Follow These Easy Tips to Produce a Flaky Crust Every Time You Bake : Remember That Less Is Best and Keep the Ingredients Cold

The best-kept secret about pie-baking is how easy it is.

“I don’t know why some people are afraid,” said Eva Kenly, a cooking teacher. “It really is easy to produce a flaky crust every time.”

The most important things to remember are that less is best and to keep the ingredients cold.

The less amount of mixing, rolling and flouring, the better the crust will be. And when the recipe calls for water, be sure to use ice water. Likewise, the butter or margarine should be used directly from the refrigerator.

Basic pie crust recipes call for flour, salt, fat and water. Then there are the crusts using nuts, graham crackers or crushed cookies.

“When creating a pie, be conscious of different flavors,” said Leah Grossman, a consultant for a commercial pie company. “Sometimes people overdo it. Something has to star, so if you are doing an unusual crust, let it star and choose a complementary filling.” For a basic crust, some purists advocate the use of pastry flour, a finely milled flour made from soft wheat. However, an all-purpose flour will work fine.

“The flakiest crust is made from lard,” said Grossman. But many people don’t keep it on hand, so she recommends using a combination of butter and vegetable shortening. By using 60% vegetable shortening and 40% butter, she said, a cook can achieve a crust with the rich flavor of butter and the flakiness typical of shortening.

Some pie makers substitute margarine for either the butter or shortening, but the resulting texture is not quite the same. Butter-flavored shortening does taste more like butter, but is not as rich as the butter-and-shortening combination.

Test the Shortening First

Remember that shortening doesn’t last forever. If it has been opened for several weeks be sure to taste it to see if there is an oily flavor that will leave the crust with an unpleasant after taste.

Some recipes call for cream cheese, which adds a flavor all its own and provides part of the needed fat.

“Anyone interested in controlling the saturated fat in his diet can make a crust with safflower oil” said Jane Robb, program manager for the American Heart Assn. This recipe has become popular for others as well, because of its ease in handling, although some cooks believe oil crusts have a slightly oily taste.

For those who don’t mind a few more calories, some recipes include a small amount of sugar for a slightly sweet crust. It is all a matter of taste.

Liquid serves two purposes in the pie dough. It helps dissolve the salt and holds the dough together. An egg yolk also can provide some of the liquid. “It adds more flavor and color, but be careful with the amount of water used,” said Grossman.

The right amount of liquid is important. Too much and the dough will become sticky and tough, too little and it is crumbly and difficult to roll out.

“It is impossible to give the exact amount of water to be used, so be patient,” said Grossman. “It is a learned thing.” The amount is determined by the type of flour used and the atmosphere.

“Begin with the smallest amount of water necessary to hold the ingredients together,” Kenly said. “You always can add more, but you never can take it out.” Regardless of whether you use your fingertips, a food processor or a pastry cutter to combine the flour and fat, the ingredients must be cold and the work must be done quickly. The combined fat-and-flour mixture should resemble a coarse meal.

Kenly believes using the food processor fitted with a steel blade is the quickest method of making a dough and does a better job than one’s hands, but she cautions it is best to use the pulse switch because it is easy to make a tough dough by overprocessing. She advises beginning cooks to take the mixture out of the processor befored adding the water.

The pastry cutter takes a little longer, but it affords the most control.

“Unless you’re experienced with a food processor, it is best to cut the fat with the flour using a pastry cutter,” said Grossman. “With this method, you are always in control and you are less apt to overmix the dough,” she said.

The finished dough should resemble coarse meal with some pea-size pieces.

Warning for Warm Hands

Those with warm hands probably should not try mixing flour with fat using their fingertips because the heat from their hands softens the fat and it is too difficult to achieve the right texture.

“Never roll the dough when it is warm,” said Grossman, who suggests letting it rest in the refrigerator for about half an hour before rolling it out--especially if the crust is made with butter. “A crust should be rolled only once or it will become tough,” she said. When instructions specify to roll the dough out on a lightly floured board, the flour should not be more than 1/8-inch thick. Keep a little extra flour on hand to dust the rolling pin so it won’t stick to the dough.

Flatten the dough ball slightly with the heel of your hand and then roll quickly with short strokes into a circle slightly larger than the pie tin. If the dough tends to crack around the edges, you are either using too much pressure on the rolling pin or the dough may be too dry. However, you should wait until it is in the pan before trying to repair it.

“I have found that doughs using cream cheese or butter are easier to repair,” said Kenly.

For those who have trouble transferring dough from the work surface to the pie pan, Kenly suggests rolling the pastry between sheets of plastic wrap then removing the top sheet and carefully inverting the dough into the pan before removing the bottom sheet. If the dough sticks to the wrap, put in the refrigerator for a few minutes and it will come off easily.

Another method is to dust the rolling pin with flour, roll the dough loosely onto the pin and then unroll it over the pie tin.

Bottom crusts should be rolled 1 1/2-inches larger than the pie pan, top crusts should be rolled 2 inches larger. This allows for the top crust to wrap around the bottom and helps prevent fruit pies from spilling over into the oven while cooking.

Putting the Crust in the Pan

It is important to ease the crust into the pie pan so that it isn’t stretched, Kenly believes. She recommends making a small ball from scraps of dough to push the crust into fluted edges, as warmth from fingers may cause the dough to stretch too much.

Flute edges of a single crust high enough to hold the filling, remembering that some fillings will expand as they bake.

A lattice-topped crust is attractive because it allows for a colorful fruit filling to be seen. It also is a good idea to use when you have less fruit than needed to fill the pan. You won’t overpower the flavor of the fruit with a solid top crust.

Shrinkage is the biggest problem when baking the crust before filling it. Several steps can be taken to minimize the problem.

“Butter crusts should be refrigerated for an hour before baking,” said Grossman. This gives the gluten a chance to relax.

Some people prefer to bake single crust shells for 5 minutes before adding filling, especially for slower-baking pies such as custard and pecan.

The dough also can be held in place during the first stage of cooking with a double thickness of foil. Or line the pie shell with a sheet of foil, fill with pastry weights or dried beans (this is called blind baking) and bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and weights or beans. The dried beans can be used again and again for blind baking but should not be used for other types of cooking.

Recipes often call for high temperatures at first and then reduce them to moderately high for the remainder of the baking time. The higher temperature sets the pastry quickly and the lower ensures that the crust will bake evenly.

Some pie bakers say not to put the pie pan on a baking sheet unless the recipe calls for it, as it disperses too much heat away from the bottom crust, which may become soggy. Another measure for preventing a soggy crust is to bake it near the bottom heating element in the oven.

Different Tastes

It is important to check the crust frequently as it bakes and does not rely entirely on the baking time of the recipe, because of differing tastes--some people like crisp, brown crusts, while others prefer moister crusts. The type of pan also affects the time of baking. Heavier pans bake slower.

Test for doneness by looking. If a fruit filling is bubbling and the crust is brown, it’s done.” However, with some fruit pies such as apple, you need to test further by piercing the fruit with a fork to see if it is tender.

There are four types of pans on the market: glass, shiny metal, dull metal and black metal. The black metal usually turns out the most evenly cooked crust. The results in the glass pans also are good and “you can pick them up to see if the bottom crust is done,” said Kenly. A shiny metal pan reflects heat somewhat, so the crust doesn’t brown as evenly. The results for the dull metal are about the same.

Some people like to make many crusts and freeze them unbaked for later use.

“The work is done once they’re rolled out,” says Kenly. Crusts may be rolled and shaped before freezing. Once they have frozen, they can be removed from the pans and stacked for easier storage. A layer of aluminum foil should be placed between each sheet for easier separation. “Make sure the dough is well sealed for freezing so it doesn’t pick up odors from other foods in the freezer,” said Grossman.

It is difficult to freeze a flat crust for the top of a pie. The best solution is to invert a frozen shell over a thawed, filled bottom crust and allow it to thaw before placing and crimping it.

The dough also can be frozen in balls. Wrap each ball in foil or plastic wrap, making sure it is sealed. Each ball should be thawed for at least one hour before rolling.