I can't remember how I came across Evan Kleiman's 3-2-1 pie crust recipe, but it's very easy and came out tasty and flaky - two of the things I look for most in a pie crust. According to her recipe, posted on the Gourmandise School website, it's a ratio recipe with 3 parts flour : 2 parts fat : 1 part liquid.
When I made it the first time, I had just seen @lokokitchen's pie crusts for the first time. They are so incredibly gorgeous and artistic! I was inspired to try to go beyond traditional design and I tried this easy twist method that worked beautifully. This was a peach pie, which is the epitome of summer for me.
This week, I was asked to make dessert for my mother-in-law. She happened to have some ripe white peaches and super-ripe figs, and one of her dinner guests is a fig fan. I have never had a peach-fig combo, but a short amount of research indicated that it is common enough and the flavors seem to complement one another. I made a crostata (or galette - basically, a pie with a hand-formed crust and no pie pan). It was ridiculously easy to roll out the crust; stir together sliced fruit with sugar, cornstarch, lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla; pour all of it out into the center of the crust; arrange the center slices nicely; pleat/fold the crust around the fruit, and sprinkle it with raw sugar. It baked for about 45 minutes until it was nice and golden brown, and I'm told it was delicious!
(Can you tell I like taking before and after pictures, in case the pie crust has a mind of its own while baking?)
Note that this time, I was lazy and made the pie crust in the food processor. I did not see as many streaks of butter as I would have liked, so I probably over-processed it, but I don't think it ruined the crust at all. Generally, I try to be conservative on how much I incorporate the butter. Result: you can probably use the food processor, but go easy and use a light touch!
Here's Evan Kleiman's crust recipe. (I confess to thinking it was Kleinman until this week. Apologies!) It makes a double crust (top and bottom crusts), or enough for two full sized crostatas.
3-2-1 Pie Crust
Makes enough for a double crust pie.
12 ounces flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
8 ounces fat, chilled, cut into pieces (this can be butter, lard, shortening, or a combo)
4-5 ounces ice cold water
Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut the fat into tablespoon-sized pieces and add them to the flour; toss them around until they are coated in flour. Use a pastry cutter or fingers to mix the flour and fats together until you have a mixture of uneven crumbles, some as big as an almond and some as small as peas. Add the water and mix until it comes together. It's ok if it's shaggy as long as it generally sticks together.
Dump out the mixture onto a work surface. Use a bench scraper to gather the crumbs into the mass of dough. Use the heel of your hand to smear the dough away from you a third at a time, creating flat layers of flour/butter. Gather the dough back together, using the bench scraper to layer the smears on top of each other. Do this again. The dough should come together nicely, but you should still see pieces of butter.
Divide the dough in half and form into flat discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or as long as two days, or freeze the dough for later use.
Print the pie crust recipe.
When I made it the first time, I had just seen @lokokitchen's pie crusts for the first time. They are so incredibly gorgeous and artistic! I was inspired to try to go beyond traditional design and I tried this easy twist method that worked beautifully. This was a peach pie, which is the epitome of summer for me.
This week, I was asked to make dessert for my mother-in-law. She happened to have some ripe white peaches and super-ripe figs, and one of her dinner guests is a fig fan. I have never had a peach-fig combo, but a short amount of research indicated that it is common enough and the flavors seem to complement one another. I made a crostata (or galette - basically, a pie with a hand-formed crust and no pie pan). It was ridiculously easy to roll out the crust; stir together sliced fruit with sugar, cornstarch, lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla; pour all of it out into the center of the crust; arrange the center slices nicely; pleat/fold the crust around the fruit, and sprinkle it with raw sugar. It baked for about 45 minutes until it was nice and golden brown, and I'm told it was delicious!
(Can you tell I like taking before and after pictures, in case the pie crust has a mind of its own while baking?)
Note that this time, I was lazy and made the pie crust in the food processor. I did not see as many streaks of butter as I would have liked, so I probably over-processed it, but I don't think it ruined the crust at all. Generally, I try to be conservative on how much I incorporate the butter. Result: you can probably use the food processor, but go easy and use a light touch!
Here's Evan Kleiman's crust recipe. (I confess to thinking it was Kleinman until this week. Apologies!) It makes a double crust (top and bottom crusts), or enough for two full sized crostatas.
3-2-1 Pie Crust
Makes enough for a double crust pie.
12 ounces flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
8 ounces fat, chilled, cut into pieces (this can be butter, lard, shortening, or a combo)
4-5 ounces ice cold water
Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut the fat into tablespoon-sized pieces and add them to the flour; toss them around until they are coated in flour. Use a pastry cutter or fingers to mix the flour and fats together until you have a mixture of uneven crumbles, some as big as an almond and some as small as peas. Add the water and mix until it comes together. It's ok if it's shaggy as long as it generally sticks together.
Dump out the mixture onto a work surface. Use a bench scraper to gather the crumbs into the mass of dough. Use the heel of your hand to smear the dough away from you a third at a time, creating flat layers of flour/butter. Gather the dough back together, using the bench scraper to layer the smears on top of each other. Do this again. The dough should come together nicely, but you should still see pieces of butter.
Divide the dough in half and form into flat discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or as long as two days, or freeze the dough for later use.
Print the pie crust recipe.
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