All-purpose flour is ideal for pie crusts, but you may also use lower-gluten flour to avoid a chewy crust. Alternative flours may not have a 1:1 ratio when replacing conventional flour.
Julia knows cooking and baking. Her pâte brisée recipe always makes a flaky pie crust. Why? It's the butter and shortening mixture, with extremely cold ingredients.
Never overwork pie dough. Heat from your hands and stretching the dough can cause gummy dough. If you're worried about overhandling, combine the dough in a food processor—it only takes a few pulses.
After mixing, let dough rest. Wrap and forget for 30 minutes (but up to overnight if you can). Resting the dough prevents gluten from damaging the crust.
After mixing and resting, roll out dough. Embrace flour. Flour the surface and keep the bag nearby (you can always brush off the excess later). If the dough still sticks, roll it between two sheets of parchment paper.
Rolling the dough onto a rolling pin and into the pan without tearing it is our favourite way. Leave about an inch of surplus dough. Crimping the sides of a single-crust pie prevents it from collapsing during baking. Use knuckles or a fork as shown. Then refrigerate it while heating the oven.
Lattice-top pies give that old-fashioned, Grandma-knows-best look.Regardless of style, make vents so steam may escape when cooking. This will prevent soggy pie
A beautiful pie top crust needs that golden gloss. Before baking, brush the crust with egg wash.
Close! Now comes the crux. You want a hot oven that won't stew your pie. After 30 minutes, decrease the temperature to 350°F/180°C. Put a pie shield or aluminium foil over the crust to prevent it from burning.