Do you like cake? In our house we love, love, love some cake! There’s something so elegantly appetizing about delicious pie fillings tucked neatly into a golden, flaky crust.
Only thing is, pie crust is a bit of a bitch to make, imho, between having to blind bake, having to deal with dough shrinking after baking, sometimes not flaky enough, sometimes not tender enough , etc. We tried all kinds of pie crust recipes until we finally found THE ONE!
Start with the flour mixed with salt and sugar. The butter is left at room temperature until slightly softened and then cut into cubes. All of this is the usual starting method for any pie crust.
Use your fingers to work the butter and flour together until it reaches a crumbly consistency. It’s pretty fun to spread that butter around.
For this tart dough you don’t have to worry about keeping the temperature cold like you would with regular tart recipes. Then you can use your hands to mix the flour and butter and do it with minimal effort.
Ta-da! Crumbly consistency achieved! And now the flour is completely covered in fat. This delicious fat coating separates the flour particles from each other, helping to create a tender, flaky crust.
The next step is the magic step. Instead of the water usually used for the cake dough, sour cream is added.
So what’s the magic? Why does adding sour cream create a tender, flaky crust? Fatter, that’s what! Sour cream has a fat content of 20%. Mixed in, all the fat in the sour cream also coats the flour particles, keeping the water out, which is the trick to getting a nice, tender crust.
Sour cream also has a water content of 74%, which is just enough to hold the dough together.
To incorporate the sour cream we use a fork. Mix until the mixture comes together and no more. Don’t worry if small stains of sour cream still remain. All right.
Collect everything on the transparent film and compact it until it forms a ball. So flatten that ball. Time to chill the dough!
Cool the dough enough to be able to roll it out. Too hard, it’s impossible to roll. Too soft, it’s really hard to lift the cake/tart onto the pan after rolling it. Roll out the dough evenly.
Use your fingers to gently ease the rolled out dough to fit the pie pan. Use a knife to trim any excess dough. To plug any holes just use the cut dough.
We cut the dough into the top of our pan as you can see in the photo above. You don’t really have to worry about shrinkage with this dough, so cutting it with the pan works great too.
Here’s the coolest part about this amazing crust: You don’t have to blind bake the pie crust dough. Do you know how much time and effort you save? Hurray, hurray!
The cake pan filled with the dough only needs to be cooled and then the cake filling can be added directly to the dough. In the photo above you can see that we used a moist filling, a pumpkin pie filling made with the roasted remains of our annual jack-o’-lantern. 🎃
Even with a moist filling, this pie crust will bake perfectly time after time. You’ll get a tender, flaky pie crust, just as promised. And look at the bottom of our baked tart. See how well it holds up even with a totally liquid fill? No more soggy bottoms!
Oh my gosh, I love this crust! It’s the best, easiest pie crust ever. Try this amazing crust for yourself and see if you’ll ever go back!
(makes enough for a 10-inch double crust) Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 0 minutes
Ingredients:
Allow the butter to heat for a few minutes at room temperature until just softened. Cut the butter into cubes.
Whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add to the butter cubes and then work the flour into the butter using your hands until the mixture becomes crumbly.
Add sour cream and vanilla. Use a fork to mix it until it forms a dough. Separate the dough into two equal balls. (Tip: To get equal sized pieces, weigh the dough.)
Scrape dough balls onto pieces of plastic wrap. Wrap cling film around the dough and then pat the wrapped dough into round discs. Place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or until it is firm enough to roll out. If you only use one piece of dough, wrap the second dough in a ziplock and place it in the freezer. The dough can be stored for up to 3 months.
Lightly dust the work surface with flour. I highly recommend using a silicone mat to spread it out. Place a round of dough on the surface. Dust the rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Or however big your pan/cake is to cover everything. As you roll, dust lightly with as much flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Now move the thin, well-rolled dough onto the cake pan. This is where the genius of rolling out on a silicone mat becomes clear. Lift the mat, roll out the dough and everything else and invert it onto the cake pan, trying to center it on the pan. The dough will come off the mat on its own. Gently press the dough to fill the pan shape. Use a sharp knife to trim any excess dough. Use extra dough to patch areas that need it.
Cool in the refrigerator for one hour before using. There is no need to blind bake this crust. Pour/add the filling directly onto the chilled dough and bake the cake as directed by the cake recipe.
We hope you find this pie crust as wonderful as we do and that you use it to make many, many wonderful pies! Let us know what you think!
