Friday, June 26, 2009

ALL-BUTTER PIE CRUST

This is adapted from the July 09 Gourmet magazine. I subbed the whole wheat pastry flour. Unfortunately, Gourmet doesn't include the pictures from the magazine article online. Someday I will add my own when I figure that out, but the key for me in using the food processor was to pulse only minimally after adding the flour. It should still look like coarse meal (not a ball of dough), just a meal that holds together when you squeeze a small handful together. This way, using the processor actually helps keep the dough cool and avoids over-working it.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
2 sticks cold butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
1/3 cup plus ice water

Pulse dry ingredients in the food processor. Pulse in butter just until most of the mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 1/3 cup ice wather over mixture and pulse until incorporated.
Squeeze a small handful of dough – if it doesn’t hold together, add more ice water 1 Tb at a time, pulsing until just incorporated, and test again. Do not overwork.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. Smear each portion once or twice with the heel of the hand to help distribute fat. Gather dough together into two disks. Wrap in plastic and chill for 1 – 24 hours. Let stand 20 minutes before rolling out.

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