Pastry for 1 double-crusted 9” pie
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- Scant ¾ tsp salt
- 1¾ tsp sugar
- 5 tbsp (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) cold butter
- 5 tbsp (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) cold lard
- 1 large egg (reserve apx 1 tsp of the yolk for the egg wash)
- 1¼ tsp white vinegar
- Enough water to make scant 3/4 cup liquid
- 1-2 tsp milk
Instructions
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In medium-sized bowl, sieve or whisk the flour, salt, and sugar together. Chill mixture in refrigerator for 30-40 minutes. Cut the butter and lard into chunks about ½” - ¾“ in size and add to the flour. Toss to coat the fat with the flour mixture. With a pastry cutter, cut the butter and lard into the flour until the fats resemble the size of large peas.
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In a measuring cup, whisk the egg and vinegar together. Add enough ice-cold water to measure scant ¾ cup. Add the egg-vinegar-water mixture to the flour, starting with 2 tablespoonfuls and mix with a fork. Add additional liquid necessary by a scant tablespoonful at a time, being careful to add only enough liquid that the dough clings together and can be formed into a ball. It is unlikely that the entire ¾ cup of liquid will be needed.
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Divide the dough into two parts with one part (for the bottom crust) slightly larger than the other (for the top crust). Form dough into disk shapes, approximately ¾” - 1” thick. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes to chill. Remove the larger pastry disk from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured work surface. Roll pastry to desired thickness, generally between 1/16” and 1/8” thickness. Roll the dough from the center outward and rotate the dough in quarter turns each time the dough is rolled, sprinkling the work surface with additional flour as necessary to slide the pastry in quarter turns. Gently wrap or drape the pastry around the rolling pin and carefully transfer it to a 9” pie plate that has been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, or very lightly greased. Unroll the pastry onto the plate, fitting it snugly into the pie plate and ensuring there are no air bubbles under the dough. Cut off excess dough so pastry is flush with the pie plate edge. Place pie shell in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to chill.
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Remove second disk of pastry from refrigerator. Prepare pastry for the top crust in the same manner as for the bottom crust, ensuring it is a large enough circle to cover the top of the pie. The excess pastry cut from the edge of the bottom crust may be combined with the second pastry disk if more dough is needed. If this is necessary, refrigerate dough for approximately 15 minutes after combining the pastries and before rolling out the dough for the top crust.
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Remove pie shell from the refrigerator and arrange pie filling in prepared cold shell. Note that, if a cooked pie filling is being used, it should be chilled before filling the pie with it. Brush edges of bottom crust along pie plate edge with a bit of water to moisten. Transfer pastry to the top of pie filling. Trim excess pastry from the pie plate edge. Press the edge of the pastry all around the pie plate rim with tines of fork to adhere top crust to bottom crust. Cut slits in top of pie pastry to allow steam to escape as pie bakes. For additional venting, prick the pie in several places with tines of a fork.
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Place pie in refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow filling to settle and to chill pastry to reduce shrinkage while it bakes. Alternatively, the pie may be placed in the freezer for approximately 15 minutes to speed up the chilling process.
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While pie is chilling, position oven rack in bottom third of oven and preheat oven to temperature indicated in the recipe.
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In small prep bowl, lightly whisk the reserved egg yolk with 1-2 tsp milk. With a pastry brush, lightly brush the pie top with the egg-milk mixture. Sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired.
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Transfer pie to the oven and bake according to recipe directions. Placing the pie on a foil-lined baking sheet will catch any boil-overs or drips should they occur and will make clean-up easier. If the pie edges start to brown too quickly, pie shields can be positioned over the edges of the pie. However, the same function can be accomplished by taking narrow strips of tin foil and molding them into semi-circle shapes and carefully placing them around the edge of the pie. If the entire pie browns too quickly before it is baked, loosely tent pie with tin foil (shiny side up). Remove pie from oven and transfer to cooling rack to cool completely for several hours before cutting and serving.
Recipe Notes
Yield: 1 – 9” pie
[Copyright My Island Bistro Kitchen]