How to Make Flaky Pastry

American pie dough recipes traditionally yield flaky crusts, while their European equivalents, which are like the recipes included in this chapter, turn out crusts that crumble in the mouth almost like sand. To achieve a flaky crust, older American recipes call for lard and newer American recipes call for vegetable shortening. Although both ingredients create the desired flaky layers, neither results in a pastry that tastes as good as a butter-based pastry. To make an all-butter pastry that is flaky, rather than crumbly, requires a little manipulation.