Baking a Pie Crust

           Pie. Just the sound of that word can cause mouths to water the second it reaches their ears. I have always loved pies and my family has as well. I have not been the best cook throughout my life whether that be because of my lack of interest until recently, or because I haven't had much practice. Either way, I figured since I loved pie so much and wanted to work on my cooking skills, for this project I would learn to bake different kinds of pies. To do this I have chosen the book "A Year of Pies, A Seasonal Tour of Home Baked Pies". This book illustrates how to bake all different types of pies, from strawberry crumble, to caramelized onion and cheese. This book not only gives instructions, but also provides backgrounds about when and where to bake these pies.

           Since I am so new to the art of pie making, I thought I would start with some basics. The foundation of the savory goodness that is a pie. The crust. 

• "2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• chilled and cubed 3/5 cups ice water" (English 21).

Me with the ingredients called for

After I had gathered all of the ingredients, I compiled them as it told me to do, and then preheated the oven for 350 degrees. I then put the uncooked crust in the oven. (Usually you wouldn't bake the crust before you bake the pie, but since I am not baking a pie, I baked the crust). I left it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 mins (English 21), then took it out. 

Me taking the pie crust out of the oven

The crust turned out okay, but it did end up a little dry. If I had baked the crust for a shorter amount of time, would the pie not have turned out as dry?

The first step of my Pie baking journey is complete, and I cannot wait to continue my quest to be the pie baking master.

English, Ashley. A Year of Pies. New York: Lark Crafts, 2012. Print.