Hestia: Today is a Good Day for Pie: How to Make a Pie Crust

Isn't every day a good day for pie? I don't know if rainy days are good for pie baking or not (need to look that up), but today I'm in the mood. I'm making a good veggie supper tonight -- roasted potatoes and onions, squash casserole, lentils, and broccoli -- and it just screams out for a peach pie for dessert.

how to make pie crust, baking a pie tips

I'm using some of the organic peaches I froze a few weeks ago. I usually use fresh, but one reason I froze some is so we could have the luxury of peach pie during the "off-season."

Some people are intimidated by the idea of making their own pie crust, but it's not really all that hard. True, it is one of those things that gets easier with experience, but that's not because it's difficult; it's only because there is some degree of intuition involved. A feel for how much water is enough, how much flour to use when rolling it out, mixing enough but not handling it too much...

I'll give you my simple four-ingredient recipe (one of them is water!) and the few little tips I've learned over the years. People rave about my pie crusts (even people not related to me, with no reason to lie) so maybe the tips help.

For a two-crust 9-inch pie you will need:

2 cups flour + extra for rolling out the dough
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening (or 2/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut up into cubes, or mix of both)
6-7 tablespoons cold water (I always put it in the freezer while I'm mixing the flour and butter.)

Sift (or just mix well) the 2 cups flour and the salt. For years I have used bread flour. Recently I read NOT to use bread flour, rather to use all-purpose, so I guess take your choice!

Next "cut in" the shortening and/or butter (more on "cutting in" in a moment). I often use all shortening. Sometimes I use all butter. I think half butter and half shortening is good. IMPORTANT: If you use butter, use cold butter! Do NOT melt or soften the butter, and do NOT use margarine.

To "cut in" the shortening/margarine, you use either a pastry blender if you have one, or two knives: With the blades almost touching, move the knives sideways back and forth in opposite directions in a parallel cutting motion. Here's a video. You don't want to stir, you want to "cut in" the fat until it is in tiny pieces like little peas.

Now add your cold water ONE OR TWO TABLESPOONS AT A TIME. You add it gradually and gently "fluff" with a fork in between, until the dough starts to hold together. Again, with experience you get a feel for when it's enough. The amount of moisture in the air, the weather, the temperature, stuff like that, can make it vary!

Gather the dough together, firmly but gently. (You don't want to handle dough more than necessary; that makes a tough crust.) Cut it in half. For best results, let the halves rest in the refrigerator for at least a few minutes. This will re-chill the butter and give you a nice, non-sticky, easier-to-work-with dough.

Get your rolling pin and roll it out! Take out one half of your dough. On a floured surface, flatten the ball a little and begin to roll it out with a flour-rubbed rolling pin. Start at the center and roll outwards, changing your angle each time to keep the dough roughly circular. You want to get a round that is slightly larger than your pie plate.

(Regarding pie plates: Glass is fine. Ceramic with an unglazed bottom is excellent. I have never tried metal.)

When the first crust is ready, fold the circle in half (gently!) and then half again (in other words, into quarter). Move the folded crust gently to the pie plate and (gently) unfold it. Did I mention, gently? Press it gently into the plate, and trim the overhang to the edge of the pie plate.

Now you can add your filling! I'm using 4 cups peaches, sliced. Since they were frozen with a little sugar, I'm not adding any sugar. With fresh fruit, add 1/4-1/2 cup sugar, to your preference and depending on how sweet the fruit is. I added a pinch of allspice. (Barely enough to taste, just so everyone will say, Hmm what is that?!) You can of course use apples or blueberries or blackberries or ... About 4-6 cups of fruit. With apples, I add cinnamon, because I love it so. With berries, I always cook them in a pot on the stove with about 1/2 cup sugar and then remove from heat and add a little cornstarch dissolved in a little water. You can do that with peaches or apples, too; the cornstarch will help your pie be less "runny" when it's cooled off (if you can wait until it's cooled off to eat it!)

Okay, take your second dough ball out of the fridge and roll like the other one. Fold like the other one, and this time when you trim it leave about half an inch of overhang. Save the trimmings to decorate with! Tuck the top overhang over underneath the bottom crust, and gently pinch them together to create a seal. There's your pie!

There are many ways you can decorate/embellish the edge of your pie. The easiest is to press all around with the tines of a fork. You can also use your knuckles or fingers to make a wavy edge. Here is a very helpful page that shows how to make fancy pie crust edges. (If you prefer, here is a video showing some techniques.)

Now if you saved your trimmings, you can roll them back out and cut out shapes to decorate the top of your pie. I like to cut out leaves and/or flowers, but you can do anything. Rubbing a tiny bit of cold water on the back of your shapes will help them stick to the pie top.

Finally, remember to cut a few "vents" -- just little cuts into the top crust to let steam out! You can make these part of the decoration. If you like, you can brush your pie top with a little melted butter (which will brown nice and shiny) and/or sprinkle with a little white sugar. Or not.

Bake in preheated oven, 425 degrees F, for about 40 minutes or until nicely browned. It's best to let the pie cool awhile before eating it -- so the filling will firm up and also so you don't burn the heck out of your mouth! (Hot fruit is like lava.)

Wow, no wonder people think pie baking is complicated! Writing that took so long that my pie is ready...

Great things about baking fruit pies:

They are delicious. Duh.
They contain fruit (OK, and butter and flour and sugar, but still there is fruit!)
They are good for breakfast as well as dessert!
They are a great excuse to eat ice cream.
They make the people you serve them to very, very happy.

And you know what... baking a pie impresses people. At least the ones who don't bake pies! Remember, they think it's difficult... my, you're such a domestic goddess.
Finally, baking is a good excuse to wear one of my cute vintage-style aprons (which some significant others, including my husband, seem to find oddly enticing). Just for fun, here is a link to my favorite source for really cute, well-made, vintage-style aprons MOMOMADEIT on etsy.