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On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 23:49:02 -0000,
(Alex Rast) wrote:
>at Mon, 27 Sep 2004 19:50:10 GMT in >,
(rylee) wrote :
>
>>Hi everyone, I am new to baking period but have a new house with 3 apple
>>trees and I need to get baking. I am putting out a request for a good,
>>easy pie crust recipe that does not require shortening. I would prefer
>>to just use butter. Does anyone have a good one?
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>
>
>You can pretty much substitute, 1-for-1, butter for shortening in any pie
>crust recipe. Technically, "shortening" is a generic term that's supposed
>to cover any solid fat suitable for restricting gluten strand formation in
>pastry doughs, but common usage is making that archaic. Today, shortening
>usually means white solidified vegetable fat - the most common brand being
>Crisco.
>
>In a pie crust, butter will make the crust crisper and perhaps not quite so
>flaky, but the flavour will be vastly improved. I recommend using 1 cup of
>butter for every 2 cups of flour. You cut the butter into the flour just
>like any normal pie dough recipe, along with a pinch of salt, then add just
>enough cold water that the dough *just barely* holds together when pressed
>gently. It should feel like literally any slightly rough or sudden motion
>will make the dough ball fall apart. Roll and use as usual.
>
>For a flakier result, use half lard, half butter. Lard is in every respect
>a superiour substitute for shortening when it comes to flakiness. If you
>use all lard, your crust will be *extremely* flaky, but, rather like
>shortening, won't have much flavour (although it will also eliminate that
>off-putting greasy-pasty texture of shortening-containing pie crust). So
>adding half butter makes the crust both buttery and flaky - the best of
>both worlds.
Well...as long as you use some decent & fresh lard...those Armour
grease bricks just make pie crust smell like bacon. Nice for quiche,
maybe, but it wrecks havoc with lemon meringue.
Boron
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