Pie Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in the lard until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Gradually add the water, mixing until the dough comes together.
Chill and roll
Chill the dough before rolling it out 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure that holds the crust together as it bakes.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to keep the crust tender and flaky by limiting gluten formation.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lightens the crust, giving it a more tender texture.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough binds together into a workable mass.
The step that matters
Cut in the lard until coarse crumbs form. Lard should stay in small, separate pieces rather than blending fully into the flour. As it melts in the oven, these pockets create flaky layers. Overworking the mixture makes the crust tough.
“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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