December 27, 2008 Recipes >> Flakey Pie Crusts

FLAKY LOW CARB PIE CRUST

Makes 4 single crust pies - freeze dough you do not use

“Butter gives flavor; lard gives flakes. Together they produce a crust that is flaky, tender, sweet and full-flavored, the kind most prized.  Dough made only of butter will give you a crisp, sturdy crust with little flakiness - unless butter is left in largish pieces. When pre-baked on its own, a butter crust will stand firm against juicy fillings. Handled properly, a butter crust is strong enough to be rolled out and molded.” Julia Child, Baking with Julia, p. 31, 1996. “Butter has 6% trans-vaccenic fat from cows, more easily digested than the trans fat found in hydrogenated oils. It has 500 different fatty acids, butyric acid (C: 4) oleic acid, lauric acid, and lecithin and a trace of omega 3. Butyric acid is a necessary fat for killing Candida yeast overgrowth, and is the shortest chain possible for all fats. This means less distortion in at 350 F. (180 C.) than any other fat. Butter dissolves in water and is easily digested, but dangerous when used in large amounts due to lack of sufficient essential fatty acids.

Traditional pastry used lard (pork fat) or coconut oil - without health issues attached until 1988 with the coconut oil scare. It was a reporting error. Nutritional experts continue to recognize it as a safe fat, virtually free of trans fats and healthier than margarine. Coconut oil has caprolic acid, (six carbon molecules long) caprylic acid (eight carbon molecules long), and palmitic acid, a non-essential saturated fat, (sixteen carbon-molecules long). These oils tolerate heat better than vegetable oils.

Julia Child inspired me when she said “If you could have only one pie-dough recipe in your repertoire (heaven forbid) it would have to be this one,” Ibid. This cookbook immortalizes her famous PBS series in the 60’s. Spelt, a larger grain and cousin to wheat, works for wheat sensitivity, and is the gourmet of grain flours. All-purpose spelt makes light-textured crusts while offering superior nutrients that have anti-cancer benefits.  Mixed gluten-free flours also work very well for pie crusts.

6 cups (1.5 L.)                   mixture of unbleached and whole grain spelt flour, or three gluten-free flours mixed

1 tbsp. (15 ml)                   guar gum

1 tbsp. (15 ml)                   salt with trace minerals

1 lb. (454 g.)                       cold unsalted butter, cut into large pieces

½ cup (125 ml)                  coconut oil or lard

1 cup (250 ml)                   ice water

1.  In your largest mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients with a large spoon.

2.  With a pastry cutter, cut lard and butter into largish pieces into the flour, and then smallish pieces the size of a pea.  Pour water around the circumference, mixing flour and fat gingerly toward the center until a ball forms. Compress dough with the hands and divide into four parts.

3.  Press one part on a floured surface.   With a rolling pin roll to a rough ten-inch  circumference.  Lift into a nine-inch pie plate  and trim around the circle.  Bake at 350 F. (180 C.) for 10 minutes. Fill with your favorite filling and top with honeyed pecans or walnuts or whipped cream.