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Took me 4 tries to get my mom's pie crust right - what a headache
I spent three weekends last fall trying to make my mother's apple pie crust like she used to. She passed away a few years back and I had her recipe card but it just says 'butter, flour, water' with no amounts. First try came out like cardboard. Second try was too sticky and fell apart. Third try I used cold butter from the fridge and it was better but still tough. The fourth time I finally called my aunt who lives in Ohio and she told me the secret was using ice water and not overworking the dough. Turns out my mom would use a pastry cutter for exactly 2 minutes then stop. All that for a simple pie crust. Has anyone else had a family recipe that took forever to figure out?
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harris.uma1d ago
Four tries sounds about right for something that deceptively simple. The pastry cutter timing tip is gold, I bet your aunt could tell you all sorts of little things your mom never wrote down. Did you ever figure out what kind of flour she used versus what you were using? That was the hidden variable in my grandmother's biscuit recipe, took me forever to realize she was using the cheap store brand, not King Arthur.
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gray_perez5218h ago
Man that flour thing got me too. I spent a whole Saturday testing different brands before my wife asked me what I was even doing, and I realized my grandma just used whatever was on sale at the Piggly Wiggly. Funny how those little details can make or break a recipe that's been passed down.
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