The Basics of Pie and Tart Crusts
Crust is often the difference between a so-so pie and something truly remarkable. And dedicated pie makers get better and better at producing flavorful, nicely shaped, and beautifully colored crusts. But it need not take years of trial and error to nail the technique; in fact, you can make really good crusts your first time out—mostly, it’s about butter—and you’ll improve quickly and steadily if you use the right ingredients and techniques.
The two most basic and versatile crusts, Flaky Piecrust and Sweet Tart Crust, are worth practicing and perfecting. The former is quintessentially crisp and buttery and easily rolled out and draped into a pie plate; the latter is sweeter, finer, and more crumbly, to be patted directly into a tart pan. Either can be filled right away or prebaked (see page 258) and are both ideal with most any filling.
With a little practice, you should have no problem producing perfect crusts every time, but if you’re pastry averse, try Cookie Crumb Crust, Meringue Nut Crust, and No-Bake Fruit and Nut Crust, which don’t need to be shaped, chilled, or rolled out.
INGREDIENTS
There are so few ingredients in a basic crust that quality is absolutely vital for each one. The best crusts start with fat—almost always butter—although many other fats have virtues, and as you get more experience you may land on a combination whose flavor and texture you like best. I prefer to use all butter.
Never use a commercial piecrust, which won’t ever be as flaky or good-tasting as homemade and will unquestionably contain inferior ingredients. It takes only a few minutes to mix up a crust dough, and wrapped tightly, it freezes beautifully for weeks or even months, so you can have a batch on hand whenever you need it. If you don’t have time to make a crust from scratch, make a crisp or cobbler instead (pages 297–301).
BUTTER
For a rich, delicious flavor and good color, butter is unbeatable. When you handle it properly—don’t let it get too soft—it yields a very flaky crust that browns wonderfully.
OIL
Oils that are solid at room temperature, like coconut, are the best nondairy substitutes. Liquid oils, like vegetable or even olive, won’t produce that characteristic flakiness, but some make a pleasantly mealy crust that works well for custard or savory fillings or quiches.
LARD
Lard and butter complement each other well, especially for flaky pastry crusts. Lard has less flavor than butter but doesn’t melt as quickly, so a combination strikes a balance between good flavor and texture. Sadly, good lard is hard to find. Look for best-quality lard (leaf lard if possible) at a butcher shop.
SHORTENING
With a high melting point, shortening is easy to incorporate and makes for an especially flaky crust. However, health issues aside, it tastes bad. Don’t use it. Period.
EQUIPMENT
Purists may disagree, but I think a food processor makes pie crusts easy as, well, you know. The results are evenly blended and still quite tender. The process is quick, easy, efficient, and nearly foolproof. You can mix the dough by hand, of course, pinching the butter with flour between your fingers or using various utensils like a pastry blender or two forks or knives.
Pie plates have sloped sides, and 9-inch plates that are about 1¼ inches deep are standard—that’s what you’ll need for most of these recipes. Deep-dish versions have an extra ½ to 1 inch of depth; as long as it’s 9 inches in diameter, a batch of crust will fit in either plate, so you can treat them interchangeably based on what you have. I’ll mention it anytime deep-dish is the better choice.
You can also use springform pans for any pie with a crumb crust and, in a pinch, for tarts, although those are really best baked in shallow tart pans with straight fluted walls and removable bottoms for serving; there is a wide range of sizes for tart pans, from 4-inch tartlet pans for individual servings to 11-inch pans. They are also available as squares and rectangles, which is a nice option if you’re baking for a crowd and would like to cut the tart into squares. For something a little more unusual, try a cast-iron skillet, which makes an especially nice presentation for rustic fruit pies and cooks flaky crusts to an even, deep gold. Cobblers, crisps, and the like (pages 297–301) are even simpler—you need just a square, rectangular, or oval baking dish.
TECHNIQUES
MAKING AND RESTING THE DOUGH
Because you want tenderness, not chew, in these crusts they must be handled minimally; you don’t want the gluten to develop as it does in bread dough. Flaky doughs should still have visible bits of butter in them when they’re formed; tart crusts should be more uniform but still reveal small bits of butter—this will make the crust light. Letting any shaped crust rest in the refrigerator or freezer before you fill it enables the gluten to relax, making for a lighter crumb, and hardens the fat a bit so that it holds its shape and texture in baking. It’s not mandatory, but if your time frame is flexible, you can refrigerate it for up to 2 days for an especially flaky, more deeply browned result; wrap well and you can store disks of dough in the freezer for a couple of months. At a minimum, chill dough for an hour before rolling it out.
ROLLING THE DOUGH
Successfully rolling out chilled dough to a fairly uniform and round crust of about ⅛ inch thickness involves a combination of patience and practice. Ideally you’ll roll the dough out only once (rerolling will toughen it), but at first you may need more than one try.
These tips will make rolling dough easier (see illustrations, below, for more detail):
STEP 1 Roll with firm, steady, but not overly hard pressure, from the inside out, sprinkling with tiny amounts of flour if necessary and rotating quarter-turns as you work.
STEP 2 You can also roll between two sheets of parchment or plastic wrap, which is sometimes easier. If at any point during rolling the dough becomes sticky, refrigerate it for 15 minutes or so.
STEP 3 Patch any holes with pieces of dough from the edges.
STEP 4 When the dough is ready, pick it up using the rolling pin (flour the dough and pin very lightly first).
STEP 5 Drape it over your pie plate.
BAKING THE CRUST
Prebaking crusts adds a step, but in some cases it’s absolutely necessary (see the following section), and in many others it gives better results. If your pie has a top crust, brush it with an egg wash or a bit of milk to protect it as it bakes and promote an even, golden, beautifully glossy finish. Garnish this with a sprinkling of coarse sugar if you like.
When you’re baking a filled pie, always put it on a cookie sheet; this encourages bottom browning and prevents spillovers from cooking onto your oven floor. If your crust starts to get too dark before the filling finishes cooking, loosely cover it with foil. For a single-crust pie, wrap a ring of foil around the exposed edges; protect a top crust by making a tent of foil over the whole thing.
WHY AND HOW TO PREBAKE CRUSTS
Pie or tart crusts must be prebaked (also called known as “blind baking”) when their filling will not be baked, as with icebox pies (see page 285), and where the bake time is too short for the crust to cook completely and brown properly. Prebaking also minimizes shrinking, helps produce a nicely shaped crust, and avoides sogginess in pies with very moist fillings. Flaky Piecrust, Sweet Tart Crust, and all their variations can be prebaked; Cookie Crumb Crust is always prebaked, as it’s a moist and porous crust that will otherwise become mushy.
Some crusts are partially prebaked, others fully; recipes indicate which. Either way, you need butter, foil, and a cup or two of something heavy and heatproof to prevent the crust from shrinking and bubbling with air pockets while it’s baking: raw rice or dried beans, pennies, or pie weights all work nicely.
Heat the oven to 425°F. Be sure the crust is pressed firmly into the pan, pricked all over with a fork, and well chilled before baking; the fork pricks and hardened butter in the dough will help the crust keep its shape.
Butter one side of a piece of foil large enough to cover the crust; press the foil onto the crust, butter side down. Scatter your weights in an even layer over the foil and bake for 12 minutes; remove the weights and foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking the crust until it starts to develop a golden brown color, another 10 minutes or so. The crust is now partially baked and ready for any filling that you plan to bake.
For a completely baked crust, let it continue to bake, uncovered, until fully golden brown, another 5 minutes or so. Cool the pan on a rack before filling.
Once the dough is in the pan, you’ll want to trim it, and you can also make the edge more attractive or add a top crust or other embellishments. One recipe of Flaky Piecrust makes enough for a double crust; freeze half for another pie if you are making a single crust or roll it out as directed to make a top crust or decorations.
Crimping
PINCHING METHOD: Pinch the edges of the dough between the side of your forefinger and your thumb.
KNUCKLE METHOD: Use the thumb and forefinger of one hand to hold the dough in place. Press a knuckle from your other hand against the crust, pushing it into the space made by your thumb and forefinger.
FORK METHOD: Alternatively, you can simply press down with the tines of a fork along the edges of the dough.
Simple Top Crust
Use a paring knife or cookie cutter to trim simple shapes from the crust if you want. Place the crust over the filling, trim the edge, and crimp the top and bottom crust edges to seal. If you didn’t cut out shapes, cut a few slits in the crust to let steam escape.
Braided Edge
Cut the dough into ¼-inch-wide strips and braid three strips snugly together. Repeat until you have four braids; set them on a plate to chill. Brush egg wash around the sides and “glue” the braids all along the perimeter, braiding the loose ends together so they make one continuous braid. Prebake or fill and bake as directed.
Garnish Crust
Cut the dough into letters or shapes and place directly over the filling so that some of the filling remains exposed; you can also overlay them around the border of the pie.
Tiled Crust
A tiled crust is a more precise version of a garnished one; time-consuming but stunning. Cut the crust into small shapes—circles or stars work well—and layer them over the filling so they overlap.
Cut the dough into strips a couple of inches longer than the pie plate, as thick or thin as you like, of uniform or varying widths. Weave perpendicular strips as shown.
STEP 1 Cut enough strips to cover the pie as much as you like, depending on the width of each strip. For instance, you’ll need nine 1-inch-wide strips if you want to completely cover a pie in a 9-inch plate.
STEP 2 Fold back half of the strips laid in one direction and add strips in the other direction.
STEP 3 Continue weaving the strips over the top of the pie.
STEP 4 When the weaving is completed, press the edges into the bottom crust and trim.