pie crust Archives | butter loves company

With National Kiss Your Fiancé Day* just around the corner, I can’t help but ask: are National “________” Days getting out of hand? Regardless, as a pun-loving baker, there is one National Day I could not be more on board with. It’s Pi Day and it is… Today!

That’s correct, we are talking about a day commemorating the mathematical constant π (3.14159265359… you get the idea). But, we are also talking about the best way to celebrate this special day—and that’s with pie, of course! We learned about it in school and now here we are, putting our math skills to great use.

Don’t mistake tomorrow for your typical Pi Day though. As Mashable points out, today is the only time for the next 100 years where the calendar date reflects the first FIVE digits of that fabulous number (3.1415). The next time this will come our way isn’t until March 14, 2115. Because this isn’t your average Pi Day, you can’t celebrate with an average pie, right? Right. Time to funfettify your pie.

I first made this all butter pie crust filled with sprinkles for my birthday. When you are the baker in the family, you make your own birthday cake (ahem, pie). I like to get my hands dirty and use a pastry blender, but feel free to use a food processor for ease and speed. If you take that route, be mindful not to over-pulse as you want to have lots of visible butter bits. They are your keys to a flaky pie palace.

*National Kiss Your Fiancé Day is March 20^th. I’m not a fiancé, but to me this begs the question, why are you not kissing them other days??

funfetti-pie-crust-recipe-national-pi-day-1

yup. feet.

funfetti pie crust
adapted from The Smitten Kitchen

Makes enough dough for one double-, or two single-crust pies.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks (8 ounces/1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
ice water (about 3/4 cup, will be dough glue)
1/4 cup sprinkles of your choice

Instructions:

Prepare your cold ingredients: fill a 1-cup liquid measuring cup with water and a couple ice cubes and set aside. Dice your butter into 1/2-inch pieces and place in a small bowl. Move the bowl to the fridge or freezer until you need it.
In a large, wide bowl whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and a teaspoon of salt. Get out your pastry blender.
Remove your diced butter from the fridge and sprinkle the cubes over the flour. Begin working them into the flour with the pastry blender. Try to break down the butter evenly and stop when all of the butter pieces are around the size of peas.
Pour in vanilla extract and then start slowly drizzling 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water over the butter and flour mixture. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, stir the dough together. Add in more cold water, a tablespoon at a time, just until you’re pulling large clumps with the spatula. Pour in the sprinkles and then, using your hands, gather the clumps together into one mound, kneading and turning the dough gently a couple of times to distribute the sprinkles as you pull it all together.
All set! You can now chill the dough by dividing it in half and wrapping each half in plastic. Let the dough chill in the fridge for at least one hour before rolling it out. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for a month or so. Any time you are going to make dough for a later use, make sure to wrap it an extra time in plastic to ward off any freezer or fridge smells.

Easy as pie tart? Yup. This puppy is even easier than pie! You want to know why? You know that part in pie making when you have to roll out the chilled dough and then transport it to the pie dish and, if you’re like me, you want to then slice more dough for a lattice top or try cut-outs, or patterns, or ruffles, or fringe … this is beginning to sound like the E! Grammy’s Fashion Police wrap up! Well, with this tart, you don’t have to do ANY of that! Easy pease, my friends.

Once you prepare the dough, you can just push it right into the pan with your sticky little fingers. It is a tad more crumbly than a pie crust with a texture like that of shortbread. Once you line the pan, you partially bake the dough so it can stand up to all the juicy blueberries and tart, creamy filling you’ll top it with next. The blueberries stay whole and plump up in the oven so you can pop them with your teeth as you devour a slice. Then you’ll pour a lemony Greek yogurt sauce over the sweet blueberries and bake the entire tart until the sauce sets into what is similar to a loose custard. The combination of the buttery crust, sweet blueberries, and tart lemon cream is bright, fresh, and dreamy.

The tart holds well in the fridge for a few days and can be served cool or at room temperature. It can also be served for breakfast when you are snowed-in in Boston. I can attest to that.

blueberry and lemon cream tart
adapted from Gourmet Magazine, July 1990

prep time: 30 minutes
cook time: 60 minutes
total time: 1 hour 30 minutes (plus more for chilling dough)
Makes 1 12-Inch Tart in Pan with Removable Bottom

Ingredients:

For the crust:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) very cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large egg yolks, beaten with 4 tablespoons ice water
pie weights, dry beans, or raw rice for weighting the shell

For the filling:
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups fresh blueberries (Take a look and remove extra stems or any bluebs that look dried out.)

Instructions:

Make the crust: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the chilled butter and pulse the mixture until it resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses. Pour in the yolk and water mixture and pulse until the liquid is incorporated and the dough begins coming together. Turn the dough onto a clean surface and, using your hands, gather the dough into a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Grab your tart pan (with removable fluted rim) and remove chilled dough from the refrigerator. Grab small chunks of the dough at a time and push into the tart pan with your fingertips. Continue pressing the dough into the pan until you have lined the bottom and sides with dough about 1/4 inch thick. Chill the crust for at least 30 minutes in the fridge, 15 minutes in the freezer, or cover and leave overnight. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line the inside of the tart crust with foil, fill the foil with the pie weights, dry beans or rice, and bake the shell in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights carefully, bake the crust for 5 to 10 minutes more, or until it is pale golden, and let it cool in the pan on a rack. Keep the oven heated at 350°F while you prepare the filling.
Make the filling: In a blender, food processor, or large bowl with a vigorous hand, blend together the yogurt, cream, yolks, granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, butter, vanilla, salt, and flour until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
Spread the fresh blueberries evenly over the bottom of the par-baked tart crust. Pour the yogurt and lemon mixture over them. Bake the tart in the middle of the oven at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the filling is just set.
Let the tart cool completely in the pan on a rack. Serve at room temperature or store the tart in the refrigerator and serve chilled. Tart keeps for 4 to 5 days (keep chilled).