How to Make a Delicious Buttery Flaky Pie Crust? - By: treeves

Pie is the famous American Thanksgiving food savored by most of them during the delicious Thanksgiving dinner and no matter what, save some room for the delicious pie. This simple baked dish was once a staple food of shepherds who cherished pies often filled with meat like beef, lamb, wild duck, and magpie pigeon and spiced with pepper, currants or dates unlike the recent trend of pies filled with sweet concoctions. History records the appearances of pie as long before as the medieval times and traces its origin to Greek culture. It was the Greeks who first brought in the art of making pastry shells, which they made by combining water and flour and hence it's believed they started the preparation of pie in the ancient days that later on spread to other cultures. The Romans are thought to have baked their pies with many different kinds of meats and even seafood like mussels. From then on, the humble pie has undergone many modifications in different cultures and has been dished out in several variations to suit the taste buds.

In America, like most of the other popular foods, pies have traveled from England as a savory meal, which later spread to the colonies and with it came a proliferation of new, sweet pies. Now, one can find several types of pies like Apple pie, Pumpkin pie, Pecan pie, Lemon pie, Meringue pie, Mince Meat Pie, Sweet potato pie, Coconut pie and Shepherd's pie, though there are numerous varieties that I often find plying on the Internet of my computer connected by Verizon FiOS Bundles. Most of the times, I try out new recipes that I source from online and add a twist of my own to these recipes. I enjoy baking and never find it a tedious errand, particularly baking pies is the most delightful work for me, though baking a good pie is what everyone dreams of. All that I can say is every trade has its own tricks and that, it is very important to consider those techniques, especially if you want to prepare a perfect pie with buttery and flaky crust. Either you can opt for store-bought frozen pie crust to save time or you can choose to make your own pie crust. Here's my insight on baking that perfect crust whatever type it may be, flaky, crusty or buttery.

The basic pie ingredients are flour, liquids like fruit juices, egg yolks, sour cream, milk or cream or even little vinegar and a pinch of salt. Sticking to the ratio of three parts flour, two parts fat, and one part liquid, you can devise your own variation in the recipe to suit your taste buds. Protein rich flour enables you to get the required elasticity though you can substitute the plain four to any other type of flours. Using a combination of fats also helps you to get a tastier crust unlike just using one type of fat. The type of liquids you use gives the essential texture required for the crust and the secret lies in adding slowly you're liquid or even drizzle it while mixing the dough which should resemble coarse meal in the initial stage. Another trick is to keep all your ingredients cold before mixing and working your way through the dough quickly into a round shape which is easy to roll. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before you roll and after rolling it, blind bake the crust filled with any weights.

Pies have come a long way since the days of the ancient times when people used to savor their savory pies to the present times of sweet concoctions and popular one like apple pies are the most sought after in the modern American culture.

About the Author

Tina is a freelance writer and a food enthusiast, who likes to explore the American cuisine, adding a twist to the traditional recipes. She likes to write about tips on baking a perfect soggy-less pie crust with innovative fillings for which she source ideas from food channels of her TV powered by Verizon FiOS Bundles.

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