Who doesn’t love pie? Buttery flaky pie crust is not difficult and once mastered you will never want to buy that pre made stuff again. Don’t be intimidated its actually very simple to make. With summers bounty of fresh fruits and berries you can treat yourself and your family to a homemade pie. Fruit pies. cream or custard, single or double crust, free form (galette) round or rectangular, here’s how to make it:

Julia Childs pastry dough

Makes 1 9 inch double crust pie

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1/2 c cake flour

1 tsp salt

6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) COLD unsalted butter

4 tbs vegetable shortening (cold) (can also use leaf lard)

1/2 c ice water

Whisk together the flours and salt. Cut the cold butter into pieces. Add the butter and shortening to the flour and either using your hands or a pastry cutter work the fats into the flour until it is combined but you will want small pieces of butter to be visible the chunks of butter will ensure a flaky tender crust. Add the ice water, stir in with a fork then gather the dough with your hands. It should hold together when pressed with your fingers. Form into two equal size disks, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Highly recommend watching this video tutorial by Erin McDowell who literally wrote the book on pies. Keeping the butter and pie dough cold is the key to success especially important in the summer and don’t overwork the dough. Double the recipe, divide, wrap in plastic wrap and place in zip lock bag and store in freezer its good for months, you will always have pie dough ready, defrost in the refrigerator overnight not on the counter.

Note: You can also use the food processor to make pie dough. You simply pulse the fats into the flour. I like to pulse just until the fat is barely incorporated leaving visible chunks, dump into a mixing bowl and hand stir in the ice cold water.

Remove 1 disk from the refrigerator (important to keep everything cold) roll to desired shape and fit in pie plate, place in refrigerator while rolling out the 2nd disk. Add the fruit, put top crust on, crimp, brush with egg wash ( 1 egg beaten with a tbs of water) sprinkle with sugar and bake on a baking sheet (just in case it bubbles over the pie plate) in a 375 degree oven until browned and bubbly.

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