Butter-Shortening Food Processor Crust and Mixed Blueberry Filling
The quality of a woman’s pies used to matter. Every good baker had a crust she knew by heart because she made pies all the time. Her pies broadcast her skills. Those fruit-filled crusts were made with lard rendered from her own pigs (later the fat was bought from the local butcher), or lard combined with butter (also made on the farm), a method suggested in cookbooks as far back as 1796. In the early 20th century, two brands of solid vegetable shortening hit the market. First came Crisco, then Spry. Both offered recipes for all-shortening crusts, and as bakers did when they used lard, they learned to add some butter for richness. Around the same time, Wesson Oil jumped into the pie business with an oil and milk recipe and began marketing it as an easy alternative. All-butter crusts, similar to sweeter French pate brisee, came later.
Today, everyone who bakes has a different notion of what constitutes a great crust: a certain method, a particular fat, a way to roll, crimp, or bake. We decided it was time to taste - not to try every technique and pie crust formula on earth, but to make enough pie crusts to discover which fat is best. We headed for the kitchen with mountains of flour, plenty of blueberries and some lemon for punch, and oil, lard, butter, and shortening.
2 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup solid vegetable shortening, cut up
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut up
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons ice water
Extra flour (for sprinkling)
1 recipe mixed blueberry filling (see below)
1 tablespoon milk (for brushing)
Extra sugar (for sprinkling)
Mixed Blueberry Filling
If you have a shallow pan, use 6 cups of berries (5 frozen, 1 fresh)
½ cup sugar
4 tablespoons tapioca
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons butter
1.In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pulse just to sift them. Add the shortening and butter. Pulse again until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Remove the processor lid. Sprinkle the 3 tablespoons sugar over the mixture and pulse just to mix it in.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, vinegar, and ice water. Remove the processor lid. Sprinkle the liquids over the flour mixture. Pulse several times, or just until the dough forms large moist clumps, not a ball.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Gently, patting the dough with flour, work it into a neat ball. Divide it in half and shape each half into a flat disk. Wrap them separately in foil; refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5. Set the oven at 400 degrees. Have on hand a deep 9-inch pie pan. Set it on a rimmed baking sheet.
6. On a floured counter, roll one piece of dough into a round slightly larger than the dish. Lift it onto the rolling pin, and ease the dough into the pie pan. Use scissors to trim the excess around the edges. There should be a ½-inch overhang. Turn the overhang under to form a hem all around.
7. Fill the pie with berries; refrigerate.
8. On a floured counter, roll out the second round of dough. Lift it onto the rolling pin and ease it onto the filling. Tuck the edges of the dough all around to make them even with the bottom edge. With your fingers, crimp the edges. Or press them evenly all around with a fork. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. With a paring knife, make 5 vent holes.
9. Bake the pie for 40 minutes or until the filling is bubbling through the vents and the crust is golden. (If the crust seems too brown, turn the oven down to 375 degrees for the last 15 minutes.)
Mixed Blueberry Filling
1.In a bowl, combine the fresh and frozen berries, sugar, tapioca, salt, and lemon juice.
2. Transfer the fruit to the pie pan - mound it carefully so it’s quite high in the pastry. Dot the top with butter. Bake as directed.
Sheryl Julian