Sweet Pastry Dough For Custard Pie Recipes

MOM'S CUSTARD PIE

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425°. Line unpricked crust with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake on a lower oven rack until edges are light golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake until bottom is golden brown, 3-6 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven setting to 350°. Separate 1 egg; set the white aside in a large bowl and let stand for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, beat the yolk and remaining eggs just until combined. Blend in the sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in milk. Beat reserved egg white until stiff peaks form; fold into egg mixture. , Carefully pour into crust. Cover edge of pie with foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil; bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Store in the refrigerator.

HOW TO MAKE PERFECT SHORTCRUST BY HAND OR MACHINE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients
• Place the flour, salt, and butter in a large, clean bowl.
• Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough from becoming warm.
• Add the water to the mixture. Using a cold knife, stir until the dough binds together. Add more cold water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too dry. Form the dough into a ball.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
• Use the shortcrust dough in your favorite pie, tart, or quiche recipe.
• Place the flour, salt, and butter into the bowl of the processor.
• Using only the pulse setting, pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Avoid overmixing if you can. (Too much handling can result in hard, dry pastry.)
• Through the funnel on the top of the processor, slowly add the water a little at a time until the mixture comes together in a ball.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 15 minutes and up to half an hour.
• Use in your desired pie, tart, and quiche recipe. Enjoy.

SWEET PASTRY DOUGH FOR CUSTARD PIE

Steps:

• Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add yolk and ice water, and process until dough just comes together. (It should not take longer than 30 seconds.)
• Shape into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.

BASIC SWEET PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and shortening. Rub the fats between your fingertips and thumbs, or use a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. One tablespoon at a time, work in enough ice water just until the dough comes together, being careful not to over mix.
• Shape into a smooth ball of dough, flatten into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to two days.

SWEET DOUGH FOR PIES

Steps:

• To mix the dough by hand, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium
• mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Cut butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and add to dry ingredients. Toss once or twice to coat pieces of butter. Then using your hands or a pastry blender, break the butter into tiny pieces and pinch and squeeze it into the dry ingredients. Occasionally reach down to the bottom of the bowl and mix all the ingredients evenly together. Continue rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse ground corn meal and no large pieces of butter remain visible.
• Beat the egg(s) in a small bowl and pour over the flour and butter mixture. Stir in with a fork until the dough begins to hold together, but still appears somewhat dry. Scatter a teaspoon of flour on the work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is smooth and uniform.
• To mix the dough in the food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1second intervals to mix. Cut butter into 1tablespoon pieces and add to work bowl. Process, pulsing repeatedly at 1second intervals, until the mixture is fine and powdery, resembles a coarse ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible, about 15 pulses in all.
• Add the egg(s) to the work bowl and pulse ten times or so, until the dough forms a ball.
• Scatter a teaspoon of flour on the work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is smooth and uniform.
• Press the dough into a disk (two equal disks for the larger amount of dough). Sandwich the disk(s) of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and press it into a 6 inch circle. Refrigerate the dough until firm, or until you are ready to use it, at least 1 hour.
• Storage: Keep the dough in the refrigerator up to two days, or freeze it doublewrapped in plastic. Because the dough is thin, it will defrost quickly at room temperature when you intend to use it.
• Variations:
• SPICE CRUST:
• Add 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon each freshly grated nutmeg and ground cloves to the dry ingredients before mixing in the butter. Double the quantities for the 2 crust recipe.
• COCOA DOUGH:
• Add 2 tablespoons sifted non alkalized cocoa powder to the dry ingredients before mixing in the butter. Double the quantities for the 2 crust recipe. If the dough seems dry after adding egg(s), add a teaspoon or two of water, no more.

BRITISH SHORTCRUST PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• Combine flour, butter, and shortening using a food processor until crumbly. Mix in water 1 tablespoon at at time until dough is soft and pliable.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap; let rest in a refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before using.

FLUFFY SWEET POTATO CUSTARD PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into two 1/8-in.-thick circles; transfer to two 9-in. pie plates. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plates; flute edges., In a large bowl, beat potatoes and butter until blended. Beat in sugar, flour, vanilla and nutmeg. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until blended. Add milk; beat well. With clean beaters, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into sweet potato mixture., Pour into pastry shells. Bake 45-55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover edge loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack; serve or refrigerate within 2 hours.,

CAJUN SWEET DOUGH

Steps:

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, beat the butter, then add the sugar a little at a time. Add the vanilla. Beat the mixture until it is nice and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Stir in the flour mixture alternately with the milk.
• Before you use this dough, be sure you chill it well at least 2 hours or even overnight.
• To make turnovers: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 inch squares. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the pie filling into the center of each square and fold over to form a triangle. Pinch the seams to seal or press with the tines of a fork. Place at least 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Brush with egg white.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the tops and bottom.

CLASSIC EGG CUSTARD PIE WITH LOTS OF NUTMEG

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/8-inch-thick round. Fit into a 9-by-2-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Line with parchment, and fill shell with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove beans and parchment, and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
• With the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a saucepan, and add pod. Add cream and milk, and bring to a simmer. Remove pan from heat, and cover. Let stand for 10 minutes.
• Whisk together yolks and granulated sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick, about 2 minutes. Still whisking, add warm cream mixture in a slow, steady stream. Add arrowroot and nutmeg. Whisk until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into cooled crust. Skim foam from surface.
• Bake until edges of filling are set but center is still slightly wobbly, about 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight). Before serving, unmold, sprinkle with nutmeg, and dust with confectioners' sugar.

SWEET-POTATO-CUSTARD PIE IN ORANGE CRUST

Steps:

• To make the crust, sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter, shortening and orange rind with a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture is crumbly.
• In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of orange juice with the sugar and nutmeg. Using a fork, stir the orange-juice mixture into the flour mixture to form a soft dough, adding additional orange juice if necessary. Do not overmix. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• On a floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to fit a 10-inch pie plate. Press the crust firmly into the plate and trim and crimp, or flute, the edges. Set aside.
• For the filling, beat the eggs, sugar and sweet potatoes together in a medium bowl. Add the milk and light cream and stir until combined. Add the melted butter, orange juice, vanilla extract, lemon extract, salt and nutmeg, if using, and mix well.
• Pour the mixture into the pie shell and bake until a knife inserted into the middle of the custard comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.