The key to a good pie is a good pie crust. There is no other factor more important. And the truth is, it's relatively easy to make homemade pie crust--especially with our very thorough (yes, that's 42 slides you see below) step-by-step guide. All it takes is the right ingredients and a little practice. And once you've got the crust mastered, making any filling is easy as, well, pie.
The most important thing to remember is to start with chilled ingredients--you can even keep your flour in the freezer--and to not overwork your dough as it's coming together. You want to handle the butter and shortening as little as possible, cutting them into the flour with something sharp (here we use a food processor) so they are broken into tiny hard flakes mixed in uniformly, rather than melted and mushed into the flour. When the crust bakes, the melting of these butter pieces between layers of flour creates tiny air pockets that we perceive as delicious flakiness.
To top with a lattice crust, follow our step-by-step instructions here on How to Make a Lattice Crust.
--Emily Fleischaker
Slideshow photos by Maxime Iattoni