For many home bakers, creating a flavorful, tender pie or tart crust is a fearful and challenging process filled with questions. How is it that some home bakers consistently produce flaky, crispy, and tender crusts or shells while others consistently find this task so daunting? As pie and tart dough is produced from a few relatively simple ingredients— flour, fat, water, and salt—what are the secrets to creating great crusts?
Pastry doughs are commonly referred to as rubbed doughs. The texture of these doughs is developed by rubbing a solid fat and flour together, leaving pieces of the fat visible. The size of the fat pieces in the rubbed dough in part determines the final texture of the baked pastry. The fat coats and separates the protein links in the flour. Thus, when an ice-cold liquid is added, long protein chains called gluten are prevented from forming and the fat pieces remain solid. When pastry dough is baked, the fat melts and creates open pockets, and the liquid contained in the dough turns into steam, forcing apart the layers of dough and creating a flaky crust.
Pie and tart doughs can be made by three different methods: by hand, in a food processor, or in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Although making pastry dough by hand is time-consuming, when you are learning how to make dough it is helpful to make it by hand in order to develop a feel for the various stages of development.
Within the pastry dough category, there are two types of rubbed doughs: mealy and flaky.
Mealy doughs
Mealy dough, which is sometimes referred to as “short” dough, bakes into a crust with a crumbly yet melt-in-your-mouth tenderness that is achieved by rubbing the fat into the flour, leaving some pieces smaller than peas. When a liquid is added to mealy dough pieces, the flour is almost fully coated by the small pieces of fat and not able to fully absorb the liquid into the dough, which creates a crumbly yet tender texture. Mealy dough is appropriate for all types of pies and tarts, especially those requiring a blind-baked (pre-baked partially or fully without filling) crust, as its finer and tender texture is fairly durable.
Flaky doughs
Flaky dough is created by leaving larger pieces of fat, about the size of a pea, hazelnut, or small walnut, in the flour mixture. Flaky dough will bake into a crust that flakes apart into thin, delicate sheets. These types of crusts are best suited for pies and tarts in which the filling is baked in the crust. Flaky doughs are not suitable for blind-baked crust recipes because the flaky texture tends to leak fillings and juices.
To create an exceptionally flaky and tender crust, it is necessary to create distinct pockets of fat in the dough, so that as the fat melts, the steam forces apart the layers of dough. Many bakers prefer using a combination of half shortening and half butter to create pastry dough that is sturdier, holds its shape better, and is easier to work with, yet retains the characteristic flavor of an all-butter crust. Cream cheese and mascarpone can also be used in addition to butter; besides adding their own distinct flavors, the higher percentage of fat in these cheeses contributes to an extremely tender crust
To mix a basic pie dough by hand:
Combine flour, salt, and sugar (if using) in a bowl and stir to combine. Cut the cold butter into 3/4-inch pieces and use a pastry blender or your fingers to incorporate the butter into the flour until the butter is no larger than small walnuts but no smaller than peas. Work quickly, as the butter may soften as you work to blend it. The butter will be irregular in size and the mixture slightly ragged, but as you become more experienced working with pastry dough you will instinctively know the proper size of the butter pieces. Sprinkle a small amount of ice-cold liquid over the mixture and blend to combine.
Continue to add the liquid in small amounts, until the mixture transitions from a slightly powdery appearance with butter chunks to a gravelly, rough dough. At this stage, do not add too much liquid or overwork the dough, as it will cause your crust to become tough. The dough is finished when it just holds together when pressed to the side of the bowl.
Shape and press it into a ragged ball (or two, if making a double crust). Turn out the dough onto a work surface, and press and flatten it into a 5- to 6-inch-diameter disc. (For a double crust or lattice, divide the dough into two discs—a little less than half for the top crust or lattice and a little more than half for the bottom crust.) Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight.
Chilling pie dough is very important. It allows the dough to relax, making it less elastic and easier to roll out; prevents shrinkage and slumping of the dough during baking; holds shaped decorative edges better; and helps develop flavor in the dough. Chilling also resolidifies the fat in the dough to ensure a flakier crust. Rolling out well-chilled dough is easier, too, as the cold dough requires less dusting flour and is less likely to stick to the rolling surface.
You should chill a pie dough for a minimum of 1 hour, but pastry dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 4 months. After removing chilled pastry dough from the refrigerator, allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling. Allow frozen dough to defrost for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. If it is still too cold and hard to roll, set it out at room temperature until it becomes pliable and workable.