Category: Crust

Shortbread Crust

2/1/2021

This was originally a part of the super-lemony lemon tart, but I broke it out into its own recipe because I ended up using it for several other things, such as the other tart-tasting sweet, the cranberry tart. This ended up such a simple, reliable recipe that it's now my go-to substitution for quite a lot of things!

8" square pan or 9" round pan
½ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350F. If the pan does NOT have a removable bottom, line it with foil (it will help you lift the finished dessert out). If the pan DOES have a removable bottom, butter the bottom and sides.
Melt the butter and whisk in sugar and salt. Sift and mix in the flour.
Press into a ¼” thick layer at the bottom of the prepared pan (you can make it curl slightly up the sides to help keep the filling/topping from sticking too much to the sides) and bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown (this is a little crispier than normal shortbread cookies). Take out and set on a cooling rack. Prick the surface lightly all over with a fork - only halfway through the shortbread, not all the way through. This will help the filling to “stick”.

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Lemon Bars

11/27/2020

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This started out as an experiment as I had read a Cook's Illustrated article on how to make an intensely lemon-y lemon bar without the fillers starting to get in the way. It's a tough balance between the liquid - the lemon juice - and the dry ingredients - the flour - because you can't really increase one without increasing the other. Adding more lemon means it becomes a runny mess unless you add more flour, but adding more flour simply cuts into the lemony taste.

Unfortunately, I've since lost the link to the Cook's Illustrated article, but it talked about a secret ingredient - cream of tartar. And from its detailed descriptions, I worked backwards from a standard lemon bar recipe and reconstructed the following for a crisp, crunchy shortbread topped with a truly lemony curd.

one portion of shortbread crust
⅔ cup lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
3 eggs + 3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp zest
2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp butter, cut into four 1 tbsp chunks

Make one portion of the shortbread crust.
While the shortbread is cooling, combine all filling ingredients except the butter in a double boiler over medium heat. Continuously whisk while the double boiler is simmering, until the mixture has thickened to about a custard consistency, with faint trails left behind by the whisk.
Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk in the butter one tbsp at a time, mixing until all the butter has been incorporated. Strain through a sieve into a clean bowl.
Pour over the shortbread crust in about a ½” thick layer and return to the oven for about 10 minutes. The filling should have only the slightest wobble to it when you shake it.
Let cool completely, remove from pan, then cut into rectangular pieces.

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Pie Crust

10/22/2020

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This dough needs to sit overnight in the fridge, so plan ahead, but it's totally worth it. Out of the half dozen different recipes of piecrust I've made for my family, they've always voted this one as consistently the best. Other than that overnight stay, it's a very simple recipe and easy to work, especially if you have a food processor to help.

While the ingredients list is exactly the same, the steps to mix the piecrust are slightly different, as I've mixed in some of my own experience working with it. I highly recommend you use the weighed measurements instead as they will provide the most consistent ratios.

130 grams (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) warm water
28 grams (2 tbsp) granulated sugar
6 grams (1 tsp) fine salt
312 grams (2.5 cups) all-purpose flour
170 grams (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes and frozen
60 grams (1/4 cup) vegetable shortening, preferably in baking stick form, cut into 1/4-inch pieces, frozen

Keep some butter and shortening in the freezer as a ready supply whenever you wish to make piecrust. Otherwise, make sure you put some in the freezer far enough in advance of when you want to make the piecrust that the butter can freeze solid (the shortening won't freeze solid, but it should become very very cold).
In a large bowl or cup, mix the sugar and salt with the water and stir until they have all melted into the water. Place the water mixture into the freezer; you will want it to be ice cold by the time you use it.
Measure the flour out and also place this in the freezer.
Measure out the required amounts of butter and shortening and cut them up. I don't usually bother going down as much as a 1/4-inch when using a food processor; usually 1/2-inch chunks or smaller are okay.
Take the flour out of the freezer and pour it into the food processor's bowl. Add the butter to it. Turn on the processor for several seconds (don't pulse - if you do, you'll get flour flying everywhere with each pulse) and then stop it to check on the size of the butter pieces. You'll want them to be roughly pea-sized, so continue processing them if necessary.
Add the shortening, then process. Because shortening is so much softer, it will take much less time to get them cut down to size. They should be mostly pea-sized also, but if you find just a few larger pieces, you can smoosh them between your fingers instead of over-processing.
Pour everything into a large bowl. Take the water mixture out of the freezer and drizzle it over the dough. Using a plastic bowl/bench scraper, fold the mixture until the water is roughly mixed throughout, then switch to your hands. Working quickly so that the heat from your hands don't warm up the dough too much, lightly gather the clumps with your fingers and use your palm to fold over and press the dough into the bottom of the bowl a few times (don't knead it, just give it a few quick squishes) until the dough just starts to come together into one large mass. Divide into two equal discs of about 1-inch thickness (mine turn out to be roughly 320 grams each if you want something more precise than just eyeballing).
Double-wrap them in plastic wrap and then let them rest in the fridge for at least 8 hours. They can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days this way, or you can freeze them for up to a week. When taking them out of the freezer, let them defrost in the refrigerator overnight.

To prebake:

Roll out the dough and pan and flute the piecrust. Chill it in the freezer until firm, 15-20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 F with a rack in the center. Prepare a square of parchment about 13" on each side. Set the pan on a baking sheat and set the square of parchment in the pie shell, gently smoothing it into place and pleating as needed to fit against the bottom and sides of the shell. The edges will project beyond the rim of the pan.
Fill the shell to the top with dried beans or uncooked rice. Gently stir the beans around to ensure there are no air pockets down in bottom edges. Top up as needed so that the beans/rice are level with the top of the piecrust edges.
Bake the shell for 25 minutes. Take the piecrust out and set on a cooling rack. Set a heat-proof mixing bowl nearby, and then carefully bringing together the points of the parchment, lifting the beans/rice out and transfering them to the mixing bowl.
Using a fork, pierce the bottom of the piecrust a few times, then slide the piecrust back into the oven and bake for another 7 minutes for prebaked, or 10 minutes for fully prebaked. Cool on a wire rack.

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Phyllo Pie Crust

3/16/2016

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I love the delicate crunchiness of phyllo, and always wanted to try it out in a pie. It's not the easiest thing to work with in terms of both handling and baking with fillings, but perseverance found a way! Presentation-wise, I think a deep dish pie pan looks more interesting than a standard pie, but either way, this is an interesting twist on the conventional crust. Just be prepared to serve it with both a knife and a fork - for all of phyllo's flakiness, it's not the easiest to cut through with just the edge of a fork, particularly the bottom of the crust.

1/2 package of phyllo dough (defrosted)
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
(optional) sugar

Using the melted butter, coat the pie pan.
Lay two strips of parchment paper, about 2" wide each and long enough to overhang the pan by another 2", in an "x" across the pie pan and gently press them in. Also butter the parchment paper.
Set the oven to 350 F.
Lay out the phyllo dough flat. Cover your work surface with foil (you only need enough for a little more than half the size of a phyllo sheet). Carefully separate out one of the phyllo sheets and lay one half of it on the foil area. Gently brush butter over half the sheet. (If you wish to sweeten the crust, you can sprinkle some of the sugar over the buttered area.) Fold the other half of the sheet over it and lightly press them together.
Drape the halved phyllo sheet in the pie pan and gently ruffle it as you press it in - the ruffles not only add visual interest, but will keep the phyllo sheets from compressing and baking into one single mass (particularly on the bottom). You can choose to fold the corners that overhang the pan's edge under themselves, or leave them extending out (just keep in mind that extended corners tend to be very delicate and burn easily - be prepared to cover them with a heat shield during baking if necessary). Gently brush butter over the top of this layer.
Keep layering and buttering the sheets until the entire pie pan is covered. Continue until you have used up the phyllo sheets.
Bake the phyllo crust for about 10 minutes, check if it needs to be turned in the oven, and then continue for another 5-10 minutes until it turns golden (keep a close eye on it so that it does not burn). Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then using the parchment strips, lift the crust from the pan onto a wire rack to prevent the bottom from being steamed into softness.
When filling, it's best to let everything cool down (the crust and the filling) to room temperature so that steam isn't trapped between the filling and the crust.

Notes: You may wish to keep the phyllo covered with a sheet of saran wrap so that it doesn't dry out - I personally find though that if I work efficiently and steadily, that I don't need a covering sheet.

I tried this method initially by baking the filling inside the raw phyllo and having both bake at the same time, but this both compressed the bottom too much and made it not as crunchy. Also, since phyllo is prone to getting soaked by wet fillings, you can experiment with "lining" the bottom with something like a mix of ricotta cheese and flour to help buffer the liquids.

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Graham Cracker Crust (Bake and No-Bake)

6/22/2015

For an approximately 9" tart or pie pan:

2_1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 5 sheets)
pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Optional:

1/8 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts

If you're using whole graham crackers, finely crush them in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin.
Stir all the dry ingredients together. Add the melted butter and stir until all the crumbs are dampened.
Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Press hard to compact. You can use a glass to press the bottom, but use your fingers to press the sides.
To make a no-bake pie: Chill pie crust for at least one hour before filling. Cover if chilling longer.
To make a baked graham crust: Preheat oven to 325 F. Bake crust for 10-12 minutes, until it just starts to brown. Cool completely before filling.

Note: You can get either the pre-flavored honey or cinnamon graham crackers, though I find that the honey ones already tend to be pretty sweet, so I don't add any sugar to those.

Pine Nut Crust for Tarts (from Bouchon)

4/9/2015

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This is an absolutely amazing crust. The pine nuts were expensive, but totally worth it, and with a food processor and a stand mixer, everything was done in 10 minutes. In fact, the toughest part was just getting everything divided up evenly and wrapped well, and then cleaning up.

10 oz (2 cups) pine nuts
1/3 cup sugar
1 lb (3 cups) all-purpose flour
8 oz unsalted butter @ room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Servings: enough for 3x 9" tarts

Place pine nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add sugar and flour and continue to pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
Add butter, egg, and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate all the ingredients (highly recommend a mixer with a paddle attachment for even incorporation of butter, otherwise the crust will easily fall apart when baked).
Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before using. (Extra dough can be frozen, wrapped well, for up to 1 month.)

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ARCHIVE: Breton Shortbread Cookies or Tart Crust (from The French Market Cookbook)

1/1/2015

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1/2 cup/70g unrefined blond sugar (also sold as evaporated cane juice) or caster sugar
6 tbsp/85g high quality unsalted butter, softened
1 small fresh vanilla bean or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large organic egg
1 cup/130g all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. (Alternatively, do this by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon.) Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a sharp knife, scrape the seeds from the inside of the bean with the dull side of the blade, and add them to the sugar and butter. Beat the sugar and butter at low speed until pale an fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat for 2 minutes.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stirring with a whisk to remove any lumps. add to the mixer and mix at low speed for a few seconds, just until no trace of flour remains. The dough will be quite soft.
Transfer the dough to a container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350F/175C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 1/3 in / 8mm. Peel off the top sheet gently and use a round cookie cutter, about 2 in /5cm in diameter, to cut out circles of dough.
Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, giving them a little room to expand.
Gather the scraps of dough and repeat to cut out more cookies. As the dough warms to room temperature, it may become to soft to work with; place it in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up before cutting out circles again.
Bake the sables until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
Transfer to a rack to cool completely. The sables will keep for a few days in an airtight container at room temperature.

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ARCHIVE: French Pastry Pie Crust

1/1/2015

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In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Mix well, then cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.
In a small bowl, combine egg, vinegar, and 4 tablespoons of water. Whisk together, then add gradually to flour mixture, stirring with a fork. Mix until dough forms a ball. Add one more tablespoon of water if necessary.
Allow dough to rest in refrigerator 10 minutes before rolling out.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup shortening

1 egg
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
5 tablespoons water

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Shortbread Crust

Lemon Bars

Pie Crust

Phyllo Pie Crust

Graham Cracker Crust (Bake and No-Bake)

Pine Nut Crust for Tarts (from Bouchon)

ARCHIVE: Breton Shortbread Cookies or Tart Crust (from The French Market Cookbook)

ARCHIVE: French Pastry Pie Crust

Sweet Enough

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