wordless wednesdays: pie crust 101

A couple of weeks ago I promised a pastry 101 blog entry (thank you Amanda for suggesting it)… here it is Wordless Wednesday style – lots of pictures accompanied by as few words as possible.

All credit should be given to the great David Lebovitz and his recipe book Read for Dessert. 

Step 1:

1 cup, salted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and chilled (in the freezer)

Step 2:

8 tbsp of ICE COLD water

Step 3:

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, sifted

Step 4:

pinch of salt

Step 5:

1 tbsp of sugar

Step 6:

@ “stir” speed of stand mixer (with paddle attachment) combine: flour, sugar, and salt together

Step 7:

add the chilled butter cubes and mix until the butter is broken up into 1/4-inch pieces

it should look like this…

Step 8:

add 6 tbsp of the water at one time, continue mixing just until the dough begins to hold together (add additional 2 tbsp of water if necessary – I usually do) – pinch test works great here: grab a little piece of dough, pinch it together – it sticks…you’re golden!  It doesn’t… add that remaining water as needed

Step 10:

gather the dough together – I find it easiest to do within the bowl of my stand mixer

Step 11:

turn out the dough on your counter top and divide into 2 disks – about 1 inch thick. 

Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and firm, about 1 hour (or freeze for up to 2 months)

Step 12:

once ready, on a well floured surface (I flour my rolling-pin too), place the dough and start rolling (roll outward – not back and forth, turning the dough with your hands in a clockwise rotation)

Step 13:

once rolled out, ensure that it’s the correct size to line your pie plate  :0)

there you have it… pie crust 101… almost wordless ;0)