OLD FASHIONED SWEET DOUGH PIE CRUST RECIPES

Steps:

• Combine the flour, sugar (if using), and salt in a large bowl; refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Add the shortening to the dry ingredients and toss it with your hands to coat, then break it up into smaller pieces. Using a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until the pieces of fat are roughly the size of small peas and everything looks like it has been touched by the fat. There should be no dry, floury areas.
• Mound the ingredients in the center of the bowl. Drizzle about half of the water down the sides of the bowl, turning the bowl as you pour so the water doesn’t end up in one spot. Using a large fork, lightly mix the dough, tossing it from the perimeter toward the center of the bowl. Drizzle most of the remaining water here and there over the dough and toss again.
• Mix the dough vigorously now. The dough should start to gather in large clumps, but if it is dry in places, stir in the rest of the water.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pack it into a ball, then knead it several times to smooth it out. Put the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten it into a ¾-inch-thick disk. Wrap the disk and refrigerate for about 1 hour before rolling.

Steps:

• 1. This pastry is perfect for making apple and other sweet pies. Even if you’ve never made pastry before, as long as you stick to the correct measurements for the ingredients and you follow the method exactly, you’ll be laughing. The one place where you can experiment is with flavouring. If you don’t fancy using lemon zest, try another dry ingredient like orange zest instead. Or a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg or cocoa powder. Vanilla seeds are great too. Just remember to be subtle and don’t go overboard with any of these flavours!
  2. Try to be confident and bring the pastry together as quickly as you can – don’t knead it too much or the heat from your hands will melt the butter. A good tip is to hold your hands under cold running water beforehand to make them as cold as possible. That way you’ll end up with a delicate, flaky pastry every time.
  3. Sieve the flour from a height on to a clean work surface and sieve the icing sugar over the top. Using your hands, work the cubes of butter into the flour and sugar by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. This is the point where you can spike the mixture with interesting flavours, so mix in your lemon zest.
  4. Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it together till you have a ball of dough. Flour it lightly. Don’t work the pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short. Flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Pat it into a flat round, flour it lightly, wrap it in clingfilm and put it into the fridge to rest for at least half an hour.