Traditional Homemade Pie Crust of 1877
Posted by Warren
Makes one 9 to 10 inch pie, double crust, dough
Buckeye Cookery, and Practical Housekeeping, by Estelle W. Wilcox, 1877
This pie crust recipe calls for lard. Do not use that overly processed junk that comes in tubs. It is best to render your own using leaf lard.
Standard Homemade Pie Crust Recipe from 1877
Buckeye Cookery, and Practical Housekeeping, by Estelle W. Wilcox, 1877 – Text Version
GOOD COMMON PASTE.
One coffee-cup lard, three of sifted flour, and a little salt. In winter, soften the lard a little (but not in summer), cut it well into the flour with a knife, then mix with cold water quickly into a moderately stiff dough, handling as little as possible. This makes four common-sized covered pies. Take a new slice of paste each time for top crust, using the trimmings, etc., for under crust.–Miss Katy Rupp.
A Cookbook with vintage pie recipes
This was the great mid-American cookbook of its day. It began life as a charity cookbook in 1876.
They published the Buckeye Cookery cookbook to raise money to build a parsonage.
They named it The Centennial Buckeye Cook Book, in honor of America’s Centennial.
Why was the book so popular? Clearly, it met the needs of thousands of women looking for advice on how to feed their families and manage their households.
This cookbook kept up-to-date by revisions covering newly introduced foods and equipment.
It contains about 300 pages of cookery recipes and another 125 or so of household hints, suggestions for caring for the sick, for doing laundry, for the cellar and the ice-house, for “Hired Help”, for preserving, gardening – and everything else within the housewives’ sphere of responsibility.
Pie Crust Recipe made with Lard and Butter
—Ingredients and instructions are not the actual vintage recipe but is provided for reference purposes.
Pastry dough – double crust
2 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour (Red bag)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 ice cold water (do not use all at once)
1 teaspoon cold canola oil
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold leaf lard
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter (any brand wrapped in foil)
Directions making the dough
1. Add all your dry ingredients to a chilled glass bowl and tossed the mixture with a fork.
2. Cube your fats into small pieces and add to the bowl.
3. Using just your finger tips rub the cold fat into the flour. Stop when the mixture resembles cracker crumbs and tiny peas.
4. Whip the ice cold water and oil until it looks cloudy and the mixture looks a little foamy. Quickly add two thirds of this to the dry ingredients and toss with a fork. If it is not coming together add the remaining liquid.
Do Not over work the dough.
It will make it tough.
5. The dough should look somewhat dry but come together when squeezed in your hands.
6. Now divide this mixture in half to make two balls by squeezing it all together. Compress and flatten the balls to form two large disks.
7. Wrap disks tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 30-60 minutes. You can freeze them for two months by adding a foil wrap to the covered disks.
8. Your dough is now ready for your favorite pie recipe.
Pie Crust Success
Lard is a good pastry for beginning pie makers. A chilled lard pie crust is more plasticity, easy to work with, than just about any other pastry.
It is less likely to crack while being rolled flat. It holds its shape very nicely.
So do not be afraid of this one, thinking you need to possess some old-fashioned wisdom.
Never over work the dough. This will activate the gluten and make the pie crust tough.
