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Pie Crust -- A Worthy Opponent


I have issues with pie crust.  I can make an okay crust, but I always strive for a crust that's more than just okay.  Thanksgiving is the time of year where I put my crust skills to the test.

I won't lie, I get a little nervous every year at Thanksgiving.  I mean, being responsible for dessert for a dozen people is a big responsibility!

Every year I try a little something different with my crust, striving to come up with that perfectly flaky crust that makes people wanting to go back for more.

I THINK I might have found it this year.  I think I ran across the concept on Pinterest, and although I didn't pin that recipe, it got me thinking about it.  Sour cream pie crust.  It was intriguing... would it work?  Would I like the result?

I had the ingredients, so I tried it (with slight modification).  Here's the recipe from food.com.  My modified recipe is below:

Sour Cream Pie Crust (supposedly will make enough for 1 9in pie, but I think it might yield more)

3 Tbsp. Sour Cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp ice water
1 stick of cold butter (cut into small pieces ... I quartered the stick, and cut into 10 sections)
1/4 cup chilled vegetable shortening
1/4 cup pastry flour (cake flour)
1 cup all purpose flour

Mix together sour cream, salt, sugar and ice water.  Set aside.

Mix both flours together. Cut the butter and shortening into the flour with your hands (or you can use a pastry cutter or forks) until it resembles coarse meal.  Add in sour cream mixture and stir until a dough forms (I used my hands... they were already coated with flour and butter).  If dough is dry, add small amounts of water JUST until the dough comes together (I would do 1 tsp. at a time).

Form mixture into a disc and chill for at least an hour.  According to the original recipe you can make this a month ahead of time and just freeze until you're ready to use.

So... this pie crust, amazing.  I don't know if it was the addition of the sour cream or the fact that I used pastry flour (why hadn't I thought about that before?!?)  It was so flaky, PERFECT!!

I know from experience that pie crust is totally temperamental ... I'm only hoping that the second go-around is just as successful.

Oh, in case you're wondering... yes, I took the picture with my iPad... I really need to invest in a good camera (maybe it'll inspire me to blog more?)

The pie is actually a caramel apple pie.  I threw it together with no recipe, but I'll give basic amounts below if you're trying to replicate.

2 apples (I used 1 fuji and 1 granny smith) -- chopped.
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 caramel sauce (I made mine from some homemade salted caramel that I had, and just heated it until it liquefied).

Mix everything together.

Roll dough out into a large circle (I only used 1/2 the above pie crust recipe for this pie).  place dough onto a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil).

Dump your apple mixture into the middle of the circle, and fold up the sides, leaving the center uncovered and the apples showing.

Bake at 425 for about 50 minutes (checking ever 20 minutes or so) until the crust is golden brown.

If I had thought about it, I would have probably done a last drizzle of caramel, but I was lazy.

Enjoy!!  Happy Thanksgiving!


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