last night i tried to make a pumpkin pie for the first time. why? well, because we had a pumpkin that i cooked up and i didn't want to make cookies or bread this time. i don't like pumpkin pie... never have. but, i have some pumpkin pie LOVERS in this house, so, i figured this way they can eat it and i won't be tempted to indulge.
i used this allrecipes recipe. it was very easy. very VERY easy. and the pie tasted superb!!! as i stated above, i don't like pumpkin pie... never have. but i tasted it (my idea didn't play out i guess... well, i didn't INDULGE perse...), and it was good. good enough for two bites good. maybe even three... ---i said MAYBE! geeze, don't judge!!! sheesh!---
anyway, here's the deal. i made my own crust. and i am perplexed!
i had this gramma that used to be a pie-makin'-fool! she made pies like some people make coffee. (every day and sometimes twice a day.) ok, maybe not every day, but i'm pretty 100% certain that she had a pie for every day that she lived whether or not she made one every day or not is left to be determined. and she died when she was 82 years young. so, that's a lot of pies!!! but all this jibber jabber to say, she made her own crusts. so so shall i. and i shall use her recipe because her crusts were always PERFECT and DELISH! when she had leftover crust, she would make tarts by putting jam in between two small circle crusts... and those were awesome!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! i'm so glad i had such a remarkable gramma... two of them actually. but the other one is granny. so that's different.
i used her recipe. it goes like this:
3 c. flour.
1-1/4 c. shortening.
(mix until it's like corn meal)
water sprinkled in and toss together.
do not knead.
put on flour board and roll to put in a pie pan.
the least handled the better it is.
fairly easy recipe, right?! yeah!!! but it ISN'T! it's almost impossible. thankfully that was enough dough to put in a pie pan and then cover the pie too because i threw half of it away. !!! ugh! it tasted right, but i couldn't find the perfect amount of water where it wouldn't stick to the board and/or the rolling pin. i eventually just threw all of it into the pie pan and smooshed it down with my hands (even though she specifically said, "the least handled the better it is"!!!)
it turned out crumby, but it tasted alright (to me. everyone else left it on the plates.)
so... i need help. what can i do differently next time? how do you make pie crust to be all one piece? how do you then pick it up without it breaking/tearing? HOW IS THIS ALL POSSIBLE?!?!!!
thanks in advance for all your help. also, if you don't know... don't give me tips. i'm looking for real life pie crust making people to give me tips here... i want tips that work. therefore, only those who know what they're talking about can chime in here.
...and if i get absolutely no comments at all, i'll completely understand. (everyone buys their crust pre-made!)
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31
i used this allrecipes recipe. it was very easy. very VERY easy. and the pie tasted superb!!! as i stated above, i don't like pumpkin pie... never have. but i tasted it (my idea didn't play out i guess... well, i didn't INDULGE perse...), and it was good. good enough for two bites good. maybe even three... ---i said MAYBE! geeze, don't judge!!! sheesh!---
anyway, here's the deal. i made my own crust. and i am perplexed!
i had this gramma that used to be a pie-makin'-fool! she made pies like some people make coffee. (every day and sometimes twice a day.) ok, maybe not every day, but i'm pretty 100% certain that she had a pie for every day that she lived whether or not she made one every day or not is left to be determined. and she died when she was 82 years young. so, that's a lot of pies!!! but all this jibber jabber to say, she made her own crusts. so so shall i. and i shall use her recipe because her crusts were always PERFECT and DELISH! when she had leftover crust, she would make tarts by putting jam in between two small circle crusts... and those were awesome!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! i'm so glad i had such a remarkable gramma... two of them actually. but the other one is granny. so that's different.
i used her recipe. it goes like this:
3 c. flour.
1-1/4 c. shortening.
(mix until it's like corn meal)
water sprinkled in and toss together.
do not knead.
put on flour board and roll to put in a pie pan.
the least handled the better it is.
fairly easy recipe, right?! yeah!!! but it ISN'T! it's almost impossible. thankfully that was enough dough to put in a pie pan and then cover the pie too because i threw half of it away. !!! ugh! it tasted right, but i couldn't find the perfect amount of water where it wouldn't stick to the board and/or the rolling pin. i eventually just threw all of it into the pie pan and smooshed it down with my hands (even though she specifically said, "the least handled the better it is"!!!)
it turned out crumby, but it tasted alright (to me. everyone else left it on the plates.)
so... i need help. what can i do differently next time? how do you make pie crust to be all one piece? how do you then pick it up without it breaking/tearing? HOW IS THIS ALL POSSIBLE?!?!!!
thanks in advance for all your help. also, if you don't know... don't give me tips. i'm looking for real life pie crust making people to give me tips here... i want tips that work. therefore, only those who know what they're talking about can chime in here.
...and if i get absolutely no comments at all, i'll completely understand. (everyone buys their crust pre-made!)
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31
4 comments:
I would say to make sure your water is ice cold... literally a few cubes of ice in the water (just don't pour in the ice cubes), and probably notmuch more than 1/2 cup water. The ice water keeps your warm hands from melting the fat, which lends to the flaky factor. You just want the dough to stick together when you pinch it between your fingers, not crumble apart. At that point gently press into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill dough in refrigerator. Cold dough will roll out better, and then time in the fridge gives the glutens in the flour time to begin working. Remove from fridge and rest on counter for10-20 min to take some of the chill off. Roll out on flour surface as per recipe :) hope that helps!
I stink at making pie crust. I've given up trying. But the best I ever tasted was the Martha Stewart recipe that my mom makes. I think the key is to make pie crust in a food processor which my mom does beautifully..but I only have a tiny one so I buy my crust.
There, you got a comment! :)
First hint: Use ice water, one tablespoon at a time. Keep stirring it in until the blob of dough just BARELY holds together. Then pick the dough up with your hands and quickly make it into a ball. If you can't make it hold together in a ball, you haven't put quite enough ice water in. It is true that you don't want to handle the dough with your hands any more than necessary because your hands are warm. The secret to flaky pie crusts is keeping the shortening from melting before it is in the oven. (Thus the ice water!) A ball of dough about the size of a baseball will roll out into a 10 inch pie (dough should be about 1/8 inch thick) Fold the circle in half in order to pick it up and put it in the pie pan. If it won't hold together, you probably didn't use quite enough ice water. Hope this helps.
thank you SO MUCH homemade-pie-crust-makers!
the advice is all so similar, so you guys must know what you're talking about. i really appreciate the discriptive explanations behind the advice though, because that's how my brain works! that totally makes sense to me... however, on the other hand... melting fat makes me not really interested in making pie crusts anymore! (not that it'll stop me. but just sayin'.)
:)
thanks again. i do really appreciate your help!
~t
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