Imagine, if you will, that Turkey Day is fast approaching and you have been put in charge of the pie. Most people would consider two options in this situation: 1) go to the local bakery and buy a cake for too much money or 2) go to the supermarket where you expect a pre-made, no-frills, rock-solid, burnt-on cake crust. the freezer. , next to a bag of frozen strawberries. For those of you who think all pastry work is labor intensive, involving a list of ingredients and hours of thankless rolling, kneading and sweating, I offer you a sweet salvation. Forget the bakery and the frozen section. This year, you’ll wow the crowd with a cake made with love and fresh from your own kitchen.
Not all pastry is puff pastry
Puff pastry is war. Cake batter is prosperity in times of peace. Cake batter is free and easy. The pie crust is light and crispy. The pie crust is buttery and sweet. Pie batter is what you need to make a pie and pie is what you need to get past two plates of dried turkey meat and a mountain of peas and carrots. If pumpkin pie didn’t exist, I’d sleep through the holidays. If blueberry pie didn’t exist, I would no longer consider Maine a worthwhile state. If there were no apple pie, I would refuse to recognize fall as a season. Simply put, if there was no cake, I could die. Praise be to the almighty! There’s cake so I’m living! I need cake. Pie is my friend. The pie needs a good solid crust to hold it up. The crust is a friend of the pie. If crust and pie are friends and pie and I are friends, then crust and I are friends too and we must learn to work together.
Not all dough needs kneading
Pie dough makes pie crust. You make pie dough. You use your hands very sparingly or you don’t use your hands at all. You’re confused. “Edith,” you ask with a frown, “we’re talking about dough here, right? Doesn’t dough need kneading?” Bread dough yes, I answer, because bread dough needs its activated gluten. Gluten (or glutenin) is one of the many proteins contained in wheat. It is a spastic elastic substance that, when activated, helps contain gas bubbles created by a leavening agent such as yeast. Activated gluten + yeast = the soft, fluffy texture and characteristic chewiness you covet in freshly baked breads. Almost all flours on the market (and there are more than you think) contain gluten. Some have a lot, good for fluffy leavened breads. Some have a good bit for cakes, pies, quick breads and people suffering from Dermatitis Herpetiformis.
So why can’t you feel sensitive about pie crust? Because we’re working in layers here, not sponges, and chances are you’ll have sweaty palms, especially if you’ve been in the kitchen all day. Overworking the dough with hot legs will activate the glutes. Without a release agent to puff it up, your dough will start to shrink during cooking. As it shrinks, it hardens, and as it hardens, it cracks. When you remove the pie crust from the oven, you’ll be left with nothing but a giant, tasteless cookie. Your goal is to create tiny, super-flat layers that, when baked, pull apart enough to create flakes.
The way to get these layers is by “cutting” the fat into the flour. When you chop (instead of knead) you get what is basically a bowl full of little bits of fat covered in flour. In the end, you’ll add liquid to bring it all together, but ultimately each of those little pieces is a separate entity. When you finally roll out the dough, these pockets are pressed on top of each other, creating the desired layers. This process gives you what is known throughout the world’s most elite baking circles as “Medium Flake” pastry. You’ll often hear people refer to “short crust” dough when talking about pie as well. The differences between the two are minimal and usually have to do with the proportions and the type of fat used. Butter or shortening will produce a shorter (also known as richer and more tender) crust than vegetable shortening. I like a medium flake crust for juicy fruit pies, as they tend to be sturdier. But as with so much of life and cooking, it all comes down to personal preference.
In short: hands off! If you have to touch the dough, use your fingertips as they don’t get as hot as the rest of you. In fact, lightly fluffing the dry mixture with your fingers will aerate the flour, add a nice puff to the crust, and help separate the layers. But under no circumstances should you knead! You can buy a nifty cake cutter at any kitchen supply store, or better yet, save money, dip in your cutlery drawer and pull out two knives for dinner. Hold a knife in each hand with the blades facing the center of the bowl and, keeping the blades parallel to each other, cut through the flour and fat over and over until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Now it’s time to get wet.
liquid love
Some puff pastry recipes recommend the use of cold milk, but I have always preferred ice water. This is purely a thing of taste. We all know how milk can start to absorb odors when it’s been in the fridge for a while. Personally, the idea of my peach cobbler vaguely tasting like chives and cilantro isn’t that appealing. Use water and you will never have this problem. Regardless of the liquid you use, remember that it should always be ice cold. This will help maintain the integrity of your cold fat pockets (yum!) and keep that gluten lazy. To incorporate the water, create a small well in the center of your dry mix and add it a tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork until a smooth ball of dough begins to form around the cloves. Add enough water to bring everything together. The amount will vary, but in general, about ¾ cup should be enough for a two-tier cake recipe.
the great chill
We are about to reach a fork in the road moment. Are you ready? Here goes: You don’t technically have to chill your dough. Like technically you don’t have to avoid touching it. But you’re a virgin at pastels, so why not get it right the first time before you start improvising? Chilling the dough for at least two hours (and overnight, if possible) further relaxes the gluten, which will ensure tenderness and enhance flavor. However, if you’re short on time, a twenty to thirty minute break should be fine.
Stop drop and roll
A good rolling pin is a must for any well-appointed kitchen. If you cook and bake semi-regularly, you should have one. A nice old wooden pin will set you back between $3 and $10. For a few extra bucks, you can get a stainless steel or marble rolling pin that will help keep the dough cool while you roll it. Make sure the pin has a good weight. The stronger it is, the less pressure you need to apply and the less likely you are to roll the dough too thin. If you don’t have a pin and, for whatever reason, refuse to buy one, you can use an empty wine bottle or any other long, clean, easy-to-handle cylindrical object.
Your work surface should be wide; at least large enough to accommodate a circle of dough slightly larger than a pie pan. If you’re lucky enough to have an Italian marble-topped island in the middle of a newly remodeled modern stainless steel kitchen on the first floor of your $9 million multi-level SoHo loft, you can use that. Otherwise, there are plenty of options available. Good marble pastry boards can cost upwards of $50, but they are beautiful and last forever. Plus, they stay cool and are naturally non-stick. Wooden boards are just as expensive and not as effective for working with brittle cakes, as you’ll need to use a fair amount of flour on the board to prevent the dough from sticking to it. A fiberglass coated silicone baking mat is another good option but, again, expensive. When all else fails, just use your kitchen counter. As long as it’s spotlessly clean, there’s nothing really wrong with this method and I use it myself.
Dust both your work surface and rolling pin with a small amount of flour. If the dough has been chilling for more than an hour, let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes or else it will be very hard to work with. Roll up the larger half first, as it is going to cover the bottom of your pie pan. Roll from the center out, in all directions, making sure not to press on the edges. You can rotate the dough a few times and add a little more flour to your work surface if it starts to stick. Never “pull” the dough, it will just spring back. Remember, you are not making a pizza. The finished dough should be about 1/8″-1/4″ thick and 2 inches larger in diameter than the cake pan.
There is no need to grease a cake pan. There is more than enough fat in the dough to keep it from sticking. Fold the rolled dough in half, gently lift it up on the plate, unfold it and put it in position. There should be a fair amount of overhang. Do not cut it, as you will need it to build your border. Put the pie pan back in the fridge and let the crust sit while you spread out the top half. When you extend your mass, you give those glutes a wake-up call; letting it rest in the cold for a couple more minutes, you will lay them down again. Roll out the top crust, fill the bottom, and place the top on top of the filling. Pinch the edges of the two crusts together and then fold the overhang up, squeezing slightly to secure as you rotate the plate. Poke a few holes in the top crust with a fork so the steam has a place to go and let the pie rest in the fridge for another 5-10 minutes before baking.
Depending on the type of cake you are making, you may need to blind bake the dough. All of this means that you will be precooking the crust before you fill it. Empanadas made with cooked custard and fillings (lemon, chocolate, coconut, etc…) must be fully cooked in advance. Most pumpkin pie recipes will require ten minutes to brown the crust, but they don’t need to be baked all the way through, as pumpkin custard requires additional cooking time. There are some pitfalls with blind baking, but they’re pretty easy to avoid. To prevent swelling, shrinking, and splitting (OH MY!), you can cover the dough with a sheet of parchment and fill with dried beans or use ceramic or metal beaded pie weights. You can purchase cake weights and parchment paper at most kitchen supply stores.
Be nice, stay cool, leave it alone
Making anything from scratch is a daunting but completely satisfying endeavor. Not only does it make you feel good about yourself, but the food you make will almost always taste far superior to what you once paid a machine to cook for you. Follow the three golden rules of cake batter (listed above) and after a little trial and error, you’ll be guaranteed a golden, flaky crust for the rest of your cake-making days.
