Why Was My Pie Crust Tough?
The pie crust is the base for hundreds of pastries. While it's made of only a few simple ingredients, it's scary enough to make many people opt to use pre-made, store-bought crust. Understanding why your pie crust turned out tough will help put confidence back in your baking. Does this Spark an idea?
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Tough Crust
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A tough pie crust is the result of the flour absorbing too much fat. This makes the crust very dense instead of tender.
Cold Ingredients
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All of the ingredients used to make a pie crust should be very cold, including the bowl, flour, water and especially the fat. If the ingredients are warm, the result will be a tough, dense crust.
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Flour
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It is also helpful to use a low-protein flour, such as all-purpose or pastry flour. Flour used for baking bread and cakes should be avoided because their high gluten levels will toughen the dough.
Other Tips
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While the amount of fat affects tenderness, the type of fat you use will affect flavor and flakiness. You can use a variety of solid fats, such as butter, vegetable shortening or lard. The crust turns out flaky when bits of fat melt in pockets of dough when it's baking. Some people use a cheese grater to add very cold butter shreds to the flour; some use a kitchen tool called a "dough cutter" to cut fat into the flour. Whatever fat you use, do not thoroughly mix the fat into the flour, but "cut" the fat into the flour just until crumbs form.
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References
- Photo Credit cherry pie image by Xavier MARCHANT from Fotolia.com
