Pastry

Pastry, pie crust, pie dough…….

I have struggled with this form of baking since I started baking with my Mum. Seriously, the best pie crust pastry came out of her kitchen at any given time. She throws all the ingredients in her bowl, uses her well worn pastry blender and whips up a masterpiece that gets placed in a pie plate and filled with all kids of good filling…. Apple, peach, rhubarb custard. Amazingly flaky and delicious!!!!

I have tried every kind of recipe imaginable. From the best pastry chefs to the well-used well-tested recipes from friends claiming “This is the best recipe and it’s no fail!”

Fail I have……until….

I stopped trying to be a perfect pie crust maker.

In baking(cakes, cookies, muffins etc) I’m secretly fascinated by the precise measuring in these recipes and the exact instructions. (thanks Dad). The outcome is realitively consistent for me. BUT PASTRY……sigh…

When does one stop incorporating the fat into the flour?, how big are “pea-sized crumbs” or when is “until sufficiently blended”? And then gathering the mixture and not “working it too much” on a “lightly floured surface??” always baffles me…..I want a well rounded smooth round of dough that looks like a ball!

Long story short, I just now loosely measure the flour, throw in the salt and measure the shortening, hope I’m incorporating the liquid enough, roll it into a ball, cut it in half and throw it into some plastic wrap to rest in the fridge for an hour or so.  I use the pastry recipe on the shortening box….and have overcome my insecurities to produce a not half bad pastry. (Most of the time!)

Lesson here: Just do it!

I’m really looking forward to the cooler weather….it means fruit pie, meat pie, pot pie and Tourtiere!

Let me know in comments your favourite pie story!