Rose's Baking Basics

Perfect Flaky and Tender Cream Cheese Pie Crust

MAKES Dough for a 9 inch pie or tart shell; a deep dish 9 inch pie shell or a 9 to 12 inch galette; a 10 strip lattice 9 inch pie; or a double crust or 12 to 14 strip lattice 9 inch pie

OVEN TEMPERATURE: 425°F/220°C for a blind-baked pie or tart shell

BAKING TIME: 23 to 27 minutes for a blind-baked pie or tart shell

Baking Equipment: One standard or deep dish 9 inch pie plate

An expandable flan ring or cardboard template

A large coffee filter, several smaller cup-style coffee filters, or crumpled parchment

Dried beans or rice as weights for blind baking

A foil ring to protect the edges of the crust

This is my favorite pie crust for many reasons. It is the most flavorful and the most tender, but sturdy enough to transfer to a pie plate or tart pan, or to make lattice strips that don’t break. It is also wonderfully flaky. It is ideal for a pie that will be served at room temperature. When making a tart that needs to be refrigerated, however, it is best to choose the Sweet Cookie Tart or Pie Crust, as that crust’s texture stays the most crisp and tender when cold. Here I give the ingredient quantities for several sizes, so you can adjust the recipe depending on which pie you are making.

Baking powder contributes added tenderness and helps lift the dough into a flaky, puffy crust during baking without compromising the strength of the raw dough when shaping it.

Pastry flour results in the perfect ratio of tenderness to flakiness. Bleached all-purpose flour, which has a higher protein content, will not make as tender a pastry, and unbleached all-purpose flour will be even less tender. There are two solutions if you are unable to find pastry flour: Either cut the all-purpose flour with cake flour (see Baking Pearls), or add a tablespoon or two of sugar to the flour mixture, which helps tenderize the dough.

Weighing is far preferable to measuring by volume, as no matter how you measure flour by volume, the results are not consistent. If you choose to measure by volume, be sure to stir up the flour before measuring it, spoon it lightly into the cup without shaking or tapping the cup, and level it off with a metal spatula or knife blade.

The food processor method is the easiest way to mix the dough because it is faster, the dough gets handled less, and it stays more chilled, but if you work quickly, the hand method will produce a crust that will be slightly flakier. With both methods, be sure to keep the ingredients very cold to maintain flakiness. It helps to work in an air-conditioned room.

Dough for a 9 inch pie or tart shell Makes 312 grams

unsalted butter, cold	85 grams	6 tablespoons (¾ stick)
pastry flour	145 grams	1¼ cups (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off)
OR		OR
bleached all-purpose flour (see Baking Pearls)		1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off)
fine sea salt	.	¼ teaspoon
baking powder, only an aluminum-free variety (see Solutions for Possible Problems)	0.6 gram	⅛ teaspoon
full-fat cream cheese, cold	64 grams	¼ cup
heavy cream, cold	22 grams	1½ tablespoons (22.5 ml)
cider vinegar, cold	.	1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml)

Dough for a deep dish 9 inch pie shell, or a 9 to 12 inch galette (free form tart) with a small border or full top crust Makes 414 grams

unsalted butter, cold	113 grams	8 tablespoons (1 stick)
pastry flour	184 grams	1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off)
OR		OR
bleached all-purpose flour		1½ cups (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off)
fine sea salt	.	¼ plus ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon
baking powder, only an aluminum free variety (see Solutions for Possible Problems)	0.7 gram	⅛ plus ¹⁄₃₂ teaspoon
full-fat cream cheese, cold	85 grams	⅓ cup
heavy cream, cold	29 grams	2 tablespoons (30 ml)
cider vinegar, cold	.	2 teaspoons (10 ml)

Dough for a 10 strip lattice 9 inch pie Makes 480 grams

unsalted butter, cold	128 grams	9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon)
pastry flour	213 grams	1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off)
OR		OR
bleached all-purpose flour		1¾ cups (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off)
fine sea salt	.	¼ plus ⅛ teaspoon
baking powder, only an aluminum free variety (see Solutions for Possible Problems)	0.8 gram	⅛ plus ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon
full-fat cream cheese, cold	101 grams	⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon
heavy cream, cold	34 grams	2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (35 ml)
cider vinegar, cold	.	2⅓ teaspoons (11.5 ml)

Dough for a double crust, or 12 to 14 strip lattice 9 inch pie Makes 624 grams

unsalted butter, cold	170 grams	12 tablespoons (1½ sticks)
pastry flour	290 grams	2½ cups (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off)
OR		OR
bleached all-purpose flour		2⅓ cups (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off) plus 1 tablespoon
fine sea salt	3 grams	½ teaspoon
baking powder, only an aluminum free variety (see Solutions for Possible Problems)	1.1 grams	¼ teaspoon
full-fat cream cheese, cold	128 grams	½ cup
heavy cream, cold	43 grams	3 tablespoons (45 ml)
cider vinegar, cold	.	1 tablespoon (15 ml)

Mise en Place

▪ For the food processor method: Cut the butter into ½ inch cubes. Wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes, until frozen solid.

▪ Into a gallon-size reclosable freezer bag, place the flour, salt, and baking powder. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.

▪ For the hand method: Refrigerate the butter cubes for at least 30 minutes. Place a medium bowl in the freezer.

make the dough

Food Processor Method

1. Empty the flour mixture into the food processor. Set the bag aside.

2. Cut the cream cheese into 3 or 4 pieces and add it to the flour. Process for about 20 seconds, or until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

3. Add the frozen butter cubes and pulse until none of the butter is larger than the size of a pea. Toss with a fork to see it better.

4. Remove the cover and evenly pour on the cream and vinegar. Pulse until most of the butter is the size of small peas. The mixture will be in particles and will not hold together unless pinched.

5. Spoon the mixture into the freezer bag. (For a double crust pie or 12 to 14 strip lattice pie, use two plastic bags and divide the mixture in half.)

Hand Method

1. Into the chilled bowl, place the flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk to combine.

2. Add the cream cheese and rub the mixture between your fingers to blend the cream cheese into the flour until it resembles coarse meal.

3. Spoon the mixture, together with the cold butter, into a gallon-size reclosable freezer bag. Express any air from the bag and close it. Refrigerate the bowl or return it to the freezer.

4. With a rolling pin, flatten the butter into thin flakes. Place the bag in the freezer for at least 10 minutes, until the butter is very firm. Transfer the mixture back into the chilled bowl, scraping the sides of the bag. Set the bag aside.

5. Sprinkle the mixture with the cream and vinegar, tossing lightly with a silicone spatula. Spoon the mixture back into the plastic bag. (For a double crust pie, or 12 to 14 strip lattice pie, use two plastic bags and divide the mixture in half.)

Both Methods

6. Hold either side of the bag opening and use the heel of your hand and your knuckles to knead and press the mixture from the outside of the bag, alternating sides, until most of it holds together in one piece.

7. Cut open the bag and empty the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap to finish kneading the dough just until it feels slightly stretchy when pulled. Use your hands and the plastic wrap to shape the dough into a rough disc or discs. Use a rolling pin to flatten it and your hands to press in the edges, which tend to crack, to make the smooth. There should be thin flakes of butter throughout the dough. If there are any large pieces of butter, spread them using the heel of your hand.

Shape the Dough

▪ For a single crust 9 inch pie or tart: Flatten the dough into one 6 to 7 inch disc.

▪ For a deep dish 9 inch pie or 9 to 12 inch galette: Flatten the dough into an 8 inch disc.

▪ For a double crust pie: Divide the dough equally in half and flatten each into a 6 to 7 inch disc.

▪ For a 12 to 14 lattice strip pie: Divide the dough equally in half and flatten one piece into a 6 to 7 inch disc and the other into a rectangle.

▪ For a 10 strip lattice pie: Divide the dough into two unequal-size pieces, two-thirds and one-third. Use about 316 grams for the shell and the rest for the lattice, flattening the smaller part into a rectangle.

8. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 45 minutes, up to 2 days.

Store Refrigerated up to 2 days, frozen 3 months.

Baking Pearls

To simulate pastry flour, use a mixture of (by weight) two-thirds all-purpose flour to one-third cake flour. You can mix up a big batch of simulated pastry flour for your pie and pastry baking using this basic formula: for 456 grams/4 cups sifted pastry flour use 304 grams/2⅔ cups sifted bleached all-purpose flour plus 152 grams/1½ cups sifted bleached cake flour. Be sure to whisk the flours together to mix them evenly. Note: If measuring by volume rather than weighing, sift the flour into the cup, without tapping or shaking the cup, and level it off with a flat blade.

If using bleached all-purpose flour alone, to make the dough more tender you can add about 4.5 percent sugar:

For 312 grams of dough: 13 grams/1 tablespoon sugar

For 414 grams of dough: 19 grams/1½ tablespoons sugar

For 480 grams of dough: 21 grams/1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sugar

For 624 grams of dough: 25 grams/2 tablespoons sugar

If using the hand method of making a pie crust, if you have warm hands it helps to dip your fingers in a bowl of ice water from time to time to cool them. Be sure to dry them.

Here is an alternate way to shape the dough discs for both methods: In place of the plastic bag and plastic wrap, latex gloves also work well to press together the dough directly on a lightly floured countertop, and also to shape the dough into a disc. (This will also work for the Sweet Cookie Crust.)

For an extra-flaky pie crust approaching puff pastry, but more tender, roll the dough into a rectangle and give it a business letter fold (fold it in thirds). Roll it again to flatten it and make it a fairly even square. Use the plastic wrap to push in the corners to round the dough. Wrap and refrigerate as in step 8.

Making Perfect Flaky and Tender Cream Cheese Pie Crust in a Food Processor

Add the cream cheese to the flour mixture.

Process the mixture to a coarse meal.

Add the frozen butter cubes.

Most of the butter should be the size of small peas.

Knead together the dough in a plastic bag.

Smooth the edges of the dough disc.

Making Perfect Flaky and Tender Cream Cheese Pie Crust by Hand