pie crust expert needed, pretty please

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

I have tried to make the pie below. The crust does not come out. In fact, I could use it as a weapon. I think there isn't enough water because the dough never forms a ball. By the time I've added more water, I've overworked the dough. Admittedly, I'm not a very good pie crust maker, so I'm not 100% sure that's the problem. Can someone look at this recipe & tell me if that's it? I'm thinking maybe there is some standard formula for flour & butter to liquid. This was out of a first edition cookbook written by a chef (honest to god chef who owns a fabulous restaurant). Restaurant cookbooks are notoriously unreliable & first editions can have mistakes. Or, it very well could be me! Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

best.


Three Chocolate Hazelnut Tart
Chocolate Pastry
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/3 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) chilled, unsalted butter, cut in 1 inch pieces
2 tbs plus 2 tsp ice water
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

Filling
4 large eggs, at room temp
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted & skinned
1/2 cup chopped white chocolate (3 oz)
1/2 cup chopped milk chocolate (3 oz)
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (3 oz)

For pastry; in a food processor, combine flour, confectioners sugar, cocoa, salt & baking soda. Pulse 4 times. Add butter & pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water & pulse until dough comes together. Remove & form into a 6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic & refrigerate for 20 minutes.

On parchment paper, roll out dough into a 14-inch round. Dust with coca. Spray a 12-inch tart pan w/vegetable oil cooking spray. Fit dough, paper side up. Peel off paper & press the dough carefully into pan & up sides. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Cut a piece of foil large enough to cover & spray with cooking spray. Place foil on tart, sprayed side down. Weigh with pie weights. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove tart & let cook 20 minutes.

For filling; in food processor, combine eggs, corn syrup, butter vanilla & salt. Blend until smooth.

Evenly sprinkle hazelnuts & chocolates over crust. Pour egg mixture over top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until filling is slightly puffed & set. Remove from oven & let cool. Remove tart from pan.

[onecent]

1. I have a pie crust JUST for you. My daughter cannot make a

pie crust either..and she makes this for all pies..and is asked over and over again for the recipe (As I have been also over the years).

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tspns sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup liquid cooking oil

Combine - mix and

Pat into 9 inch pie pan

(The original pie - apple - calls for oven to be 375 for 40 to 45 min. You will find that's probably average for most pies (apple pies anyway).

Don't OMIT the salt - the combination of the salt and sugar is what I think gives it the unique flavor.

Sorry I can't help you with your recipe.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

2. I'll definitely try that for a

'regular' pie crust. Thank you.

Looking at your recipe it has a little over 1 1/2 cups dry to 2 tbs milk plus 1/2 cup liquid cooking oil-I assume that's vegetable oil? Mine has a little over 2 cups dry ingredients to 2 tbs plus water, plus butter which wouldn't really add liquid; certainly not like liquid cooking oil would. I'm just thinking there's a mistake in there.

best.

[wryter2000]

4. Too little liquid

I've never made a chocolate crust, but for regular I use 1 c of flour to several (over 5) Tbs of water. I think you're right about the amount of liquid being too little. Esp. as you say that it didn't form into a ball.

I'd keep adding liquid a Tbs at a time by sprinkling the liquid over the dough and tossing it with a fork to blend. Keep doing that until it forms into a ball. If you use ice cold liquid and toss gently, it shouldn't get overworked.

I suspect that the amount of liquid needed correlates with the general humidity in the room. In relatively dry SF bay area, I have to use more water than standard recipes call for, but the crust always comes out good. You may need less. Flo Braker says that if there's flour left in the bottom of the bowl, you haven't used enough water.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

6. So if this is about 2 cups of dry,

would 10 tbs of water be right? That would be a little over a half a cup right? So maybe if I started with almost 1/2 cup & added from there? I've tried making in the food processor, but maybe after pulsing the flour & butter I could dump it into a bowl & try tossing w/ a fork like you suggest. The filling is fabulous, I just need to figure out where I'm going wrong on the crust.

[wryter2000]

10. I wouldn't do it that way

I'd do a Tbs at a time, scattered over the dough and tossed in with a fork. I don't think adding any large amount of liquid at one time is good.

[Mandate My Ass]

3. Are you using a food processor or doing it by hand?

My pie crusts seem to always take more water than called for in the recipe and I don't sweat it. This crust has so many more ingredients than plain pie crust I wonder if that could be the cause. I've had very good luck with pie crusts since I've been following Alton Brown's recipe on the FoodTV site. He calls for freezing the butter chunks for 15 minutes and thoroughly chilling your pie plate. Also, he recommends letting the crust rest a second time in the fridge after you've rolled it out and put it in the pie plate.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_26272,00.html

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) butter, chilled
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) lard, chilled
6 ounces (approximately 1 cup) all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling dough
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup ice water, in spritz bottle
Approximately 32 ounces of dried beans, for blind baking

Place butter and lard in freezer for 15 minutes. When ready to use, remove and cut both into small pieces.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt by pulsing 3 to 4 times. Add butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until texture looks mealy. Add lard and pulse another 3 to 4 times. Remove lid of food processor and spritz surface of mixture thoroughly with water. Replace lid and pulse 5 times. Add more water and pulse again until mixture holds together when squeezed. Place mixture in large zip-top bag, squeeze together until it forms a ball, and then press into a rounded disk and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place 2 metal pie pans in the refrigerator to chill.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Cut along 2 sides of the plastic bag, open bag to expose dough, and sprinkle both sides with flour. Cover again with plastic and roll out with a rolling pin to a 10 to 11-inch circle. Open plastic again and sprinkle top of dough with flour. Remove pie pans from refrigerator and set first pan on top of dough. Turn everything upside down and peel plastic from bottom of dough. Place second pan upside down on top of dough and flip again. Remove first pan from atop dough. Trim edges if necessary, leaving an edge for meringue to adhere to. Poke holes in dough and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

5. This looks like another good pie crust I will try next time

I make a 'regular' pie.

I'm doing it in the food processor just like the recipes says. I know I can add more water, but I always have read that you're supposed to add most of the water first, then check & add drops more if needed. When I have to keep adding water & pulse then I think the butter & flour are getting overworked, which causes the dough to be too tough. On the other hand, if you add too much water then you have to add more flour & keep pulsing & your crust comes out too brittle. (I think that's what happens with too much water).

I was really wondering if someone knew the formula for water to flour so I would have an idea of how much water to start with. Maybe 1/3 of a cup?

[NMDemDist2]

7. my grammy used icey iced cold water (almost slush) and her crusts

were the best!

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

8. but how much water to how much flour/dry ingredients?

Do you remember any proportions? I always use ice water, so I don't
I think that's the problem. I think the recipe is screwy.

[FuzzySlippers]

9. Have you thought of making it with a regular crust?

It seems to me with that extremely rich filling, the chocolate crust might be a little overkill.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

11. I love overkill! eom