frustrated..venting
*updated* it is almost 9:30 p.m. and my 2nd pie is in the oven. round 2 of the crust turned out pretty well and i am content. whew! there will be pumpkin and pecan pie after all! thanks everyone for the tips and well wishes. off to iron my tablecloth now, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
in an effort to finally make a decent pie crust i relied on a copy of my friends "baking illustrated" from america's test kitchen. i read the explanation of how to make pie crust (several pages) over last night and realized where my recent problems with pie crust have been (using the freezer to speed things up). so this morning i started to prep all my ingredients for the crust so they would be well chilled. i wasn't paying much attention until i started the food processor and realized that the amount of shortening it called for was extremely high considering there was butter as well. the mixture came together immediately and was not the fine sand texture the book called for. i knew it had to be the shortening and sure enough, i find a message board online that the shortening was double what it should be and no errata was done for this recipe. you know, the basic pie dough recipe with pages of explanation on how to make it perfect? HELLO. i cannot believe an error on what i consider to be one of the top staple recipes in the book would be wrong. now i have wasted flour, shortening and butter and have to start over.
not a good way to start my thanksgiving prep. ugh. stupid book.
in an effort to finally make a decent pie crust i relied on a copy of my friends "baking illustrated" from america's test kitchen. i read the explanation of how to make pie crust (several pages) over last night and realized where my recent problems with pie crust have been (using the freezer to speed things up). so this morning i started to prep all my ingredients for the crust so they would be well chilled. i wasn't paying much attention until i started the food processor and realized that the amount of shortening it called for was extremely high considering there was butter as well. the mixture came together immediately and was not the fine sand texture the book called for. i knew it had to be the shortening and sure enough, i find a message board online that the shortening was double what it should be and no errata was done for this recipe. you know, the basic pie dough recipe with pages of explanation on how to make it perfect? HELLO. i cannot believe an error on what i consider to be one of the top staple recipes in the book would be wrong. now i have wasted flour, shortening and butter and have to start over.
not a good way to start my thanksgiving prep. ugh. stupid book.
10 Comments:
I was having a similar situation last night with a cornbread recipe. It seemed like a lot of butter for cornbread and I didn't think about the fact that it didn't have any baking powder or soda for it to be a fluffy/cakier texture. Didn't find out until too late and w/ wasted ingredients.
I guess we just need to go w/ our hunch and it if looks odd, it probably is.
Hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and hope your pie crust turns out ok!
2 cups flour
2/3 c Crisco shortening (for a flaky pie crust, it really does make a difference)
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 to 7 Tablespoons ICE water (again, flaky crust, it does make a difference)
combine the flour and salt
cut in the shortening until it is pebbley (quickly, you don't want to work it too much)
add the water, start with the smaller amount and work up if required.
When you roll it, only roll in one direction, either up and down or back and forth
it is a quick easy reliable recipe. For a richer pie crust use more shortening. always use at least a third of a cup per cup of flour.
not sure how far you are into it but can you double everything else and have a double batch?
Not that it helps you now, but after I purchased the cookbook from them, a month or so later, they sent a postcard with the correction on it, so they at least tried to fix things.
Pie Crust can be the devil. I've found the best recipe comes from a book called Pie. That man knows his pie and if you can dedicate a whole book to it, then you know his pie crust is the best. The other great one is from Martha Stewart's Baking Book. Both are quite good but hey in your defense, pie crust is a meanie!
I'm trying my first pie crust ever and now I'm all nervous. Here's the one I am going to try: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/11/pie-crust-101/
That's so sucky! I'm sorry to hear this. I actually went and bought a frozen crust this year so I commend you for trying. :) Although, I am making my pumpkin pie from real pumpkin (I love me some Sugar Pie Pumpkins!). I hope that things work out for you and that you enjoy your holiday above all else!!! :)
My fav pie crust is from the William Sonoma pumpkin pie recipe and it has ALWAYS been a success. Having a Wolf oven helps ; )
Jan
Ugh! How frustrating. Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Ugh! From America's Test Kitchen? They are my most trusted (much more so than Martha Stewart - I tend to have bad luck there!)
I'm glad it's working for you now. I didn't lift a finger for T-day in terms of cooking, and I'm pretty sure I should thank Costco for the pie I ate, but I did end up doing ALL the dishes for our giant family feast. A decent trade-off for this time around, however I do miss the cooking!
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