Plain Pastry for Pies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Measure 1 large cup of lard and 3 cups of sifted flour.
Add one teaspoonful of salt to the flour.
Make the dough
Cut the lard with a knife into the flour.
Moisten with enough ice water to make a moderately stiff dough.
Pat the paste together with the blade of the knife, handling as little as possible.
Laminate and chill
After rolling out the paste, spread with butter, fold, and roll again.
For the top crust, roll out, butter, and fold three times.
Put on ice until ready for use.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once moistened and worked into a paste.
- Lard
- Cut into the flour to create fat pockets that make the crust tender and flaky.
- Ice water (in the method)
- Hydrates the flour to form a cohesive dough while staying cold to keep the fat solid.
The step that matters
Pat the paste together with as little handling as possible. Overworking develops gluten in the flour, making the crust tough, while keeping the lard in distinct pieces is what creates flaky layers. Cold ingredients help keep the fat from melting into the dough.
“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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