Main | Sautéed Peaches with Rosemary and Vanilla Caramel »

Perfect Pie Crust

Monday, May 23, 2011 at 02:35PM
Posted by Registered CommenterTselani

This is my go-to recipe for pie crust because it turns out flakey and flavorful. In the recipe, you will cream together the butter and half the flour. While this sounds odd, it's actually an important step. By creaming the two together, you coat the particles of flour with fat. That means when you add water, it's harder to develop gluten - which is the enemy of tender and flakey crusts.

It's also important to weigh rather than measure the flour. Because this is baking and therefore a science, weighing your dry ingredients is key. You can buy a simple scale at any hardware or cooking store for not too much dough.

When rolling out the dough, make sure it's cold and your surface is lightly covered with flour. I say lightly because too much flour and your crust becomes tough. To avoid the crust from sticking to the counter, lift it up and give it a quarter turn after roll with the rolling pin.

Enjoy!!

Makes 2 crusts
Recipe from Thomas Keller

12 ounces flour, about 2 1/2 cups
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 sticks cold butter cut into cubes
1/4 cup ice water

In a stand mixer, add 1 cup of the flour and the salt. Turn on the mixture and add the butter in small handfuls. Increase the speed and “cream” the butter into the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining flour and mix until just combined. Pour in the ice water and mix until dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in half. Form both halves into flat rounds. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. Or crust can be frozen wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and placed in a zip top plastic bag.

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.