One of the things that most expert bakers know how to make is the perfect pie dough. Aside from the perfect filling, tarts and pies need to have that trademark flaky, sweet, and salty composition that complements the sweetness of the filling. In order to get the crust for your pies and tarts right, here are some tips that may help:
Everything you use to build the crust should be cold – this means everything. From the water, to the butter, to the lard, and even to the mixing bowl, if possible, everything must be cold. This is to ensure that the pie or tart crust ends up being as flaky as possible when it is baked, and the use of cold ingredients and tools will help ensure that the butter and/or lard used in the dough won’t melt before baking. The use of cold ingredients ensures that, just like when making puff pastry and croissants, the butter will make the dough become flaky. This is because of the interaction between the fat and the gluten.
Do not overcut or undercut your dough – what we mean by this is the incorporation of the butter or lard by means of a dough cutter or fork. You can also do this by hand, which is sometimes better, since you get a feel for what you are working with. The act of cutting the butter or lard into the dough, and not using a mixer to do this, ensures that you have whole flakes of fat in the dough and not crumbs or overly mixed dough that won’t produce the results that you want.
Prevent the overbrowning of pie or tart edges by covering these halfway through with foil – one of the problems pie makers have is when the edges of their tarts or crusts brown faster than the rest of the product. This can be remedied with the help of foil that you put on these parts before you start baking. Halfway through the process, you can remove the foil so that these can brown along with the rest of the pie or tart.
Add some lemon juice or vinegar to your dough if you want tender crusts – if you do not want your crusts to be too crusty or hard, a bit of vinegar or lemon juice in the mix may do the trick. The ratio should be one teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar for each cup of cold water you add. If it is less than a cup of water, then reduce the amount of lemon or vinegar accordingly.
