How to Make the Perfect Old-Fashioned Pie Crust

When it comes to baking the perfect pies, I believe it all starts with the perfect pie crust and in my opinion, store bought crusts do nothing for me. Like my mother and grandmother, I prefer good old-fashioned hand-rolled crusts made the traditional way with flour, shortening and other ingredients.

The following recipe was given to me 20+ years ago by my grandmother who was a fantastic pie baker. This recipe will make 3 crusts.

\"Pie Recipe\"

Freezing and Refrigeration Tip: If you are not going to be using all 3 crusts right away, you can roll them out and place in your baking dish. Cover with foil and place into the freezer for up to 3 months. You can make your dough and form into a large ball and place in your refrigerator for up to 12 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and let it come back to room temperature before rolling the dough out.

How to Make the Perfect Old-Fashioned Pie Crust

Triple Pie Crust Recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 cup vegetable shortening

2 tablespoons cold milk

4 1 /2 tablespoons tap water

1 egg yolk

In a large bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, blend in the vegetable shortening and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the cold milk, tap water and egg yolk, blending ingredients together by using a fork. Stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until the ingredients are well combined. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes in a covered bowl.

Separate dough into thirds and roll each third out onto a floured dough board using a rolling pin. Your crust is now ready to be gently placed inside your baking dish.

If desired you can brush your top pie crust with an egg glaze which gives a nice glossy finish to your crust.

Egg Glaze Recipe

1 tablespoon cold milk

1 large egg yolk

Separate the egg yolk from the egg white using an egg separator. Add in the tablespoon of cold milk and whisk until blended. Using a pastry brush, lightly glaze your top pie crust.

How to Make the Perfect Old-Fashioned Pie Crust

Shelly Hill has been working from home since 1989 and is a Manager with Tupperware. Shelly enjoys cooking and baking for her family and friends and trying out new recipes. You can visit Shelly online at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com or at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for additional free recipes and cooking tips.

Making the Perfect Pie Crust

The pie crust forms the foundation for many sweet and savory dishes from apple pies to minced meat pies. As such, it is very important to master the art of making the perfect pie crust, of which the following tips should help.

Use Only Cold Ingredients

Pie Recipe

No matter the type of pie you are making, cold ingredients are the key to making it as perfect as possible. In fact, professional chefs attest to the need for the pie dough to never get warmer than 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Any lower than that and you end up with a soggy crust.

To achieve perfect results, you should remember these tips in relation to the handling of ingredients:

Fats - Be it butter, lard or vegetable shortening, always make sure that these are chilled before using. Too warm fat ingredients adhere to the flour too much, thus, producing a tough crust.

If you are using cold butter or margarine, either cut into small pieces or grate with a cheese grater before adding to the flour.

Liquids - Always use ice cold, or at least chilled, liquid ingredients. You also want to add in just the right amount of liquid to the flour - too little water makes for dry, crumbly dough while two much makes for tough dough. Plus, do add the water gradually instead of pouring them all at once.

Flour - Even the flour must be chilled. You can use different types of flour depending on your aim - low-protein wheat flour for tender pie crusts, all-purpose flour for a more general texture.

Use the Right Type of Equipment

You should only use either a dull metal pie plate or a glass pie plate to bake your pie crust in. Thus, it makes perfect sense to invest in good quality pie plates especially when your family is fond of pies, special occasion or not.

You may ask why dull metal. Well, the shiny metal plates somehow prevent the pie crust from browning evenly and properly. After all, a golden brown pie top is the best initial come-on for any pie!

If you are using glass pie plates, you must lessen the oven temperature by 25 degrees than the recommended recipe temperature. Also, you must never grease your pie plates.

Other General Tips

Your pie crust will turn out perfect with these general tips on baking them.

If you are making a fruit pie, you can ensure a firm filling when you cut deep slits at its top. This is because moisture is released as it is being baked, thus, avoiding a soggy and soft filling.

Cover the crust with either aluminum foil or a pie shield so as to prevent the crust from getting browner than it should be. Or you can always turn down the oven temperature.

There are many ways to prevent the pie crust from getting soggy. First, you can sprinkle it with a mixture of flour and sugar in equal parts before adding the filling. Second, you may brush the unbaked bottom of the pie crust with a well-beaten piece of egg white, again, before pouring in the filling.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, are the practical tips on making a pie crust that's perfect.

Making the Perfect Pie Crust

Doug has been writing online articles about health and family topics for 4 years. Doug specializes in baby and kitchen products. You can read his latest articles KitchenAid Professional 600 Series Mixers and Kitchen Artisan Mixers at KitchenArtisan.Org

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Perfect Apple Pie Starts With Perfect Pastry Crust

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.

Friends Link : Pie Recipe Recipes Bookmark BBQ Recipe

Why Jello Recipes Make the Perfect Ending to Dinner

Not everyone has appetizers before dinner and not everyone has dessert either, but sometimes it can be nice to make appetizers or dessert, or even both, because it makes dinner extra special.

Appetizers and desserts can be as filling and substantial or as small as you want. Think about dessert recipes, for example. If you are hungry you might want a big slab of chocolate cake with whipped cream or a generous slice of warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream. If you prefer something lighter, that is where jello recipes really hold their own.

Pie Recipe

Jello Dessert Ideas

There are jello recipes for every occasion and if you just fancy something sweet after dinner, you might like to make a plain jello dessert, a layered jello dessert or even jello with chunks of fruit in it. Jello is suitable for kids and adults alike and you can even get sugar free varieties of jello which are perfect if you want to enjoy dessert without consuming lots of calories or fat.

Jello can be used to make cookies, cakes or pies. Jello instant pudding is great when you want a dessert in a hurry and this delicious dessert comes in many flavors. You can also use jello pudding to make mousse recipes or pies.

Pairing Jello with Fruit

Another good idea for dessert is to make a jello-filled fruit. You can remove the flesh from an orange, grapefruit or melon and pour jello inside. Leave it to set and you have a special and unique dessert.

Desserts like this are so simple to make and you can even make them in bulk if you are catering for a buffet or party. Choose sugar free jello and you will be able to make a healthy dessert which tastes amazing.

After dinner it is nice to indulge your sweet tooth, even if you just have a small dessert. Desserts are a good way to end dinner. Sometimes you can have something indulgent and other times perhaps you just fancy a jello recipe or something light.

Recipe for a Jello-Filled Cantaloupe

This is a fun recipe and if you want to use sugar free jello to make a healthy jello dessert for the family, this recipe is ideal. You can use any fruit you want in this jello-filled cantaloupe recipe. Canned pineapple and mandarin segments would be a good alternative to strawberry and banana, if you fancy a tropical flavor. This recipe serves four people.

What you will need:

• 1 cantaloupe melon
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 package sugar free lime jello
• 1 sliced banana
• 1 cup sliced strawberries

How to make it:

Dissolve the lime jello in the boiling water and let the mixture cool. Stir in the fruit. Cut a slice out of one end of the cantaloupe melon. Take out the seeds. Pour the lime jello into the middle. Wrap the melon in plastic wrap and chill it overnight in the refrigerator.

To serve, cut the jello filled melon in slices and garnish each serving with some whipped cream, cottage cheese or cream cheese.

Why Jello Recipes Make the Perfect Ending to Dinner

There is always room for jello, as the slogan goes, and that is always true. There are so many jello recipes you can make, ranging from basic layered jello desserts and fruity jello recipes to a strawberry pie jello recipe or something similar. Why not treat your family to a homemade dessert tonight? Jello recipes are quick and easy to make and they finish off any meal perfectly.

We Don't Make the Products We Just Make Great Desserts with Them!

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