Pie Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in the lard with a knife until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Moisten the mixture with ice water to form a dough.
Shape the crust
Roll the dough out on a floured surface to fit the pie plate.
Press the dough into the pie plate and trim the edges evenly.
For the upper crust, roll out the remaining dough and cut 3 or 4 slits in the center to allow steam to escape.
Fill the pie with your desired filling.
Wet the top edge of the bottom crust, place the upper crust over the filling, and seal the edges by pressing with your thumb.
Trim any excess dough and crimp the edges with a fork or pastry wheel.
Bake
Bake until golden brown and the filling bubbles through the slits.
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 of the dough once moistened and rolled.
- Lard
- Cut into the flour to create flaky layers and a tender texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking to lighten the crust.
- Ice water
- Hydrates the flour just enough to bind the dough while keeping fat cold.
The step that matters
Cutting in the lard. If the lard is overmixed or warm, it blends into the flour instead of staying in small pieces. Those pieces melt and create flaky layers, so a tender, flaky crust depends on keeping them distinct.
“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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