I promised you all Pie, and though it took me a little longer I am here to deliver. Cindy Mushet said it best, “If there were a culinary flag, pie would be the central emblem.” Pie is wonderful, people literally jump at the mention of it, songs have been written about it, and John Travolta made a movie about it, more or less.
What is Pie? That’s a stupid question, a pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savory ingredients. Well that may tell us what pie is, but it doesn’t ell us what Pie Is. Pie Is a lot of different things to a lot of different people (hold on because I’m about to wax philosophical). To some pie is Thanksgiving and the warm treat against the cool of November. To another it could be a memory of a mother, or grandmother. And still to another Pie could be just a means to ice cream. To me pie is late nights in Denny’s watching people play chess and talking about things we’ll never really get around to doing.
Pie ain’t just a dessert neither; savory pies can be the cat’s pajamas. Meat pie, Shepard’s pie, Pot pies, heck quiche is just egg pie. Pie is also not limited by shape; we could do a classic full size pie, a mini pie, a pocket pie, even square pie. But no matter what shape, size or type, pie always starts with one thing, the crust.
Pie crust is probably one of the most fussed over recipes in the pastry world. Everyone has the best recipe in the world, everyone knows just how to do it, and everyone hates everyone else’s. In my reading I have come to devise the Four F’s of Pie Crust. They are Flour, Fat, Fluid, and Flavor. We will take them one at a time.
Flour – The base of the crust, it literally holds everything together. Most people agree that the flour needs two basic attributes, it needs to absorb water well, and it needs the right amount of protein. Basically when it gets wet it needs to not have any dry spots, and form gluten. There is a big fuss over which flour to use, cake, pastry, or AP. That’s is of course up to you, but I say use AP, it does the job and you probably have it already.
Remember that this is baking, and we need to weigh our ingredients, especially flour. Now when it comes to pie dough I just don’t see the need for sifting, that is unless your flour has been pressed or compacted recently. If it has then get some air in there and SIFT. Packed flour can cause dry spots in the dough, and that is not good pie.
Fat – pie crust is flakey because of the melted fats. Each little ball of fat in the dough becomes a flake; it is a wonderful miracle in your oven. Once again a debate here rages on, Butter vs. Shortening. Now I am French trained so I use butter, heck I can’t think of something they don’t use butter on. But here where I live in the south shortening is quite popular. Let’s break it down.
- Butter – Butter is the classic, it brings with it lots of flavor, it browns much better, and clumps better in my opinion.
- Shortening – Shortening has a higher melting point which means more time in the oven and better formed flakes.
Either way you go the secret to choosing your fat is one that stays cold for a long time and comes unsalted. Fats need to stay solid until they reach the oven and keeping them cold is the only way to do it. Also fat has great flavors all it’s own, and will do much to enhance the flavors you add latter to the dough, no need to take a chance of ruining it with salted butter.
Fluid – Fluid is easy, use water. Use very little water. Use cold water. Water turns this whole thing into dough, but too much can ruin a good crust.
Water is my preference, it is safe, it is easy, but it is not the only thing that can be used here. I shutter to tell you this because I don’t want you all running out and trying to make pie with OJ or Vodka. In fact the only successful substitution I know about is Cream Cheese. It makes a great savory pie crust I find works wonderfully in meat and pot pies.
If any of you do try a crush with something other than water, send me a note and tell me about it.
Flavor – Flavor in a pie crust comes mostly in two forms, that’s right, our old friends, salt and sugar. We add them as their own ingredients for control (do you know how much salt is in salted butter?). Both should be used sparingly and are really there to help along the other flavors already in the pie. Heck, sugar doesn’t even need to go into the crust of a savory pie.
So is that it for flavor? NO, not at all; now pie purest will kill me for saying this, but really at this point the sky is the limit. Cinnamon, why not? Chopped herbs, who cares? If I was felling overly ambitious I would get in a little vanilla bean with my water some how.
Assembly
There are basically two ways to go; food processor, which gives quick results, or cutting in, which gives more control and sounds cooler. Both are perfectly legit and not too hard.
To start add all your dry ingredients together, flour, salt sugar. Give a quick mix to combine. Some people chill the dry ingredients to help keep the fats together, I find this unnecessary unless working in a warmer then usual kitchen
Next you will need to add your fat. The fat should be chilled, if working in a food processor it can even be frozen. It also needs to be cut into ½ inch cubes. I find it’s easy to do this with soft butter then chill or freeze it. If using a food processor use one second pulses until the mix looks like crushed crackers and peas. Don’t know what I mean? Go get some saltines, crush them up into a bowl, toss some frozen peas in. we want big flakes small clumps. If using a pastry cutter you will also need a butter knife. I find this method works best in a stainless steal bowl, one much larger then needed to hold the ingredients. Use the cutter’s blades to mix in the butter by cutting straight down to the bottom of the bowl. As you work the butter will build up on the cutter, use the butter knife to remove it and continue cutting until the cracker and peas texture is reached. It is important to limit contact with the butter (or which ever fat you choose) with your hands. Hands are warm and we need the butter solid.
If working in a food processor move the mix to a large bowl at this stage. Now it is time to add the fluid. Add the water a tablespoon at a time, “fluffing” the mix after each addition. I find a wooden spoon good for this, what ever you have is fine as long as it is not your hands. Keep adding until the moister content is right, too little and it will be crumbly, too much and it is sticky or gooey.
How do you know what is enough? Whelp, you use your hands. I know I said not too, but if you are like me your hands are really hot, so I really have to limit their time in the dough, this however is a necessary evil. Grab a clump and give it a squeeze, if it holds together and is moist but not sticky you win. If flour and clumps fall from the mass, it needs more water. If it is too wet or sticks to your hand, sorry muchacho, you have gone too far and all is lost. Kneading in more flour at this point only creates too mush gluten and melts your fats.
Next you lightly flour a work surface and pour out the contents of your mixing bowl onto it. Knead the clumps together to form a cohesive dough, but just barely. 4 to 6 kneads is all it really needs. Once again limit the time you touch it to keep your fats from melting. Form the dough into a ball, give a soft push down to flatten it out a little, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes before using. This allows the fats to firm up, the gluten time to relax, and the moister time to reach all the corners of the dough.
At this point you are done, you have a pie crust ready to use now or within the week. But wait there is more, what if your pie were a custard or cream pie, or a quiche? A super flakey pie crust is not the answer, it can take in too much moister from the filling, or brake apart too easily when cut, leaving you with an ugly mess. So we turn to the Mealy Pie Dough.
Mealy pie dough is just like flaky pie dough except we keep cutting after the crackers and peas stage. We ate looking for all crushed crackers. That’s it, the only difference in the preparation. Now be careful not to go too far, when in doubt leave a few pea shaped fat lumps in the dough, it’s ok to have a few.
Is that it then, all there is to putting a pie dough together? NO, there is still more. What if you wanted a Crumb Crust?
A crumb crust is a mashed together goodness that lines the bottom of some of the best pies and cheese cakes in the world. Traditionally made from graham crackers, one can use anything from ginger snaps to Oreos. Making a crumb crust is easy as, you guessed it, pie.
You need about a cup and a half of finely ground whatever you want, about a table spoon of sugar, and ¾ stick of melted butter. Mix in a bowl and then press into a pie pan. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes and Boom, you got a crust ready to be filled.
Are we done now you ask? Yes and no; yes that is all I’m going to tell you, no there is still more. But the more is there for you to discover. Go out and try this, mix it up, get funky, and make some pie.
But wait you are all like, “Hey there was no actual recipe for pie dough in this rant.” And I’m all like, “Yup, that’s right. Go ask your mom or grandma, or weird Aunt Rose for the family recipe.” Pies are a traditional food, recipes rooted in families for generations.
