Best Butter Pie Pastry
From Apple
Pie Perfect: 100 Delicious and Decidedly Different Recipes
for America's Favorite Pie
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch
pieces (see note)
1 large egg yolk
About 3 tablespoons cold water
Yields enough pastry for 1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie shell.
Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor (if hand-mixing,
see instructions below) and pulse several times to mix.
Remove the lid and scatter the butter pieces over the dry
ingredients. Pulse the machine repeatedly—6 or 7 one-second
bursts—until the butter is broken into very small
pieces.
Place the egg yolk in a 1-cup glass measure and add just
enough of the water to equal 1/4 cup liquid. |
|
Using a fork,
blend the water and yolk. Remove the lid of the processor
and pour the liquid over the entire surface of the dry ingredients.
Don't, in other words, pour it into one spot. Pulse
the machine again, in short bursts, until the pastry starts
to form large clumps. Don't overprocess, or the butter
will start to melt rather than stay in small pieces. Tear
off a sheet of plastic wrap about 14 inches long and place
it nearby.
Empty the crumbs into a large mixing bowl. Using your hands,
pack the dough as you would a snowball. Knead the dough
2 or 3 times, right in the bowl. Put the dough in the center
of the plastic wrap and flatten it into a disk about 3/4-inch
thick. The edges will probably crack slightly; just pinch
and mold them back into a smooth disk. Wrap the dough in
the plastic and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about
1 hour.
To mix by hand: Combine flour, sugar and
salt in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Scatter butter
pieces over dry ingredients and cut them in, using a pastry
blender or 2 knives, until the butter is broken into very
fine pieces; the mixture will not be quite as fine as with
the food processor. Blend the yolk and water as directed
above. Sprinkle about half of the liquid over the flour,
mixing it in with a fork. Lift the mixture up from the bottom
of the bowl and press down on the downstroke. Add the remaining
liquid a little at a time until the dough coheres. You may
need 1 to 2 teaspoons more water.
Note: "The most
important thing to remember about this dough," writes
Haedrich, "is not to overprocess it, or the butter
will warm up and melt into the pastry, with less-than-desirable
results." As for the dough's assets, he writes:
"This is the workhorse of my pie pastry repertoire.
It has a great buttery flavor, it's easy to roll and
it holds up beautifully in the pan, remaining firm and distinct
rather than turning into mush as some pastries do. In short,
I'm crazy about this pastry and almost reflexively
refer to it when I'm going to make a single-crust
pie."
(Updated: 10/21/08 SN) |
