Kitchen Hints of the Day!

Even if your pie's filling is near perfect, you won't win any accolades for your creation unless its crust is up to

Apple Pie Crust

par. Here are a few tips for making perfectly flaky pie crusts.


* Be sure the liquid used in your pie crust dough is ice cold. In fact, anything hot going into a pie crust will affect it.



* Add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water for an even flakier crust, or substitute sour cream or whipping cream for the entirety of the water.



* Low gluten flour such as pastry flour is your best bet. Cake flour is too soft and won't give the crust the body it needs, and bread flour has too high a gluten content and would make a tough crust. As a substitute for pastry flour, combine two parts all-purpose flour and one part cake flour or instant flour.



*Replace the shortening or butter with lard. Lard has larger fat crystals and three times the polyunsaturates as butter, making the crust flakier.