Pie Crust for One Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a bowl, mix the lard and salt.
Add the flour and mix until crumbly.
Gradually add cold water, mixing until the dough forms.
Shape the crust
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and fit it into a pie pan.
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
- Lard
- Coats flour particles and creates tender, flaky layers when the dough bakes.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once combined with water.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together without becoming tough.
The step that matters
Gradually add cold water, mixing until the dough forms. Adding water slowly and keeping it cold limits gluten development, which keeps the crust tender rather than tough. Too much water or overmixing makes the dough sticky 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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