Oh, how I love thee, PIE!
It seems I’ve had pie on my mind a lot lately, which is probably a sign that I need to bake one. But there’s also been pie all around me – the Harrison Museum of African American Culture is having a Sweet Potato Pie Bake-Off, and now I have news about a Rockbridge County fundraiser called the Rockbridge Pie Festival.
Proceeds from the festival benefit the Community Pool. The Sept. 17th event includes a pie contest; the “Mincemeat Mile Swim”, a lot of homemade food such as BBQ, baked chicken, sides and, of course, PIE; a kids’ baking class; a pie-eating contest; a trebuchet demonstration; and an aucti0n of the winning pies.
Check out how many different kinds of pies will be available for purchase by the slice or whole: Coconut Cream, Blueberry-Peach with a Pecan Crumb Topping, Lemon Chess, Irene’s Apple Pie, Deep Dish Blackberry Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Five Fruit Pie, Strawberry Rhubarb, Pecan Caramel Apple, Deb’s Chocolate Pie, and Frozen Key Lime. Wow!
For all of the information about the festival, click here.
I’d love for this to be the entree into a discussion about pies, because I’ve long wanted to perfect a homemade pie crust. Lately, I’ve been going around asking a lot of people questions about their pie-making methods in the hopes of fashioning a column around the awesome dessert. Questions I have asked them are: Do you prefer butter, lard or shortening? Do you like to have your fat at room temperature or cold? What other tips do you have?
September 8, 2011 - 6:26 AM
RSS feed 
When I make a pie crust, I use cold butter and ice water because I don’t want the butter to melt. Pulsing it quickly in a food processor instead of blending the butter in by hand or with a pastry blender also helps in that respect. After making the dough, quickly pat it into disks and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to give the butter a chance to “firm up” a bit before rolling. Tiny bits of butter throughout the crust form air pockets as the crust bakes and the air pockets are what makes a flaky crust.
Thanks, Vickie! That’s great advice. I particularly like the idea of using the food processor. That’s got to be easier than cutting it in by hand. This afternoon, I’m going to make two pies: one with butter and one with shortening. We’ll see which one turns out better. A friend of mine said her relative always used butter AND shortening, and the pies were great. I found that to be an interesting idea. You’d get the flavor of the butter with the flakiness from shortening. But it sounds like if you do it right, butter can also result in nice flakiness.
Vickie is right. I use cold butter and cold lard. Shorting tastes like dirt. Too much water makes the crust tough, even though it may be flaky. Be careful when using the food processor that you don’t over-process. The largest ball of fat should be the size of a small pea. I’ve been making crusts by hand for years and years, and it’s always tricky!
Hmm… I will conduct my tests by cutting in by hand, then try the food processor later.
The America’s Test Kitchen recipe has become my go-to recipe. The secret ingredient? Vodka. It has a lower water content but provides a good amount of liquid to make a nice crust (not a hard ball of random flour/butter hunks jammed together in the desperate hope that it will roll out somewhat decently). The vodka doesn’t form gluten, and therefore keeps the toughness to a minimum while. It uses, if I recall correctly, both cold butter and shortening. The little airplane bottles of the cheapest vodka have a permanent place in my freezer now, as one is the perfect amount for the recipe. I can bring it by for you to photocopy if you would like.
If you use lard, please let your guests know before serving them your pie.
Correction – I meant to say the alcohol in the vodka doesn’t form gluten. The water in the vodka would still form gluten.
I don’t use a food processor for the simple fact that there is a point where the mixture is exactly right, and it is tactile. You just have to feel it. At least, this is how it works for me. A food processor, I think, would be harder to control to arrive at that exact moment.
Hey Lindsey! My great Aunt Alma taught me to make pie. She often did the half butter half Crisco method. We always cut the butter in by hand, either with two knives or a pastry hand tool. You know what I mean? It’s wires on a handle. anyway, cold butter, cold water, but the crisco was kept in the cabinet.
FUnny you should bring up pie. I lost a bet last night and now have to bake a pumpkin pie for warren. Actually, I guess I won anyway, because I love my pumpkin pie! Pst, I put molasses in it.
Well, I’ve made two apple pies so far and all butter is winning out over butter/Crisco combo, but that could also be baker’s error.That’s common in my kitchen.
@Emily, your description of trying to make a pie crust gel is perfect, and hilarious. I was reading online earlier and saw the vodka recipe. It sounds fascinating. They also said the alcohol, of course, evaporates so there is no lingering taste from the vodka. I’ve also heard about a recipe with a spoonful if vinegar in it to achieve more supple, workable texture.
@ Jeff, I tried the food processor on the second pie and it didn’t roll out well at all. Not sure if that could be the issue.
@ Heather, I’m starting to think the hand-worked method with a pastry cutter is best.
@Heather—Every grocery store I’ve been in lately does not have canned pumpkin! If you have seen it somewhere, please let me know.
Tass, why? Because of the cholesterol? Crisco or shortening is worse for you because of the trans-fats. I don’t make enough pies to hurt anyone, and one piece can’t do any harm, considering what most people eat on their own watch.
Heather, thanks for the tip for molasses in pumpkin pie, I’ll try that next Thanksgiving!
Carol, I’m guessing that Tass is thinking about vegetarians. Strict vegetarians would want to avoid all animal products.
Sharon, a couple of years ago there was a pumpkin shortage, remember? I sure hope that’s not happening again!
Pumpkin usually gets the short end of the grocery store shelf, meaning, stores will put it out mid-september when people are thinking fall and Halloween, then Thanksgiving. I’m betting that there will soon be stacks of canned pumpkin to run into with our carts.
Hi Lindsey! Sorry I didn’t check back on this earlier. If I had, it might have helped you on the food processor pie crust. Here’s the recipe that I follow:
Pie Crust:
1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 to 10 tablespoons ice water
Put the butter, flour, and salt in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water. Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps. Transfer equal amounts of the dough into 2 resealable plastic bags and pat each into a disk. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove 1 of the disks from the bag to a flour coated surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the filling ingredients.
Yield: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts
@Carol – while I do think the lard issue is because of vegetarians, I don’t think that Crisco has trans fats in it anymore. This has caused an uproar amongst serious cake bakers who make frosting from scratch. I guess I am not serious enough to know the difference, though!
This is what I’ve learned over the years: pie crust should be flaky and tender. If the dough is over-processed it will not be flaky (biggest ball of fat the size of a small pea). If you add too much water (easy to do!) it will be tough. After 40 years of making pies I still find it a challenge.
I made another pie this weekend, for a total of 5 pies in 5 days, and I think I may finally be getting it. The best two crusts I made had visible chunks of butter in the crust when I rolled out the dough. I thought those chunks were too big, but the crust was really flaky and golden. I believe some people might be over-cutting the fat. Of course, I’ll probably make the next one and it’ll be a flop