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When Making
a Pie Crust... |
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RULE #1:
Use the best & freshest ingredients that you can
afford. |
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RULE #2:
Think Cold - the dough and all ingredients should be as cold as possible
at all times. |
For
variations, additional ingredients can be added and have an impact on the
crust's outcome, such as tenderness, leavening, coloring and so on:
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Sugar adds sweetness.
It also tenderizes the gluten in the dough because it absorbs
moisture, leaving less for the flour proteins to form gluten-forming
strands. |
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Cocoa powder,
spices and
citrus zest are added for additional
flavoring. Whenever you work with coco powder, measure it first and
then sift it before using; it has a tendency to clump. Then, dry blend
the cocoa with the flour and use. |
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| Fat in liquid form (like
oil or egg
yolk) instead of water. Fat tenderizes by coating the
flour proteins and then preventing them from becoming moistened when
water is added, hence preventing long, interconnecting gluten strands
from forming. |
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The choice of the ingredients and
pastry dough making techniques greatly affects
its final outcome.
One of the
main goals to achieve is a flaky and flavorful crust.
Pie and
tart crusts can be made from four central ingredients being flour, fat, cold
liquid and salt. However, other ingredients
can be added such as baking powder, eggs, sugar, sour cream, cream cheese, etc,
each one giving a different outcome.
DRY INGREDIENTS: The
dry ingredients are blended, with pieces of chilled butter or shortening "cut
into" it.
Flour:
The flour used in pie crust recipes is usually
all-purpose, unless specified, but can be made with a 50 / 50 mix of all-purpose
with cake flour, as in the
Double-Crust
Peach Pie.
Low-protein contains less gluten-forming proteins, hence giving the crust more
lightness and tenderness. But,
it makes the dough softer and harder to handle when rolling. In hot
weather, some bakers refrigerate the flour before making the dough to prevent
the butter from melting.
Baking Powder:
Some recipes have
added
baking powder
for leavening, which encourages the dough to puff slightly and helps it
to brown, especially when acidic ingredients, such as lemon juice or vinegar are
included.
Baking powder is not
added to all crust recipes. But, when it is, it will be activated by liquids as
they turn into steam in the oven, making the pastry flakier. It also gives the
dough a little lift without weakening it, counteracts shrinkage, and aerates
it, making the
crust
seem more tender. The
action of the baking powder causes the dough to puff, which presses it into the
hot pan bottom. As a result, the crust bakes through evenly, preventing an
underdone bottom crust. It is especially helpful when making a two crust pie. It
helps push the dough together where the bottom and top crust meet as a result of
the puffing, providing for a good seal between the two.
FATS:
Butter or Other Solid Fats:
Fat, a key ingredient in a tart and pie crust
recipe, is cut into the flour and other dry ingredients, if used.
It acts as a spacer between the gluten strands in
the flour. The bigger
the fat particles, the more flaky the crust; I have found that
pea-sized
fat works the best as opposed to bread crumb size.
The best fat to use in a pie crust:
The more % of fat to water a choice contains, the flakier the dough.
The choices
are:
stick butter, lard,
vegetable oil, stick margarine,
shortening and
cream cheese. Shortening and lard are
a good choice because they contain 100 % fat, but lack flavor. Butter has the
best flavor, but contains less fat (generally 81 %).
| Butter is by far
the fat with the best flavor. It will produce a tender and flaky crust
when the fat to flour ratio is high and the dough is kept cold while
working with it. Using all butter presents a small difficulty in trying to
get a flaky crust because it contains water. While rubbing in the butter,
the water reacts with and develops some gluten in the flour or toughness
in the crust. |
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| Lard (Rendered Pork Fat)
was popular when it was a common ingredient in the farmhouse kitchen but
now the store bought variety has little flavor. It bakes off with a bitter
aftertaste because it often contains preservatives -- make your own for
best results. Lard makes a tender and flaky crust because there is no
water in it and is often used in British pasties (a savory turnover).
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| Oil absorbs into
flour rather than coating it. This produces a dough that is very soft,
tender and crumbly but not flaky. Dough made with oil is not easy to
handle, as they tend to be sticky. I don't like vegetable oil crusts
because they turn out flat with a "sandy" texture. The oil can't provide
for a flaky crust; it does not spacer in the dough when baked, the same
way that butter and other types of solid fats do. |
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| Margarine is
similar to shortening but makes a less flaky crust because it contains
water. What flavor it imparts is from artificial flavorings, as margarine
is artificially hydrogenated and bleached. |
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| Shortening produces
the flakiest and most tender crust because shortening contains no water
but it completely lacks flavor. Shortening is also artificially
hydrogenated and bleached oil. |
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| Cream cheese
is 51 percent water and 37.7 percent fat, so 3 ounces contains 1 .53
ounces (about 3 tablespoons) of water and 1.13 ounces of fat. That means
that the pie crust with 6.5 ounces of flour contains the equivalent of
about 4 1/2 tablespoons of water. Compared to the all-butter crust, this
crust has about 1 tablespoon more water, 1.13 ounces more fat, and 0.34
ounce more milk solids. The extra fat in the cream cheese coats some of
the proteins in the flour, limiting the development of gluten, which would
make it tougher. The milk solids add both flavor and smoothness of
texture. |
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classic cream cheese crust.
This
crust contains no water and is more tender than an all-butter crust
but is not at all flaky. I have found it to be so tender it is
impossible to use for a lattice top and the bottom crust often
develops cracks through which a filling will leak and stick to the
bottom of the pan. Very little water is needed, because the cream
cheese contains 51 percent water. The addition of a small amount of
water connects the two gluten-forming proteins in the flour, producing
the rubbery, stretchy gluten that strengthens the structure just
enough to prevent cracking when the crust bakes. This pie crust does
not shrink or distort as much as an all-butter crust because there is
less development of gluten. The acidity of the vinegar weakens the
gluten that forms, making the crust still more tender and less likely
to shrink. If desired, it can be replaced with water.
If not using the
vinegar and baking powder in the recipe to tenderize the crust, it is
advisable to substitute one quarter's worth of the cream cheese with
butter when using all-purpose flour. This helps to moisture-proof it
but, of course, takes away a little from the flakiness, as there is
less butter available to add in larger pieces to create the layers. |
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Temperature
and size of fat ingredients are key when making a pie crust:
Stick butter and/or any other
solid fat used must be well-chilled, especially butter or margarine.
Cut
into 1/4-inch dice, no smaller. Chill again for a brief time. Toss in with
the flour and dry ingredients. This is
one of the first steps towards making a flaky and tender crust.
Also, this produces a flaky
crust only if the fat has not melted before you put it in a hot oven.
The idea is to cut the
shortening into pea-sized or large bread-crumb-sized bits that become coated
with flour, and to have them evenly distributed throughout.
If the fat particles are
smaller, they will melt too fast, resulting in fewer flaky layers.
Why?
The fat works as
a spacer in between the dough layers; when baked, the flour's starches set
around the fat. The fat melts in the oven and is absorbed by the dough,
leaving an empty space around it, later described as flakiness. Chilling the
fat makes it longer to melt; allows more time for the flour's starches to
set, leaving a more defined space where the butter once was -- hence, more
flakiness. But, if the fat piece as too small, the crust will be less flaky
because the air spaces are smaller.
Then the butter melts and it
is reabsorbed into the flour. Where the butter once was is now is an air
pocket that is inflated by the steam created when the liquid from the pie
crust evaporates. If you use shortening, with a higher melting point than
butter, it holds the space longer so the crust has more time to set around
the fat particles, resulting in a flakier dough. If the fat is too warm
before it goes into the oven, it melts too quickly before the crust has a
chance to set and the air pockets collapse.
Fat
also coats the flour and prevents it from forming
gluten strands,
or a tough crust, when
mixed with water.
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LIQUIDS:
Cold liquids, such as water or milk, are used to lightly bind
the ingredients together and to provide steam when baking. (The steam puffs the
spaces left when the cold butter melts, causing a flaky pastry). Liquids can be
obviously water, but can also be found in egg yolks and butter, as well as
cream, sour cream, or cream cheese.
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Next,
any chilled liquids, usually ice water, are quickly mixed with a fork into
the flour and butter mixture, until the dough just holds together (it should
be a little shaggy looking). Do not use cold tap water because it
is not cold enough; use water from a glass filled with ice cubes.
During the mixing step, ice water is added to the
flour and butter mixture. It brings the dough together and when
quickly added and because it is cold, develops a minimum amount of protein
strands called gluten, keeping the crust tender.
(Gluten is created when wheat flour is moistened and stirred, and form the
structure of the crust). You don't want the fat in the recipe warmed
by the added liquid because it releases its water content when it melts.
(Butter is 81 % fat, with the rest being solids and liquid). The extra
moisture moistens the flour, developing too much gluten, making the pastry
tough.
Whether you use water, eggs or a combination,
make sure that the liquid used to moisten the dough is as cold as possible.
If you use a warm liquid, the cold butter that was incorporated earlier,
will melt and ruin the texture of the dough. Also, the cold retards gluten
formation and helps to make the dough more tender when mixed. When using
water, make sure it's really cold, not right from the tap, but allowed to
chill with ice cubes so it's really cold. Other ingredients must be
well-chilled, as well.
The fat particles become
trapped in the dough when both are moistened and mixed. It then becomes tiny
flattened strata when the dough is rolled. The more defined and
well-distributed the air pockets, the greater chance the dough will be
flaky. When the crust is baked, the fats remain solid just long enough to
enable the surrounding dough to bake and set. |
A Tender Tip:
In addition
to the baking powder, 2 teaspoons of cold apple cider vinegar or freshly
squeezed lemon juice, helps prevent gluten from forming, resulting in a more
tender crust. If adding in, subtract the same amount in cold water or liquid
from the recipe. |
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The
rule of thumb in a pie crust recipe, is to add in about 1/4 teaspoon of
baking powder per cup of flour. Even a pinch (1/8 teaspoon) of baking soda
for the whole recipe, works well, too. |
Acidic Ingredients: Many pastry recipes contain small
amounts of lemon juice, cider vinegar, buttermilk, sour cream or some other
acidic ingredient.
They tenderize the flour's
gluten, formed in the dough when wheat flour is moistened and stirred,
as well as when rolling and handling the dough.
Gluten is a toughener and acidic ingredients weaken the gluten that forms,
making the crust tender and less likely to shrink. (Keeping
well chilled
ingredients and dough also helps with preventing shrinkage).
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The pie
crust dough must be chilled after mixing. It is made into a disk
shape, well wrapped in plastic wrap, and then chilled for at least an hour
before rolling, preferably overnight. The cold and rest relaxes the gluten
in the dough, relaxing it so it can roll out easily.
Gluten strands are much like
rubber bands, and want to contract when stretched, which is what happens
when a pie crust is rolled out and the strands are forced to lengthen. When
the dough is refrigerated (a least 1 hour or so) after mixing and after
rolling, the cold relaxes the gluten strands in the dough, hence less
contraction or what we see as pie crust shrinkage. A stay in the freezer is
not as effective in preventing shrinkage as the refrigerator is.
For pie baking, you do not have
to prepare the pans in advance; because there is so much shortening in a
piecrust, pans usually need not be greased or floured.
Keep the
dough cold and use the least amount of flour on the countertop while rolling
the crust out: Dough becomes sticky
when it is too warm. The tendency is to throw more flour on the countertop
or to add more flour to the dough, which always results in a tough crust and
problems with rolling it out
Refrigerate
the dough
after rolling and fitting into
its pan
before baking or filling.
The cold firms up the fat before
baking, giving the pie crust structure more time to set in the oven before
it melts. (Shortening and lard have a higher melting point, which results in
the same thing). You do not want the butter or fat to melt before it gets
into the oven because it allows for better defined the air pockets and thus,
more flakiness in a crust.
After filling, a pie can have
finishing touches, be pre-baked and filled, or filled directly, with an
optional top or lattice crust, with finishing touches. A pie or tart can be
baked or frozen for future use. If baked, it can be eaten or frozen.
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