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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.
--
Alex Rast
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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