Homemade Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie
Like most people, I always thought that making pie dough was a complicated process. A few years ago, I was determined to make an entire pie from scratch. Crust and all. Despite a light dusting of flour on my counter, I found that this Pâte brisée (basic pastry) was easy to make. Not to mention, the texture and flavor is outrageously good. You will never get a pastry this flakey and wholesome from a store bought version.
Apple-Bourbon Pie with a Lattice Crust
I mean, just look at these pies. I can taste the flakey, crisp crust just looking at them!
For one 9-inch pie (making the lattice crust is a double recipe), all you need is 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 stick of cold butter, 1 TBS granulated sugar and ~6 TBS ice water.
Always use cold butter. The goal is to pulse the butter into the flour mixture so that it is evenly distributed.
Add flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add butter ~ 1 TBS (cut into cubes) at a time until incorporated.
Add water 1 TBS at a time (pluse) until the mixture resembles loose clumps. Water is the binding agent.
Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days (you can always make extra and freeze!).
This dough is versitle. It can be used for pie, or a savory dish. In fact, last night I was really bored and decided to eat cookies and make a savory dough by omitting the sugar and used a combination of white and white whole wheat flour. Dinner tonight will be interesting.
To be continued. Butter Love, Nora
[...] Recipe for Basic Pie Crust (or store bought, however; I recommend making your own for extra yummy [...]
[...] are interested, let’s get cookin!First things first. Take a hunk (about 1/8 of the recipe) of Pâte brisée and roll it to about 1/4 inch thickness.Place the dough in an individual tart shell, cover with [...]
I completely agree – nothing compares to tender, flaky homemade pie crust! Sometimes I find myself enjoying the crust more than the actual pie filling.