This one came from the same friend who gave me the bakewell tart recipe. It came with the note "you probably have your own recipe, but here's one just in case". Now I'm not too keen on recipes that use either just egg yolks or just the whites. I think that this is a waste of half an egg. I guess if you could coordinate things well you could make two things in parallel. One that uses the whites and one that uses the yolks. However, I usually only have time to make one thing and then the rest of the egg gets forgotten in the fridge until it is rescued by someone who asks who's science experiment it is! So I've never used my friends crust recipe. In fact, I must admit, I never quite got past the list of ingredients. Since I had some time on my hands I read through it and although I still did not like the ingredients I found the method to be rather intriguing. So I combined a dough recipe from "Spago" together with the technique I learned from my mum to make dough and the technique from my friend as to setting up the pie crust. And what turned out is definitely a keeper. It's delicious, crisp and light.
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| The smaller ones are a bit over done! |
Preparation time: 3 hours (but if you don't let it sit then it's done in an hour); makes 3 9" pie crusts
Ingredients:
4 oz Ground almonds 1 lb 2 oz Flour 12 oz Butter, cold 8 oz Sugar 1 Egg, lightly beaten
Method:
Ground almonds or almond meal is readily available in Germany (which is where I live). In the USA you may have to make your own. To do this put your almonds in an oven at 375 F and toast until golden 12-15 minutes. You will need to turn them so that they are evenly browned so after around 6 minutes. Allow your nuts to cool completely and then grind them. If you are in a country where almonds are scarce you have two options either omit them completely or substitute with a different nut. Whichever nut you use make sure you roast it first so that the crust is crunchy. Also if you use a different nut and it works please let everyone know in the comments below.
Put the ground almonds (or other nuts) together with the flour and sugar in a large bowl and mix briefly. Then cut up the butter into small pieces and work it into the flour mixture using the technique described here.
Once your mixture looks like bread crumbs add the egg and mix everything together until it is just combined. Don't over knead your dough. It will become tough and will not taste good.
Now roll your dough into a sausage, wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, preferably overnight (If you are a busy mum use immediately. It won't be fabulous but it will be good enough for the masses).
About an hour before you plan on baking your pie take the dough out of the fridge. Cut it into thin slices and line your baking tray. Fill the gaps by pressing larger pieces gently together or by filling with small pieces of dough. The resulting pie will look like a most delicious patchwork quilt.
If you have the time put the pie crust in the fridge for another hour, or over night.
If you need to pre-bake your pie crust bake at 180 C (in a fan oven) for around 10 minutes (yes, this crust bakes really quickly). Fill your pie with filling and return to oven.
If you need just a pastry shell to fill with a cold filling then bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. The pie crust below is filled with lemon curd.
The recipe gives enough dough for 3 pie crusts. You can freeze the rest of the dough for later use. You can also just bake it in slivers for a crunchy cookie.
| 4 oz | Ground almonds |
| 1 lb 2 oz | Flour |
| 12 oz | Butter, cold |
| 8 oz | Sugar |
| 1 | Egg, lightly beaten |
Put the ground almonds (or other nuts) together with the flour and sugar in a large bowl and mix briefly. Then cut up the butter into small pieces and work it into the flour mixture using the technique described here.
Once your mixture looks like bread crumbs add the egg and mix everything together until it is just combined. Don't over knead your dough. It will become tough and will not taste good.
Now roll your dough into a sausage, wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, preferably overnight (If you are a busy mum use immediately. It won't be fabulous but it will be good enough for the masses).
About an hour before you plan on baking your pie take the dough out of the fridge. Cut it into thin slices and line your baking tray. Fill the gaps by pressing larger pieces gently together or by filling with small pieces of dough. The resulting pie will look like a most delicious patchwork quilt.
If you have the time put the pie crust in the fridge for another hour, or over night.
If you need to pre-bake your pie crust bake at 180 C (in a fan oven) for around 10 minutes (yes, this crust bakes really quickly). Fill your pie with filling and return to oven.
If you need just a pastry shell to fill with a cold filling then bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. The pie crust below is filled with lemon curd.
The recipe gives enough dough for 3 pie crusts. You can freeze the rest of the dough for later use. You can also just bake it in slivers for a crunchy cookie.
