What I call a Very Generic Pastry Crust works for berry pie, meat pie, apple pie...whatever kind of pie your heart desires. For berry or fruit pies, I add a bit of sugar (or other sweetener) and cinnamon. That gives just a petite bit of sweetness to your fruit or berry pie crusts.
What you will need:
Safety Labels
Flour
Salt
Shortening
Cold Water
Medium or Large Round Bowl
Two Butter Knives
Rolling Pin
Clean Hands - the most important thing to have when cooking anything
If production fruit or berry pie, you will also need:
Sweetener (I prefer sugar or sucralose which is more commonly known as Splenda)
Cinnamon
First place in your bowl the 2 cups of sifted flour. White, wheat, quinoa, whatever, just make sure it's flour. Put this in a medium or large round bowl.
Next add somewhere in the middle of 1/2 and a full tsp of salt. I never portion the salt; I just pour it in the palm of my hand and when it looks good, I toss it in. Add this to the flour and mix the two.
If production berry or apple, add 1 - 2 tsp sweetener and 1 tsp cinnamon. Mix it all up well. If production meat pie, skip this part!
Now comes the 2/3 cup shortening. Yes, I always use actual shortening for my pastry crusts. Nope, not the butter flavoured one, but hey, if you want to vary the recipe, that's your choice.
Please read this part carefully. Add anywhere from 3 to 6 tablespoons of cold water. It has to be cold, not room temp. I don't know why, I just know you get weird dough if it's not cold, so use cold water! Add these only 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time.
At this point, you have everything in the bowl that you need.
Cookbooks always say to use a pastry knife to cut the dough, but I don't even know what that is, so I just use two butter knives. I hold one in each hand and cross-cut them while also rotating the bowl until the aggregate starts to look like there are petite peas rolling colse to in the flour.
If you aren't getting petite peas, add a touch more cold water and give it other try. If you are getting mush, you didn't add the water one tablespoon at a time, and you need to toss it and start over following the directions this time.
Once you have dough that looks like petite peas with a bit of grainy looking stuff a bit like tasteless sand in the lowest of the bowl, it's time to take it out and set it on a floured flat surface.
Separate it into two equal size balls. Set one back in the bowl.
Work your dough ball a petite bit like playdough but not too much or it will get weird and rubbery. So just work it until it's not crumbly anymore and then start to flatten it all out with the palm of your hand.
Now it's time to get out the rolling pin. If you don't have one, you can use a large can of soup, label removed and just don't press too hard or you will cut through your dough from the edge of the can.
Alternatively, use one of the cans you already took the top off of...just be sure you have one of those protection can openers so you don't risk cutting yourself.
Add a pinch of flour to the top of your flattened dough and some to your rolling pin. Roll the dough out into a circle...easier said than done, I know! Don't get too flat.
Now pick the dough up carefully, flour your face again, turn your dough over and put the dough back down to roll it out a bit more. Remember to flour the top again.
Add it to the lowest of your pie pan and you are ready to prepare your top crust. Just start again from where you set one ball of dough back in the bowl to prepare your top crust.
If you are adventurous, you may generate a lattice out of the second ball of dough and place that on top of your pie. If you don't do a lattice, remember to poke some holes in that top crust or you will have spillage all over the lowest of your oven! Feel free to get creative and make a develop in the top crust. I always do!
You might want to get one of those oven liners anyway, just in case your pie does spill over.
Enjoy!
Very Easy Pastry Crust