Buttery & Flaky Pie Crust

February 13, 2020

Yet another way of making Short Crust Pastry or Pie Crust which is similar to how Puff Pastry is made, but using a different process.

I tried it out tonight and it tasted really flaky, though not as flaky or peeling in layers as I had expected. I think it has to do with the way I ‘cut’ or process the butter or fats into the flour.

Ingredients: makes 1 9″ pie crust

1 1/2 cups (125g) all-purpose flour

125g unsalted butter

40 ml (1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon) water

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Mix salt into the flour. (You can leave the salt out of the recipe if you are using salted butter)
Dice the butter and rub into the flour till it resembles bread crumbs or feels like sand. It’s alright if there are chunks of butter as this will help to make the layers in the crust.
Add the water and mix it into the dough. It will be quite wet.
Using your fingers, press the water into the dough against the sides of the mixing bowl.
The dough should start to cling to a ball. Work in a clockwise or anti-clockwise manner, swirl the dough into a ball.

SKIP THE ABOVE STEPS if you are using a stand mixer or food processor

Place in the fridge for 10 minutes, please wrap in some clingwrap first!
Unwrap the dough, keep the clingwrap for later.
Flour your rolling surface (sprinkle some flour on a board or counter top for rolling). Place dough on the surface.
Roll to a rough rectangle shape, about 5mm (1/4″) thickness. Fold the length into 3 layers – fold 1 end towards the center, about 2/3 of the rectangle’s length, then fold the other end on top.
Next step is to fold another 3 layers, again on the length.
Repeat previous 2 steps twice more.
If the dough starts to sweat or become sticky, wrap in the clingwrap & let it cool in the fridge before repeating these steps.