I started experimenting with making pie dough in my teens after I had graduated from baking quick breads and muffins. Let me tell you, it took a lot of trial and error to get it right. Back in the 90s, a lot of recipes in Canada would call for shortening when making pie crust – an ingredient that would never have been found at our house – and so I thought lack of it was the reason mine wasn’t flaky and delicious. That and the fact I had no food processor, which many recipes asked for. Whatever I did, the crust was either too dry, too hard, would fall apart or was difficult to roll out. I mean, it was edible but the texture and taste were nowhere near what I was hoping for. I figured it was no wonder people bought the ready made stuff. A few years later, when I moved to France, one of my pastimes was to peruse cooking magazines – and I kept seeing the same tips over and over when it came to pie dough:
- Always use butter – shortening doesn’t exist in French supermarkets
- Always make sure your ingredients are cold
There are many types of dough used in French pastry making, but the 3 main ones are:
- “pate feuilletee”, which is puff pastry: this is flaky, is loaded with butter and more complicated to make. Definitely not worth the trouble if you are looking for quick and easy pastry-making. In fact, I think it is a good candidate for swapping with store-bought – just make sure to read the ingredients and ensure it includes butter – not vegetable oil.
- “pate brisee”, shortcrust pastry, which can be used for sweet or savory fillings. In other words, it works for a fruit tart or a vegetable one.
- “pate sablee”, a sweet, cookie-like version of shortcrust pastry, which uses more sugar. an egg and no water. It has a very cookie-like texture and is often pre-baked and then filled with cream, fruit, or other sweet fillings.
The one I use most is pate brisee because it is easy, versatile – you can use it for quiche or for a fruit tart – and requires minimal time and ingredients. When I use it for fruit, I add a bit of sugar, otherwise, I omit it.
I sometimes play around with the types of flours I use and replace the all-purpose flour with a mix of:
- gluten-free
- half all purpose, half rye
- 2/3 buckwheat, 1/3 rice (great for gluten-free savory tarts)
- half whole wheat spelt, half white spelt
- half whole wheat, half all purpose
But this “no food processor” pie crust dough is the base recipe used by most French home cooks. All you really need are flour, butter, salt, water, clean hands and a big bowl. However, what I do think helps me is to have parchment paper on hand. Putting the dough between two sheets of parchment paper will make EXTRA SUPER EASY to roll out.
Makes 1 medium-large pie crust (one 9-inch or 22-cm tart/quiche)
Ingredients
- 250 g flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsbp sugar (optional – only if you are using this for a sweet tart/pie)
- 125 g butter, cold and diced into 1-cm cubes
- 2-3 tbsp ice cold water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar
- Add the butter into the flour and rub the mixture with your fingertips until it resembles coarse meal. It should take 1-2 minutes.
- Add the water, 1 tbsp at a time and continue handling the pastry (quickly) until the dough starts to hold together. This shouldn’t take more than a minute. Turn the ball onto a sheet of parchment paper and flatten it into a circle. If it is sticky, sprinkle a tbsp of flour on top. Add another sheet of parchment paper on top and refrigerate it for an hour (up to 24h).
- When you are ready to use the dough, take it out of the fridge, let it rest for 10 minutes so it is easier to handle and roll it out without taking out the parchment paper. This will make it easy to roll out. Place onto pie plate and use according to recipe.
