Perfect Pie Pastry

Servings24

Time to Prepare60 minutes

Recipe developed for BC Egg by Chef Dez, Corporate Chef for BC Egg

The perfect pie pastry for your next lemon meringue or BC blueberry pie, or a fantastic foundation for quiche!

This recipe makes enough pastry for two double-crust pies, or 4 single-crust pies and it freezes well.

Ingredients

5 cups flour
3 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pound shortening very cold
1/4 cup frozen butter
1 large egg
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Cold water

Instructions

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
Cut in shortening with a pastry cutter then, using a medium sized grater, grate the butter in and stir to distribute.
In a liquid measuring cup, lightly beat egg and vinegar and add enough water to fill to 3/4 cup measure. Stir into the flour mixture just until moistened, and divide the dough into four equal portions.
Shape each into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour, and then roll out.

Notes

You can change the ratio of butter to shortening, as long as you ensure you use a total of 2 1/4 cups of fat. Shortening contributes to a lighter pastry while butter makes the pastry more flavourful.