Make Pie Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Sift the baking powder into the flour.
Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add salt and mix well.
Shape and fill
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to fit your pie dish.
Fill with your desired fruit filling and bake.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure of the crust.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that helps the crust rise and lighten.
- Shortening
- Coats flour particles so the crust stays tender and flaky.
The step that matters
Cut in the shortening until coarse crumbs form. Small pieces of solid fat stay separate in the flour and melt during baking, leaving flaky layers. If the dough is worked too much, the flour forms more gluten and the crust turns tough rather than tender.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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