This recipe makes plenty of dough for a nine inch top and bottom crust. This is the only recipe in which I use
vegetable shortening. Vegetable shortening contains trans acids and is therefore rather unhealthy but for a perfect pie crust
there really is no substitute. A crust made only with butter will not brown properly and is not perfectly flaky.
This is the only thing I use vegetable shortening for and a few perfect pies a year seem worth the risk.
If you are using salted butter no additional salt will be needed. If your butter is unsalted mix one quarter
teaspoon of salt into the flour before cutting in.
Ingredients for a top and bottom crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
Salt as needed (see above)
5 tablespoons vegetable shortening at cool room temperature
6 Tablespoons butter at cool room temperature
Up to 6 tablespoons ice water (use water with chunks of ice in it)
Method
In a medium bowl cut in the vegetable shortening and the butter into the flour. You should cut the mixture until it is fine-grained.
Next cut in the ice water one tablespoonful at a time. You want to add the minimum amount of
water that will bind the mixture without making it wet or soggy. Do not knead the dough! Excessive handling
toughens the dough and makes the resulting crust chewy rather than flaky. Form into a ball or mound, cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
You don't want to roll out the crust until you are ready to use it - it will dry out and toughen. I find the best and easiest
way to roll it out is use a plastic cutting mat with just enough flour powdering the mat that after rolling the dough will separate easily.
You also want to watch the direction you are rolling: always try to roll away from the center of the mat. Excessive rolling will
toughen the baked piecrust.
Ready a plastic cutting mat with a tablespoon or so of flour spread upon it. Cut about six tenths of the dough
from the dough mass and place on the floured mat and roll it out into a circle that is slightly larger than a 9 inch pie pan.
Use additional flour as is needed. Center the pie pan upside down on the circle of dough and
carefully flip, all together, the pan, the dough and the mat. Ease the work surface free from the dough and let the dough
sag into the pan. Carefully, without tearing it, press the dough to conform to the pan's shape.
Trim the dough so that the rim of the pie pan is fully covered with dough and return the trimmings to the remaining unrolled dough.
Cover the pie pan and bottom crust with plastic wrap. Roll out the remaining dough then uncover and fill the pan and bottom
crust with the pie's filling. Top the filled pie with its upper crust and by trimming and repositioning these trimmings adjust the
covering of the pie so that you can make a nicely fluted edge. Make this fluted edge with thumb and forefinger of one hand and
thumb or forefinger of the other hand thus:
To make dough for a single crust pie make six tenths of the above recipe:
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3 and 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
Up to 3 and 1/2 tablespoons ice water
Roll it out into a circle that is slightly larger than a 9 inch pie pan. Center the pie pan upside down on the circle of dough and
carefully flip, all together, the pan, the dough and the mat. Ease the work surface free from the dough and let the dough
sag into the pan. Carefully, without tearing it, press the dough to conform to the pan's shape. Fold excess dough in to
form a thick rim just at the pan's lip, then flute it.
To make enough dough for 12 single crust miniature pies use:
2 & 2/3 cups flour
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter
6 tbsp vegetable shortening
2/3 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
Up to 8 tablespoons ice water
Here are pictures of before and after rolling out for mini pies.
