Pie and Tart Crusts

Now, aside from the blend itself, there are only two ingredients that are added to the short crust recipe to make it sing, so the quality of these two ingredients should be high. For the flakiest pie and tart crusts, always use the best butter you can get your hands on, especially high-fat, European-style butters. “European-style” denotes the fat content of the butter—regular ol’ Land o’ Lakes–type butter contains at least 80 percent butterfat but usually less than 82 percent, while European-style butters contain between 82 and 85 percent butterfat. Making them extra-delicious, obviously, and elevating your baked goods accordingly; the higher the ratio of butterfat, the flakier your pie crusts. The butter’s fat content also has an effect on the texture and workability of the dough: the less the butterfat, the more elbow grease it’s gonna take to get the dough just right; the more butterfat, the easier it is to roll out the dough. Keep in mind, however, that if you do use a butter with a higher butterfat ratio, it means you need to work quickly and efficiently so the dough doesn’t get too soft. At Blackbird Bakery, we roll out our dough in the walk-in cooler so the dough stays below 60°F (15°C), even when our hands are on it. When I’m at home, however, I typically chill a marble slab before I roll out my dough, but if you don’t have one, fear not, your dough will still roll out like a dream. Some bakers swear by using equal parts Crisco to butter, but I personally don’t care for the lack of flavor in vegetable shortening. If you’re going to use any kind of shortening, use real lard (rendered pork fat) for best results in recipes like my Empanadas or chicken potpies.