Page 36 - Pie It Forward: Pies, Tarts, Tortes, Galettes, and Other Pastries Reinvented

the other hand, if you don’t have a food processor, you can still
freeze your fat (this actually works best with butter), then shred it
into your dough with a box grater, using the large holes.

Fifth, roll your dough out onto a cool work surface. Marble is often
used because it’s naturally cold to the touch. It’s easy to forget,
when you’re busy in the kitchen, that you’ve just moved a hot
sheet pan from your usual rolling area, leaving what should be

your cool pastry space hot as hell. So when working on pies and
tarts, keep a designated work area “roped off” and cool for
exclusive pastry use. Keep it free from all other kitchen clutter and
hot pots and sheet pans.

Sixth, let your dough rest in the fridge or freezer for at least
twenty to thirty minutes after you’ve first mixed it and then again
after rolling it into a round to line a pie or tart pan. Manipulating
and rolling dough works the gluten in the flour, which is the protein
in wheat that gives it elasticity. The more you work a dough with

flour, the more elastic and rubbery it becomes. That’s why we
knead bread dough—to develop the gluten well and produce that
gorgeous bready texture. Conversely, that’s why you don’t knead
pie dough: We don’t want chewy or tough, we want tender and
flaky. But any amount of manipulation of flour gets the protein
worked up and tense. If you don’t allow your dough to rest for

twenty to thirty minutes before using it, you’ll notice that as you’re
trying to make an ordinary 11-inch (28-cm) round of dough for a 9-
inch (23-cm) pie plate, the dough won’t maintain its shape or size
and will shrink back. That’s because it needs some alone time, to
rest and relax all of those verklempt proteins. Likewise, if you
don’t allow a rolled dough a decent amount of rest before baking,
it will shrink in the oven.

Bottom line: The trick to making great pie and tart dough is to
keep it cool and relaxed.