Everyone loves America's favorite dessert - apple pie. There are hundreds of taste-tested recipes for this wonderful dish, each one unique in flavor and texture. Some people like a traditional apple pie filling in a flaky crust, while others like the interaction of the apples with other fruits, crusts made from a variety of different ingredients, and non-crust toppings such as cheese or cookie crumbs. Making a homemade apple pie is easy with the right ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques. It's next to impossible to make a poor tasting apple pie when you start with good, fresh ingredients. To make a great traditional style apple pie, however, you need to start with an amazing pastry crust.
Start your perfect pie crust with quality ingredients that have been refrigerated before you begin your pastry crust recipe. That means every ingredient including the flour. Any liquids going in the pastry should be ice cold. Use an all-purpose flour, not bread or cake flour, as neither is suitable to achieve a tender, flaky crust. Lard and shortening produce the best pie crusts. Using half butter and half shortening will result in a flaky pie crust with a rich buttery flavor. The flakiness in the pie crust comes from the fat that is used in the pastry recipe. Cut in your fat by using a pastry blender, or a fork, and just cut in the butter and shortening until the dough resembles tiny pea size pieces. When a recipe calls for water, substitute ice-cold sour cream or heavy cream and the result will be an even flakier crust.
Pie Recipe
When the pie crust is the perfect texture and consistency, pat and press the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. The refrigeration time relaxes the dough and makes the job of rolling it out into a perfect circle easier. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, place on a floured board and starting from the center carefully roll outward. Flour your rolling pin as necessary. Roll your dough into a circle that is 2-inches in diameter larger than your pie plate. Cover the dough again in plastic wrap, and refrigerate and additional 30 minutes.
Place your pie dough into the pie pan and trim the edges. Your pie dough is now ready for filling. Pay careful attention to recipe details as some pie crusts will need to be pre-baked, need small holes pricked in the bottom of the pie crust to allow steam to escape, or have the edges covered with foil to avoid the crust from overcooking. When you start with the perfect pie crust you are on your way to the perfect apple pie.
Perfect Apple Pie Starts With Perfect Pastry Crust
Take a local cooking class and learn how the professionals make amazing pies and desserts, or head over to http://www.ApplePieRecipe.net and select an apple pie recipe from the finest tasted apple pie recipes the world has to offer.
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