A Good Rule for Pie Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a mixing bowl, combine the pastry flour and salt.
Add the lard and rub the mixture together until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Shape
Proceed to roll out the dough as needed for your pie.
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
- Pastry flour
- Forms the main structure of the crust as gluten develops with handling.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to keep the crust tender and flaky.
The step that matters
Rubbing the lard into the flour. Work the lard in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, leaving small pieces of fat. As the crust bakes, these pieces melt and leave pockets that make it flaky. If the fat is fully blended in, the crust turns out tough and dense.
“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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