marble slab enabled me to roll my dough ball without fear. I didn’t have to worry about the dough heating up and tearing because I was working too slowly. I didn’t have to be concerned that it would stick to the countertop shredding when lifted. Nor did I wind up adding too much flour thereby making the dough stretchy and tough. If the dough it got a bit too sticky, I’d just pop the whole thing into the freezer for a few minutes until it chilled again. This was very good thing especially when making pie dough on hot summer days. At last, I could make edible pie crust.
Then, the discovery of the food processor took my skills to a much higher level. Once I started using the food processor to aerate the flour and cut in the fat, I was cooking with gas. I could finally do what my dad always said and keep my hands off the dough. Working with a pastry cutter or two knives just didn’t work for me. Perhaps I was too impatient or not coordinated enough to incorporate the fat properly. That was no issue with the coming of the food processor. A few short pulses of the food processor and the fine crumbly texture of fat and flour is done in an instant.
I learned one more little pie crust technique from old cookbooks and cooking magazines that has really helped: lemon juice. Adding lemon juice to the ice water will produce a very tender pie crust. I’m waxing a bit nostalgic this year so I think I’ll make my mom’s lattice topped peach pie instead of peach cobbler for Christmas dinner. I don’t think my niece has ever had that so this will be a treat for her. Though it’s best with good fresh peaches (something that has unfortunately become really hard to find), sweetened canned or frozen peaches work fine. I like to add a drop of almond extract to awaken the flavor.
To prevent this blog from becoming a dissertation, I’ll post the pie crust and filling recipes in another post. I hope your family enjoys the recipes as much as mine does. Happy baking!
Poppy, Poppy, Poppy!!!