I like a crisp, flaky crust. I've found that I generally like to blind bake my crust in advance. Blind baking is baking the crust prior to putting in the filling. It's not always possible, such as with double crust pies. But when it's possible, I think it makes a better crust.
One common problem with blind baking is the pie crust sliding down the side of the pan. This is especially true of crusts that have a high butter content, as the fat melts prior to the structure of the crust setting. One solution, my favorite solution, is to bake the crust upside down. You read that correctly.
This is a great crust to put something sweet and soft in, like maybe chocolate pudding, or chocolate mousse. Yum.
Here are ten steps to making a fine (and not difficult) crust. And you get to bake it upside down.
1 C.
flour
¼ C. Wondra
½ tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. butter, cut into 1/2
tablespoon sections, kept cold
½ C. sour cream
You will also need two identical pie pans (like the cheap metal ones,) and parchment paper.#10 Get fresh ingredients. If you can't remember when you bought that butter sitting in your fridge, it's most likely not fresh. Unless you're like me, and you go through so much butter in your life that buying it is nearly a weekly activity.
