Tea Room Tales & Tidbits
Table of Contents
Pie Pastry
My mother made all of her pies look pretty with cutouts shaped into leaves and apples. Her pies had a beautiful ruffled edge and the fillings varied. We enjoyed pies such as banana cream, coconut cream, rhubarb custard, apple, and pumpkin. My personal favourite was lemon meringue.
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 454 g lard (1 box/1 lb)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of water
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- Measure flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Cut in lard until mixture resembles course pebbles.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture.
- Break the egg into a one-cup measuring cup.
- Fill to the one cup line with water.
- Mix with a fork slightly making sure to break yolk and whites into the water.
- Top up the cup with white vinegar.
- Pour egg mixture into well.
- Pull flour mixture gradually into the centre with a fork, eventually forming a soft dough ball.
- Divide dough into portions. 5 balls for pie crusts or manageable sizes for rolling and cutting depending on your project.
- Turn the ball out onto the floured surface.
- Knead dough by carefully folding the dough over three to four times to bring it together well enough to roll with a rolling pin.
- Roll dough out into a circle for pie shells. Then carefully roll the dough up onto the rolling pin.
- Place edge of dough near the edge of the pie plate with about a 2 inch overhang.
- Unroll the pastry over the pan.
- Trim edges to about 2 inches overhanging the rim. This gives you plenty of room to crimp a scalloped edge or fold over the pie crust top for a sealed edge.
Baking times will vary slightly depending on the type of pie you are baking.
Empty shells and cones bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. Be sure to prick bottoms of pastry with a fork and use a pastry weight or tin foil to press into the shells to prevent the pastry from shrinking to the bottom of the pie plate or container.
Makes 5 pie crusts

