Plain Pie-crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Sift the salt and baking powder through the flour.
Rub the dripping into the flour thoroughly.
Gradually add the cold water, moistening just enough to make it stick together.
Mix as little as possible to form a dough.
Roll out
Roll out the dough lightly on a floured surface.
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the crust together once it is mixed with liquid.
- Dripping
- Coats flour particles with fat, keeping the crust tender and flaky rather than tough.
- Cold water
- Moistens the flour so the dough binds, while keeping fat solid for a flaky texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the crust rise and lighten.
The step that matters
Mix as little as possible to form a dough. Mixing and handling develop gluten in the flour, which makes pastry tough. Stopping once the dough just holds together keeps the crust 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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