Wizard Recipes

These fundamental American desserts were once made daily in many households, and no wonder: They combine common ingredients with easily mastered techniques for often dramatic and always satisfying results.

All have some form of crust, a universally loved treat that almost always depends on a fair amount of fat-usually butter-to make it light, flaky, and delicious. What distinguishes pies and tarts from cobblers and crisps is the composition of the crust, how it is formed, and whether it’s on the top or bottom.

Though the technique for making pie and tart crusts must be learned, it is literally child’s play. If you can roll out a Play-Doh pie, you can make a real one. If you don’t feel up to the challenge, start with cobblers and crisps and work your way up.

Though dedicated pie makers do get better and better at producing flaky, flavorful, nicely shaped, and beautifully colored crusts, it need not take years of trial and error to get the technique tight; in fact, you can make good crusts for pies, tarts, cheesecakes, crisps, and more your first time out, and quickly.

There are so few ingredients in the basic crust that good quality is absolutely vital for each one. The best crusts start with butter, although there are people who use a high percentage of shortening (I don’t). Lard and butter, as it happens, complement each other well in crusts, but I usually use all butter: It gives the crust a rich, delicious flavor and good color (good lard and, admittedly, shortening do help with texture, but the former is sadly hard to find, and the latter-health issues aside- has a negative impact on flavor).

Technique and flour turn that butter into something magical. It isn’t difficult; I routinely use my food processor to mix the dough for pie crusts, and I recommend you do too-it’s quick, easy, efficient, and nearly foolproof.

You can mix the dough by hand, of course, pinching the butter with flour between your fingers or using various utensils like a pastry blender or two forks. However you do it, the idea is to get small bits of butter coated in flour, which will make for a flaky and light crust.

When the dough is formed you will be able to see bits of butter in it; this is a good thing-don’t think it needs to be mixed more. In fact, the dough for pies and tarts should be handled minimally, because you don’t want the gluten to develop as it does in bread dough; in these crusts you want tenderness, not chew.

Once you make a dough, let it rest in the refrigerator or freezer so the gluten relaxes. This also hardens the butter a bit, which makes rolling easier. Equally important, it helps the crust hold its shape in baking and form a flaky crust. Once the dough is frozen, it can be stored in the freezer for weeks or even months (be sure to wrap it well to prevent freezer burn).

Rolling the Dough

Transforming dough from a ball or disk to a fairly uniform round crust, less than 1/4 inch thick, involves a combination of patience and practice. Ideally you’ll roll the dough out only once, because rerolling will toughen it. At first, though, you may need more than one try. Although rolling tart dough makes a more even and flat crust, it can just be pressed into the pan.

These tips that will make rolling dough easier:

• Start with dough that is firm and slightly chilled but not hard or frozen. It should yield a bit to pressure, but your fingers shouldn’t sink in (if they do, refrigerate or freeze for a while longer).

• Flour the work surface and the top of the dough to prevent sticking to the counter and the rolling pin. Beginners should use flour liberally; as you get the hang of it, you’ll use less and less flour. Alternatively, put the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, parchment, or wax paper and roll it in there; as long as the dough is not too sticky, this will work just fine.

• Roll from the middle of the disk outward, rotating the rolling pin and the dough to make sure it’s evenly rolled. Apply even and firm but gentle pressure to the rolling pin.

• Fix any holes with pieces that break off at the edges; add a dab of water to help seal your patches in place. Don’t try to pinch the hole closed.

• If the dough becomes sticky, slide it onto a baking sheet and stick it in the freezer for a few minutes.

• When the dough is rolled out, move it to the pie plate or tart pan by draping it over the rolling pin and moving it into the plate; or transfer it by picking up your plastic wrap, removing one side, laying it in place, then removing the other side.

• Press the dough firmly into the plate all over. Refrigerate for about an hour before filling (if you’re in a hurry, freeze for a half hour or so).

Once the dough is in the pan, you can trim it and make the edge more attractive. Tarts typically have a simple edge; just use a knife to cut away the excess dough. Fluted tart pans make a pretty, ruffled-looking edge without any extra work on your part.

Piecrusts, on the other hand, have more elaborate edges. Different pie makers prefer different techniques, some more complicated than others.

Baking the Crust

There’s not much mystery behind baking crust. There are a couple ways to go about it: either baking the whole pie, filling and all, or prebaking (”blind baking”) the crust alone first. Though it adds a step, in many if not most cases prebaking the crust gives better results.

When you’re baking a filled pie, always put it on a cookie sheet; it encourages bottom browning and prevents spillovers from cooking onto your oven floor. If your crust edges start to get too dark, loosely wrap a ring of foil around them.

Vitamin-packed, fiber-rich fruits are important components of a well-balanced diet: The USDA recommends two to four servings per day. There are many delicious ways to meet this goal.

Enjoy a refreshing fruit salad for lunch, or top a green salad with orange or grapefruit sections. Serve juicy grapes or figs with cheese as a snack or dessert, or slip sliced fruit into a meat sandwich (try sliced peaches with baked ham and Dijon mustard).

Toss dried apricots or prunes into braised chicken dishes and beef or lamb stews, or eat ripe fruit out of hand and savor every sweet bite.

BUYING AND STORING FRUIT

Over the years, more and more imported fruit (from Central America, South America, and New Zealand) has appeared in stores, making otherwise out-of-season fruit available. But practically every fruit has a season when it is at its flavorful peak and most reasonable price.

Whenever possible, buy fruits in season from local farmers’ markets; you will be rewarded with the most delicious produce possible.

Some fruits, such as apples, cherries, citrus fruits, pomegranates, and rhubarb, are purchased fully ripe and can be enjoyed immediately. Other fruits, especially those that have been shipped long distances, need further ripening. These include apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears, and plums.

To ripen these fruits, place them in a closed paper (not plastic) bag or fruit-ripening bowl, and leave at room temperature for a few days.

Some fruits, such as bananas, kiwifruit, mangoes, melons, papayas, and persimmons, ripen best at room temperature, away from direct sunlight. Refrigerate all ripened fruits to keep them from becoming overripe.

PREPARING  FRUIT

All fruits with edible skins should be rinsed well before eating to remove any residual pesticides and surface bacteria. Some fruits, such as apples, are often covered with an edible wax coating to give them an attractive shine. Peel waxed fruit before eating, if you wish.

Nothing beats the flavor of fresh seasonal fruit, but canned fruit is a good pantry staple for a quick lunch or dessert. Some canned fruits are better than others; we are especially fond of pears and apricots.

Keep in mind that fruits canned in light syrup have a fresher flavor than those in heavy syrup.

In our website , we offer tempting recipes that are easy and delicious for just about every fruit you will find in your supermarket, local produce market, or farmers’ market. You’ll learn in the next articles  how to choose each fruit, how to store it at home, how long it will keep, and the best way to prepare the fruit for eating out of hand or for cooking.

To be most palatable, pastry should be served as soon as possible after it is baked. When it is allowed to stand for any length of time, the lower crust becomes soaked with moisture from the filling used, and in this state the pie is not only unpalatable, but to a certain extent indigestible.

Consequently, whenever it is possible, only enough for one meal should be baked at a time.

After a pie is taken from the oven, it should not be removed from the pan in which it is baked until it is served. In fact, pie with a tender crust cannot be handled easily and so should be cut while it is still in the pan.

Often it is best to serve a pie warm. When this is to be done, it can be served immediately upon being taken from the oven, or if it has been baked for some time and is cold, it may be set in the oven and reheated before serving.

Such treatment will freshen any pie that has become more or less stale and, as is well known, pie is much more palatable when it is warm and fresh than when it is cold or stale. In case pies must be kept before being served, they should be stored in a place that is both cold and dry.

A refrigerator is too damp and for this reason should not be used; but any other cool place that is sufficiently dry will be satisfactory.

Several ways of serving pie are in practice. This dessert may be baked in attractive dishes especially designed for this purpose and then served from them at the table, or it may be baked in an ordinary pie pan and then placed on a plate larger than the pan for serving.

Pie of the usual size is generally divided into five or six pieces, a sharp knife being used to cut it. If possible, a pie knife, which is narrow at the end of the blade and gradually grows broader until the handle is reached, where it is very broad, should be provided for the serving of this dessert, for it helps very much in handling the triangular pieces that are cut from a large pie.

The plates on which pie is served should be at least as large as salad plates. Very often, instead of serving it from the pan at the table, it is put on plates in the kitchen and passed at the table. Pie is always eaten with a fork, one that is smaller than a dinner fork being used.

With most pies containing fruit filling, a small piece of cheese, preferably highly flavored cheese, may be served. This makes a very good accompaniment so far as flavor is concerned, but is omitted in some meals because it may supply too much food value or too much protein.

However, if the fact that a high-protein food is to be served at the end of the meal is taken into account when the remainder of the meal is planned, there need be no hesitancy in serving cheese with pie.

Of course, when cheese is to be included in the meal in this way, the portions of the protein foods served with the main course should be smaller.

A very attractive as well as appetizing way in which to serve pie is known as pie a la mode. This method of serving, which is often resorted to when something extra is desired, consists in placing a spoonful or two of ice cream of any flavor on each serving of apple or other fruit pie.

Pie served in this way is high in food value and is a general favorite with persons who are fond of both ice cream and pie.

Many kinds of puddings are used for desserts. Some of them closely resemble cake mixtures, while others are similar to custards, but are thickened with a cooked or a raw starchy material.

Formerly, puddings were always boiled in a bag, but now desserts of this kind are prepared by boiling, steaming, or baking. To improve the flavor of puddings, sauces of a contrasting flavor are usually served with them.

Puddings are often considered to be rather indigestible foods and in many cases this is true. For this reason, it is not wise to include them to any great extent in the diet of children. Because of the ingredients used in them, they are a heavy food and are usually high in food value.

Consequently, some thought should be given to their selection so that they may be suitable for the rest of the meal in which they are served. It seems to be the custom to serve a rich dessert with a heavy meal, but, as is well known, it is less proper with such a meal than with a light meal.

A little attention given to this matter will enable you to prepare menus that will provide the family with a properly balanced meal.

The time of day and the season of the year for the serving of puddings are also matters that should receive consideration. It is much better to serve desserts of this kind with a noon meal than with an evening meal.

Then, too, warm puddings with sauce will be found much more appetizing in the cool season of the year than in warm weather. On the other hand, cool desserts or fruits served as desserts are very much  more acceptable in warm weather than during the cold seasons.

PREPARATION OF PUDDINGS

As has already been mentioned, puddings are cooked by being boiled, steamed, or baked. No different utensils from those used in the making of custards and cakes need be provided for the making of puddings except, perhaps, a steamer.

A utensil of this kind, which is required for steamed puddings, consists of a large pan, which sets directly over the flame and into which the water is poured; a second pan, which fits closely into the first one and into which the pudding is put; and a spout, into which the water may be poured.

The steamer must be very closely covered in order that all the steam, which does the cooking, may be retained. An apparatus that will answer the purpose of a steamer may be improvised, however, if there are in the supply of household utensils a pan, a colander, and a cover that will fit tight enough to retain the steam; or, instead of putting the pudding directly in the second pan of the steamer, it may be put into individual molds or a pan that will hold a sufficient quantity to serve just the desired number of persons and these then set in the second pan to cook.

Steamed puddings–When puddings are cooked by steaming, it should be remembered that the steaming process must be continuous. Therefore, if water must be added during the cooking, boiling water should be used so as not to lower the temperature and stop the formation of steam. After being steamed sufficiently, puddings of this kind are often placed in the oven for a short time in order to dry the surface.

The baking of puddings is so similar to the baking of cakes and custards that the same directions apply. A few points, however, should be kept well in mind if good puddings would be the result. The utensil in which a pudding that is to be baked is put may be of any desired shape, but it should always be greased.

This also holds true in the case of puddings that are to be steamed. Puddings that contain an egg-and-milk mixture, as, for instance, bread pudding, must necessarily, as with custards, be baked at a temperature low enough to prevent them from curding.

Who can resist a perfectly ripe piece of fruit? Tender, blushing peaches; rosy slices of watermelon; mahogany plums dripping with garnet-colored juice; crisp, crunchy apples; luscious, sunny oranges; sweet, mellow bananas; succulent berries in a rainbow of hues.

Few things are more pleasurable than eating really good fruit. So why don’t we eat more, and why do we so often fall short of the recommended absolute minimum of two servings of fruit per day? Why do Americans seem to prefer a box of store-bought cookies or cake from a mix for dessert?

In the traditional Mediterranean diet, fruit is a meal’s crowning glory, the ultimate finish to a delicious dinner. The Mediterranean climate is perfect for growing a wide variety of fruits, and whatever is freshest, juiciest, loveliest, and in season provides the final flourish to meals already rich in color, texture, flavor, vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytonutrients, and good old-fashioned pleasure.

Fruits are full of great nutrition. Most fruits are high in that ever-helpful and healthful antioxidant vitamin C (for more on the antioxidant powers of vitamin C ). All fruits are full of essential vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber (more on fiber in Chapter Six).

Many contain high doses of carotenoids and other phytochemicals such as caffeic acid and coumarins, which help the body to rid itself of carcinogens; ferulic acid, which may help to shuttle potentially carcinogenic nitrates out of the body; cryptoxanthin, a carotenoid associated with decreased cervical cancer risk; and flavonoids.

Additionally, many studies have linked high fruit consumption (in conjunction with high vegetable consumption or on its own) with lower rates of certain cancers. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the specific effect of fruit consumption on cancer, and found “strong protective effects . . . for cancers of the upper digestive and respiratory tracts,” as well as a lesser effect “on cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, and larynx.” The study also found that the farther a tumor was from the digestive tract, the weaker the protective effect of fruit.

Nonetheless, the study also found “significant protective effects of fruit . . . for cancers of the liver, pancreas, prostate, and urinary tract.”

Yet, despite fruit’s demonstrated healthfulness and great taste, in America, eating desserts higher in both refined sugar and fat than a simple piece of fruit seems to be the norm. A fancy pastry, a chocolate sundae, or a candy bar are weekly, even daily treats for many.

Such high-sugar, highfat fare is only an occasional treat in the traditional Mediterranean diet, never a daily or even a weekly indulgence.

While people in some parts of the Mediterranean enjoy a small bite of something sweet during the late afternoon, rich desserts never follow a meal, and portions are relatively tiny. Fruit appropriately follows a heavily plant-based meal, offering both the fulfillment of that desire for something sweet, fiber to provide a feeling of satiety, and one last dose of nutrients and phytochemicals to send the diner on his or her way.

While a ripe, juicy piece of raw fruit is the ultimate treat, fruit can also be delicious cooked, stewed, or added to recipes.

APPLES

Apples are a part of the cuisines of many countries, and have existed in the Mediterranean as early as the third century b.c.e., when Cato, a Roman writer, mentioned seven different varieties of apples. The Roman Pliny, writing in the first century c.e., names thirty-six varieties of apples in his writings. Caesar’s invading Roman legions are credited with introducing apples to Britain, and the first American settlers brought apple seeds to the New World.

One medium apple has about 80 calories and supplies 5 grams of fiber, more than a serving of oatmeal and about one-fourth the daily fiber recommended by the American Dietetic Association. Most of the fiber in apples is soluble fiber, a substance demonstrated to lower cholesterol levels.

But the benefits don’t stop there. A daily apple may indeed keep the doctor away, especially if that daily apple remains unpeeled. Recent research out of Cornell University has uncovered a host of phytochemicals in apple skins, including the flavonoids known as quercetin glycoside, phloretin glycoside, chlorogenic acid, and epicatechin, most heavily con centrated in the skin.

Apples have been shown to exhibit higher antioxidant activity than oranges, grapefruits, carrots, spinach, onions, and green peppers, according to the Cornell study. (Wash and rinse apples well with vinegar and water if they aren’t organically grown.)

Yet Americans only eat, on average, an apple every three days. Apples are one of the hardier fruits that keep well and ship well, and compared to many fruits, they are amazingly long-lived. This durability adds to apples’ convenience. You can buy them in bulk and eat them, as long as they are stored in a cool, dry place, for months.

Some apples can keep for six months or more (such as the popular Red Delicious) under the right conditions. What food could be more convenient than an apple?

Look for apples with firm flesh and without bruises, soft spots, depressions, cuts and nicks, or little holes. If the inside flesh is showing and has been exposed to the air, vitamins and minerals may have been destroyed. Apples grown locally or regionally are great if you can get them.

Big or small, apples can be surprisingly sweet and juicy. Color varies among apple varieties. Red Delicious, for example, are a bright or deep red, while Gala apples are yellow overlaid with a rosier red.

Avoid apples with a brilliant shine. Lots of shine probably means lots of wax, which traps pesticides. If you can find only waxed apples, peel them before eating. Whether you peel or not, wash all apples with vinegar and water, and scrub with a brush. Cut out any bruises or nicks.

Apples last longer in the refrigerator and ripen faster at room temperature (as is the case with many fruits). Some of the more widely available apple types, all great for eating out of hand, are Braeburn, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith (also perfect for pies), Jonagold,

Jonathan, McIntosh, Red Delicious, Rome Beauty (also ideal for baking), and Winesap. Many other types exist, too. Check your local market, produce stand, or grocery store.

Apples are widely available all year round in the United States, and the many types, flavors, colors, and uses make them irresistible. Shouldn’t you be eating more?

APPLES, of which there are at least a thousand varieties, are probably the best known of the non-tropical fruits. Some apples mature early in the summer, while others do not ripen until late in the fall.

The late apples can be kept during the entire winter if they are properly stored, but the summer varieties must generally be used immediately, as they do not have good keeping qualities. In each locality in which apples are grown, a few varieties seem to be especially popular and are used to the exclusion of others.

Some apples are good for one purpose and some for another. For instance, many that are excellent if eaten raw are not good for cooking purposes, and others that cook well are not suitable for eating.

It is therefore a good idea for the housewife to become familiar with the varieties of apples raised in her community and to learn the use to which each kind can be put to advantage.

Apples of all kinds may be prepared in a large variety of ways. They are much used for sauce, pie, and numerous desserts, as well as for jelly and, with various fruit mixtures, for jams and preserves. The juice of apples, which upon being extracted is known as cider, is used in a number of ways, but its most important use is in the manufacture of vinegar.

APPLE SAUCE.

When apple sauce is to be made, apples that are somewhat sour and that will cook soft easily should be selected.

This is a dessert that can be made all during the winter when it is often difficult to obtain other fruits fresh. It is usually served when roast pork is the main dish of a meal, but is just as appetizing when served with other foods.

Here a simple recipe, sufficient to serve six:

You should have:

10 medium-sized apples

1/2 c. water

1 c. sugar

Wash the apples, cut them in quarters, remove the cores, and, if desired, peel them. Put them into a saucepan, add the water, and allow them to cook until they are very soft. If the apples are inclined to be

dry, a little more water may be necessary.

When done, force them through a colander or a sieve, add the sugar to the pulp, and return to the stove. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved and, if necessary, until the apple sauce is slightly thickened, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat, and season with lemon peel cut fine, cinnamon, or nutmeg.

If there are apples in supply that do not cook well for apple sauce, they may be peeled, quartered, and cored, and cooked with the sugar and water. Then, instead of being forced through a sieve, they should be allowed to remain in pieces in the sirup.

A pleasing change in the way of an apple dessert may be had by making porcupine apples.

PORCUPINE APPLES

(Sufficient to Serve Six)

6 large apples

1 c. sugar

1 c. water

2 doz. almonds

Currant jelly

Wash, core, and pare the apples. Make a sirup by bringing the sugar and water to the boiling point. Put the apples into the sirup, cook on one side for several minutes, and then turn and cook on the other side. Do not allow the apples to cook completely in the sirup, but when they are

still hard remove them and continue to boil the sirup down.

Set the apples in a shallow pan, stick the almonds, which should be blanched, into them so that they will project like porcupine quills, sprinkle them with sugar, and bake in the oven until they are soft and the almonds slightly brown.

Remove from the oven, fill the center of each with currant jelly, pour the juice over them, and serve.

Members of the mousse clan are creamy-sweet, velvet-smooth concoctions that we savor by each spoonful in gastronomic delight. They are pudding-like with no pastry base or topping and no flour other than as thickener.

The clan includes the familiar and homey puddings and custards, the stylish, elegant mousses, the less familiar creams (or crèmes), the old-fashioned fools, whips and the culinary tour-de-force, sweet soufflés. Although their preparation ranges from simple to difficult, they all satisfy your sweet tooth like nothing else.

Who is who

Puddings and custards are based on milk (or cream), eggs and sugar in varying combination as well as flavorings. The thickening agent is egg. Recipes may also call for flour, starch or gelatin to ensure a firmer structure. Although these thickeners are not essential, they reduce the chance of failure in case your eggs turn out scrambled instead of thickener.

There is a subtle difference between custard and pudding. Usually anything thickened with eggs only are called custards, while puddings also contain another thickener. The basic preparation for both is the same and both used to be more popular than they are today.

They are easy to prepare, nutritious and inexpensive, and institutions often served them to save on labor. When cheap instant pudding powders appeared on grocery store shelves, they made home preparation remarkably easy. Just stir the powder into water, heat and you have instant dessert. Today bakers still serve them as informal everyday desserts, though less frequently.

Gelatin desserts are also in this category.

Creams and mousses are closely related and similar to custards and puddings in consistency. Creams (the French call them crèmes) are heavy cream and flavorings whipped together without any thickeners.

Mousses are whipped cream and flavorings with added gelatin to give a firmer structure. If there are eggs in the mousse, they are not for thickening but for extra flavor. Some recipes fold in beaten egg whites for a cloud-like texture. Mousses today are especially fashionable desserts.

Fools and whips are always fruit based desserts. In case of fools (originally a British term of endearment from where the name came), you fold sweetened whipped cream into puréed or finely chopped fruits, while whips use a similarly prepared fruit with sweetened beaten egg whites folded into them, instead of cream.

Both are best when cold. Fools are uncooked but whips may be baked before serving. Just as easy to prepare as creams and mousses, they can also be just as impressive and delicious. For some reason they are not nearly as popular as mousses.

They are particularly good summer desserts when plenty of fresh, good-flavored fruits are in season, especially berries. Their frosty, refreshing chill is a welcome sight on a hot summer dinner table. Let’s not forget the most spectacular member of this family, dessert soufflés.

They demand far more preparation, attention and expertise than fools or puddings, but the basic ingredients are similar: mostly eggs and flavoring, often with milk and possibly flour or starch. The ingredients and their exact proportions are critical. So is the way you whip the egg whites, and the technique for making the basic sauce, as well as the temperature of the oven and bake time. Presenting a perfect soufflé as a finale to any meal is like serving a piece of art.

You make soufflés in two basic steps. First, you carefully cook and thicken an egg yolk based custard-like sauce. Add the flavorings after the sauce reaches the right consistency. The second step is to beat the egg whites to a soft-peak stage and fold the foam into the sauce. Pour the mixture into a vertical-sided soufflé mold and bake. Heat expands the beaten egg white, just like in a cake but the soufflé’s structure is especially unstable.

Soufflés can easily double, even triple in volume in the oven. Insert a paper collar around the inner edge of the soufflé mold to give support to the baking batter that rises above the edge of the dish. Otherwise you will end up with a giant mushroom shape with a large flat cap. Remove the collar just before serving.

When to remove the finished soufflé from the oven is also crucial. Pull it out a few minutes too soon, and you and your guests can watch your marvelous creation deflate before your very eyes.Leave it in two minutes too long and you end up with something that beginning to taste like a dry omelet thickened with sawdust.

Soufflés don’t hold well. You must serve them straight out of the oven, so you must keep the guests on schedule. To serve this masterpiece for maximum effect, place it on the table, cut into pieces and served while everyone is watching. An alternative is to bake soufflé in individual soufflé dishes. Either way, soufflé is best fresh. They don’t store well till the next day.

For all the time and effort you put into them, the risk of total disaster is high. Baking soufflés is for brave and experienced cooks but the results are spectacularly rewarding. Prudent cooks have a back-up dessert when baking soufflés.

There are two basic methods of making a pie dough-with hand or in a machine. In my kitchen tests I compared the results made with hand, in a food processor and with a food mixer. The food processor did a respectable job but the food mixer did not. Even with the food processor, you need to finish mixing by hand or you are likely to end up with an unfortunate overworked dough.

To make the dough with the processor, follow your manual’s instructions only until the ingredients begin to coalesce. Then dump the partly-formed dough on a pastry board and complete the last steps by hand.

Whether by machine or hand, the idea is to cut the hard, solid fat into the flour so it remains in discernible pieces. By hand you can do this with two knives working them parallel but in the opposite direction, or a pastry blender that meant for this purpose. Or simply quickly rub the fat into the flour with cold fingers.

A food mixer doesn’t mix the dough very well, leaving fairly large chunks of unworked fat in the dough. Longer mixing eventually gives a more homogenous mass but at the cost of overworking and warming the dough that bakes into dense, tough crust.

While we are on mixing, let’s distinguish the two types of American pie crusts-the flaky type in which you mix solid fat into the flour until still fairly coarse, around pea size, and the mealy crust in which you mix the fat thoroughly into the flour until very fine. Southerners prefer mealy crust while the rest of the pie-lovers like the flaky type.

For mealy crusts you can use food processors to form the crust a little longer-it is still good to finish the last few second by hand. Some cooks like to use a pastry cloth for rolling out pie dough. There is even a tube-shaped pastry cloth that fits over the rolling pin. A pastry cloth minimizes sticking and the need for additional flour.

For experienced bakers it is just an additional gadget to store and clean. Quick

work and correct dough consistency at the right temperature assures problem-free rolling without any help.

Cookbooks tell you to shape the finished dough into a ball before chilling. However, shape yours into a flat disk. First, a disk is thinner, cools faster in the refrigerator. Second, it warm up faster when you are ready to roll it out. And third, a disk is easier to roll into a circle than a ball- with a disk you are already half-way there.

Cover the disk with plastic wrap or place it in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator for at least one hour to chill and relax. After the dough had a nice long rest, bring it to about 50°F (10°C) for easy rolling. The secret of a good rolling technique is to work the dough from the center out with deliberate but not vigorous movements. Coax the dough to roll out thin-don’t force it.

The dough may refuse to obey you if there is not enough flour on the board and it sticks instead of thins out. If that happens, gently lift the dough and sprinkle a fine dusting of flour under it as well as on the rolling pin. This should give you the upper hand. Never gather the dough again and roll it out twice-it toughens the crust.

Once you start, you are committed. For the same reason, don’t work too much of the trimmings from the first pie crust into a second crust or a top crust. Make “orts” out of them, instead, by sprinkling each leftover piece with cinnamon and sugar, or cocoa and sugar, and spread them on a baking sheet. Put them in the oven with the pie, but remove in 10 minutes or less, depending on their thickness. Orts are great sweet tidbits to nibble on.

To transfer the finished dough circle from the work surface to the pie plate, roll it up on the rolling pin, hold it over the plate and unroll it over the pie plate. Avoid stretching it any more because it causes more shrinkage on baking. If you need to move it to center the dough on the plate, lift and move, don’t stretch. The gluten remembers its original shape. If you stretch it, it will spring back in the oven like a rubber band. Another method of transferring the rolled-out dough is to fold it in half and then again into quarter. Lift it onto the pie plate and unfold.

I also recommend to try this delicious pie recipes :

1. Apple Pie

2. Pumpkin Pie

3. Apple cranberry streusel

4. Banana cream pie

5. Buttermilk Pie

Pies are the third most popular American desserts following ice creams and cookies.

Considering the amount of work you put in, you get more mileage out of pies than from any other dessert, considering both taste and eye appeal. Attain the experience to make a good pie dough quickly, and you have the basis for making a very good dessert for any occasion.

Most fillings, whether simple or elaborate, are reasonably easy to make, even with meringue, whipped cream or any other topping. You can even prepare the dough (or baked crust) days in advance and finish it in no time on the day you plan to serve it fresh from the oven.

If you use a good recipe and good ingredients, preparing a delicious pie or tart has only one secret: you must make your own crust. Commercial food processors learned how to make quite acceptable cake mixes, frozen cakes and a number of other frozen pastries, but they haven’t managed to produce a good fresh or frozen pie dough or crust.

If pie crust is not yet on your list of skills, take a few hours and learn how to do it. The ingredients are inexpensive, even if you have to throw a dozen doughs or crusts out before your thirteenth attempt is a winner. Once you master the technique, making your own crust is a snap.

A simple way to learn is to watch someone who is good with pie dough. Or learn it by yourself from books or videos. It helps to understand what happens in the dough so don’t skip this article.

What goes into it?

Pie dough has only four ingredients: flour, salt, fat and water. Tart pastry has the same four ingredients plus sugar and maybe egg.

Commercial bakers use pastry flour specifically made for pies. Like cake flour, they mill it from low-protein and high-starch soft wheat to promote tenderness. Pastry flour is not as finely milled as cake flour. Don’t try to use cake flour for pie dough. It is too fine-grained, and tends to paste up when you add liquid.

Specialized pastry flour is not available to most home cooks, but you can mix cake flour with bread flour in a 7:3 ratio and come close to commercial pastry flour. But that is hardly necessary-all-purpose flour is quite suitable, too, and you always have it on your shelf.

Salt is an essential ingredient and does not vary in amount, without salt the crust tastes flat. Use ¼ teaspoon salt for every cup of flour.

The amount of water you need, however, varies with the humidity, your climate and the amount of moisture in your flour and fat. Recipes give an approximate amount, but start with smaller than called for, and add more little at a time to arrive at the correct, easily workable dough consistency.

Fat is also a variable. What fat you choose and how much you use makes a huge difference in the consistency, texture, flakiness and flavor of your pie crust.

The role of fat in the dough

The fat’s ability to interfere with the formation of gluten is called its shortening power. What happens is that the fat coats the protein grains in the flour and keep them from absorbing moisture.

Without moisture the proteins cannot convert into gluten, that elastic sheet-like substance so essential for good breads but a killer in pie dough. Lard, vegetable shortening and oil have high shortening power. Butter and margarine have less because they are not all fat-they contain about 16 percent water (while other fats have none).

Lard not only has high shortening power but also just the right physical properties (called plasticity and dispersability by food scientists) to produce the most flaky pastries. But you cannot use just any kind of lard.

Which part of the pig it comes from, or even from which part of a single

layer it is taken, determines the type. The ideal lard for pies is leaf lard, a layered fat located around the pig’s kidneys. It has a crystalline structure that readily forms tiny layers in the pastry, resulting in flakiness that a top pastry chef can be proud of.

When bakers, both commercial and at home used lard extensively for biscuits and pastries in the past, leaf lard was readily available. Concerns about fats and cholesterol in modern times has changed all that, and these days you would be hard put to get leaf lard even from a good butcher.

Slaughterhouses no longer separate fats from various parts of the pig; there is not enough demand for leaf lard. The lard that is available in retail markets is a rendered fat that may be from any part of the animal. It is a refined, emulsified, hydrogenated all-purpose product meant mostly for frying.

Though not ideal, this lard still makes good flaky pastry.