Pastry Made From Scratch
Pre-made store bought pastry shells or fresh made from scratch? For me it's no contest - fresh pastry wins hands down. Actually, hands down on the rolling pin going back and forth. And using a stand mixer it takes me 10 minutes max to mix, roll and cut my pastry. If it's going to have a bottom layer, I place a piece of cut parchment paper over the top of the pastry, and half fill the pie dish with dried beans and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. This will make sure the pastry is not soggy, and the beans will maintain the shape of the pie dish. Then I empty the beans into a Tupperware container for reuse for the next time I bake.
Pastry Ingredients
2 cups AP Flour
Additional Flour For Dusting
1 tbsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 or 2 oz. Cream (18 %)
2 oz. Butter (diced)
2 oz. Shortening (lard or vegetable) (diced)
Ice water
Pastry Recipe
You can combine the ingredients together in a large bowl and knead by hand OR you can use an electric stand mixer.
• In mixing bowl (stand mixer if possible)
o Sift flour, salt and baking powder
o With mixer on low speed
Gradually add butter and shortening cubes
Add oil and cream
Add ice water slowly
o When thoroughly mixed
Remove from bowl
Knead into a ball
Cover with plastic wrap and let sit
• When ready to start baking:
o Preheat oven to 350 degrees
o Dust bread board with flour
o Roll out dough in two round pieces - one about 10”, one 14” (approx.)
o Line pie dish with larger piece – tuck in until edges just overlap edge of dish
o Line pastry with round piece of parchment paper (optional)
o Half fill pastry bottom with dry beans (I use Navy) (optional)
o Prebake lined casserole dish for about 8 minutes (this will ensure bottom of pie not soggy)
NOTE: I buy an 8 / 10-ounce bag of dried beans and keep them in a sealed container when not in use. I place them
In the pastry shell prior to baking so that the crust doesn’t come out soggy – the weight of the beans also
prevents the pastry dough from rising when pre-baking. After the pastry has cooled, I remove the beans and replace them
In the container for reuse for other baking recipes such as fruit pies, quiches, etc.
Here are some of the kitchen appliances and / or tools that I use for making pastry. They can be ordered from Amazon Canada by selecting the pictures at right. Please note that I do not make any commission by clicking on the picture but only if you actually order the appliance / tool on the Amazon site itself.
Stand Mixer
KitchenAid Flex Beater Blade