Fall Pie Primer, Part One: Crust

A good crust is one of the best tricks you can have up your sleeve in the kitchen. I wrote about pie crust last year and my feelings on the subject haven't changed. I thought I'd bring it up again, though, because it is getting to be that time of year again and some poor souls might be eyeing the freezer aisle. Don't do it! You're going to be making your own pumpkin purée, peeling all those apples, making your own mincemeat, so why would you buy a pre-made pie crust. You wouldn't. I know.

Pie Crust

10-inch double crust

• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter, cold
• 7-8 Tbs. water, very cold

• Combine flour and salt.
• Cut butter into pieces and drop into flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, work the butter into flour until butter is well incorporated, but there are still visible pieces of butter. (Recipes often say, 'until mixture resembles small peas,' but I like to leave slightly larger pieces.)
• Using a fork, stir in water one tablespoon at a time, being careful not to add too much. When dough begins to from clumps, enough water has been added.
• Form the dough into a ball. The dough might be somewhat crumbly, but as long as you can make it into a ball it will be alright. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least half an hour before rolling.

Use for pies, pasties, and tarts.

I had a bit of a mishap last week: I thought I had a 9-inch pan so made the recipe for an 8 to 9-inch double crust. Unfortunately it was a 10-inch pan. It is no fun trying to eke an extra inch out of too little dough and then having none leftover to decorate the top of the pie. So from now on I'm making enough for a 10-inch pan regardless of what size pie plate I actually have. Wasteful? Maybe, but in this instance I don't care. There is always something to be done with leftover pie dough, but don't make me cobble together another pie without enough.

Mince pies

Now is the time of giving. Of giving people baked goods they may or may not actually want. But who can refuse a mince pie? Especially one made from scratch right down to the butter in the crust and the candied citrus peel in the mincemeat.

Two weeks ago I did a trial run. I made a 10-inch pie crust not knowing how many pies I would get out of it or how much filling it would take. I cut the bottoms out with a 4 inch round cookie cutter, the tops with a 2-3/4 inch cookie cutter and the vent holes with a petal tip. I ended up with six pies, although I probably could have squeezed out a couple more, and it took just under half a pint of mincemeat.

It is rather a tedious process, putting together mince pies, so it really makes more sense to do a lot of them at once. I have an entire quart of mincemeat in the fridge so if six pies used less than half a pint I have at least 24 pies still to make, which means 4 10-inch pie crusts. And if Jane eats twice as many mince pies as Sally...

But then you get them in the muffin tins and they're so very cute and worth all their tediousness. And then you get to wrap them in waxed paper and give them to people, which is really the most satisfying part of all.

A Note on Pie Crust

I have an ongoing list in my head that includes the subjunctive, organic chemistry, and pie crust. These are but a few of the not-really-that-hard things that people have decided are difficult. Maybe O-Chem really is hard, but I can promise you pie crust isn't.

Pie Crust

8 or 9-inch two crust pie

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup plus 2 Tbs. butter, cold
• 4-5 Tbs. water, very cold

• Combine flour and salt.
• Cut butter into pieces and drop into flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, work the butter into flour until butter is well incorporated, but there are still visible pieces of butter. (Recipes often say, 'until mixture resembles small peas,' but I like to leave slightly larger pieces.)
• Using a fork, stir in water one tablespoon at a time, being careful not to add too much. When dough begins to form into clumps, enough water has been added.
• Form the dough into a ball. The dough might be somewhat crumbly, but as long as you can make it into a ball it will be alright. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least half an hour before rolling.

Use for pies, pasties, and tarts.

I have heard people talk about 'the trick' to pie crust. There isn't one. There are, however, a few crucial details. The butter and water should be cold. Before adding any water, the butter should be well cut into the flour. You should not, under any circumstances, add too much water. I was talking to my mom while writing the instructions and she said that the maximum amount of water (5 Tbs in this recipe) has never in her experience been too little, but it has at times been too much. Once you have some experience making crust, you'll know what to look for. Refrigeration makes your dough more manageable. It makes it stick together and enables you to roll a thinner crust. Refrigeration can save a very short dough--one that could have used a touch more water--but nothing can save a wet one. One last note: be careful not to over-handle the dough. Mom says it takes a light touch--a manhandled dough makes for a tough crust.

Okay, so I can see why some people might have a complex about making pie crust. But really, once you know what a good crust feels like, you'll wonder why anyone ever buys a pre-made-freezer-burned-good-for-nothing crust. At this time of year I pass countless numbers of just such crusts over my scanner and it takes an act of will not to slip this recipe into people's shopping bags. Maybe this year I will.