I use various sifted, low-protein pastry flour from Carolina Ground for a light, crispy, and slightly sweet crust. All-purpose flour is fine to use as well. Omit the sugar for a basic and versatile tart dough good for savory affairs.
I fresh mill Bloody Butcher corn for my cornmeal crust. Try different colors and flavors of corn for a colorfully freckled crust. The cornmeal crust has a sturdy and sandy flake, perfect for chess pies.
INGREDIENTS
DOUBLE-CRUST PIE
2½ cups pastry flour (low protein)
2 tablespoons unrefined sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
½ cup ice-cold water + more if needed
SINGLE-CRUST PIE
1½ cups pastry flour (low protein)
1 tablespoon unrefined sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
¼ cup ice-cold water + more, if needed
CORNMEAL CRUST PIE
1¼ cups pastry flour (low protein)
¼ cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon unrefined sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
¼ cup ice-cold water, plus more if needed
FOR THE FINISH
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Coarse sugar for dusting
TOOLS YOU’LL NEED
Measuring cups and spoons
2 medium-size airtight containers
Small water pitcher
Medium-size mixing bowl with deep sides
Bench knife
Flour for dusting
French rolling pin
9-inch pie tin
Pastry wheel
Fork
Small bowl
Whisk
Pastry brush
Knife
Sheet pan
Parchment paper
Plastic wrap
Day before: Blend the flour (and cornmeal, if using), sugar, and salt by hand in an airtight container and freeze. Cube the butter into lima-bean-sized pieces and freeze, also in an airtight container.
Morning of: Fill a pitcher with water and ice. When hydrating the dough, use water from this pitcher.
To begin: Bring out all the ingredients. Measure the butter into the flour mixture in a medium bowl. Toss, coating the butter in flour. Pinch half of the butter cubes between your thumb and index finger, flattening them out, leaving the rest as is. Your goal is to streak portions of butter through the dough so you will still need some untouched, large bits for this rough lamination. Toss the butter repeatedly in the flour while working. It will be difficult at first, but soon the frozen butter will turn into a waxy, pliable substance. This is the perfect state of butter for a pie crust. Make sure the butter stays in this zone and does not turn greasy or wet. Do not overwork the butter. If it warms up at any point chill the dough till the butter is firm once again. This process should only take about five minutes.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and butter. Pour in the water. Toss the mix from the sides over the water and start to knead it together. Although an overworked pie dough may cause a tough texture, this is not likely to happen working by hand. In fact, the opposite is often true. Put some elbow grease into it. If you feel that your crust needs more water, add only 1 tablespoon at a time. Dip your fingers in the water to smooth out dry or cracked spots. When it’s done, there will be no dry flour and the dough should still have visible large chunks of butter.
If you’re making a single flaky pastry or cornmeal crust, press the dough into a disk. If you’re making a double crust, divide and press it into two evenly portioned disks. Refrigerate the dough in plastic wrap for at least 30 minutes.
Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Remove one disk of dough from refrigeration and let it warm for a moment. Unlike other pie-crust directions, we are not concerned with rolling out a circle of dough. Gently use your hands to form the disk into a bit of a rectangle rather than a circle and imagine a line running horizontally through the center. Roll the dough outward from this equator in both directions: away from your body toward the top of your work surface and from the middle toward yourself. Be sure to roll all the way off the edge. Roll the dough as long as you can, then fold it in half and in half again. Rotate 90 degrees. Now roll on the diagonal, down the center and along the edges, to create a sheet of dough. Frequently use the pie tin to check your measurement. You need the sheet of dough to be just large enough to trace the pie tin on. Roll to a thickness of ⅛ inch.
Lay the pie tin down on the sheet of dough. Using the edge as a guide, trim the dough with a pastry wheel ½ inch around. Set aside the scrap dough. Make sure the circle is free from the table by gently scraping underneath it with a bench knife. Place your forearm down the center. Fold one side over your arm. Lift. Catch the hanging dough in your free hand. Lift the dough with your arm and center it over the pie tin. Lay it down. Press it into the bottom and sides of the tin, eliminating any air.
For a single-crust pie, tuck any excess dough under itself so it’s flush with the rim and flute or fork to decorate. Using the tines of a fork, poke the bottom five or six times. Whisk the egg yolk and heavy cream, then brush the rim with egg wash and dust with coarse sugar. Freeze for 10 minutes. Proceed to blind-baking (detailed here).
For a double-crust pie, trim the excess around the rim. Ball the scraps together with the previous leftover dough. Set it aside. If the kitchen is warm, refrigerate the extra dough.
If making a double crust pie, remove the second disk from refrigeration. Let it warm for a moment. Roll it out, repeating all the steps you used for the first round. Once you’ve got your filling in the bottom pie shell, lay the top crust squarely over the center. Going around the outside edge, tuck the crust underneath itself, flush with edge of the tin. Flute it with your fingers or crimp with a fork.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream. Brush the mixture over the pie. Roll out any scraps and cut shapes like leaves or feathers using a pastry wheel. Position them on the crust. Brush them with the egg wash. Vent the pie with a knife or fork a few times. Dust it with coarse sugar. Freeze it for 20 minutes. Proceed to double-crust baking (see here), or bake as recipe directs.
TIPS
There should be only enough flour in the work area so that the crust can glide. Keep your dough moving on the table constantly, flipping it to work one side after you’ve rolled for a minute on the other. Make sure the dough doesn’t fuse with the work surface, causing the butter to tear through the rough layers you’re creating. Apply even pressure with your rolling pin, going over the dough firmly, but gently. Rather than driving with huge force and plowing it into the table, roll over the crust with long, sweeping strokes, extending all the way from your hips. Roll from up your legs, through the shoulders and arms, and out the tips of your fingers.
If the dough is not lengthening, the butter has broken through underneath and it is stuck to the table. Gently pick it up, scrape the work surface clean, lightly dust it with flour, and flip the dough over. If the dough warms up at any point, refrigerate it on a parchment-lined sheet pan until it chills.