Category: Pie

This basic savory pie dough is easy to make and has a hint of black pepper combined with a buttery dough. It is a perfect base for all your savory pies or quiches. You will find it makes the perfect base for the quiche recipe on my website. 

The ingredients are simple and typically I have them at the ready in my pantry/fridge. Thus when I want a nice hearty quiche for lunch, or need something easy and quick for a picnic, I don’t have to run to the store. I can quickly make this basic pie dough, let it chill for a bit, and I am ready to bake whatever I am up for. This dough makes a great substitute for recipes requiring a puff pastry as a base. Since I don’t always have puff pastry in my fridge I have substituted this dough several times and it works great.

As you can see in the picture above I use pastry flour for this recipe. You can substitute it with all purpose flour, preferably an unbleached one. I think that pastry flour yields a nicer end result, but it is not essential that you use it. Pastry flour is milled to a finer texture than all purpose flour, and is made with soft wheat for a lower protein content. This helps baked goods, like pie crusts, have more tender results and a finer crust.

Before you add the butter and liquid make sure you combine all the dry ingredients well. The pastry flour is sifted before use. Sifting is a process that breaks up any lumps in the flour. I always sift my flour before I go to any next step of baking. Sifted flour is easier to mix into other ingredients. Another tip is to fluff up your flour before measuring. When flour sits in the package it gets compressed together.  Measuring before fluffing may cause too much flour to be added and you will need more liquid in your recipes.

Frozen butter is easily grated and combined into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter.  It also doesn’t require as much strength as when you cut your butter into cubes and try to incorporate it with the flour. Since it is already tiny, it is quick and easy to cut in, and this prevents the butter from getting too warm. It is essential when making a pastry dough to work quickly and prevent warming the butter.

When the butter is well combined with the flour, it is time to pour in your ice cold liquids, starting with the Vodka. After the Vodka is combined with the dough, you add one tablespoon at a time of the ice cold water, until the dough comes together and no longer feels dry. Keep adding more until you are satisfied your dough isn’t dehydrated. You will need to add enough liquid to form a circle. If you add too little of the liquid the dough will crack later when you roll it out.

Form a circle, wrapping it air tight, and put it in the fridge to chill for at least one hour. You can also prepare it the night before you need it. If it made the night before you may need to take it out 30 minutes before you are ready to roll out your dough.

When rolling out the dough it helps to start from the center and then roll outward. After you have done one side, flip the dough to the other side and repeat the rolling out from the center. This method will help you create a nice even circle. It may be helpful to dust the rolling pin with flour to prevent it from sticking to the dough. Once you have your desired circle width, gently roll it over your rolling pin and transfer it to your oiled baking dish.

Make sure the dough goes over your edges of your pastry dish because this will be a blind bake. During a blind baking, the pastry will shrink, and if you cut off your edges before the bake you won’t have a nice edge on your pie. Before we put it in the oven, place some parchment paper on the dough and fill it with pie weights. There is no need to buy specially made weights. I typically use any dried beans I have on hand.

Cover your pie dough and let it rest in the fridge while you preheat your oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

When the oven is preheated, remove the cover ,and place it in the center of your oven to bake for 10 minutes. After it is done baking, carefully remove the pie weights without burning yourself. Now the pie base is ready to be filled and baked.

 

This upside down pear pie with the caramel on top is the best! The original recipe is inspired from a blue band basic Dutch cookbook that was gifted to me by my father in law. I received this gift over 15 years ago when I moved in with my boyfriend, who is now my husband. My father in-law is the best cook I know and I will never forget the first time he cooked dinner for me. I thought his first course was the main meal and I was already full when he put a second delicious dish on the table. That was the first of many delicious and fun family dinners.

The blue band cookbook was my first introduction into how easy and fun it is to cook things for myself. I used to make this pie a lot when I first started baking.  Recently, as I was looking through all my cookbooks, I realized I had to revisit it and give it my own twist.

 I added some ice cold vodka to the pie dough to make it less dry. This makes the dough come together quickly and it’s easier to work with. 

The filling is an easy caramel sauce made with butter and brown sugar. You pour this into your prepared baking pan and arrange your pears on top. Finally, you add your pie dough. 
When baking this pie do not use a springform pan!  If you do, the caramel sauce will pour out of it and make a giant mess into your oven. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson the hard way and it made a big smoky mess.