That time a customer told me my pie crust was too flaky and I was doing it wrong all along

I had this woman come up to me at the farmers market last Saturday and say my apple pies looked great but the crust was falling apart on her fork. She said she wanted it to hold together like a store bought one. Honestly I was kinda mad at first but then I realized she had a point. I always used ice cold butter and worked it in until it was pea sized chunks but that makes it super tender and crumbly. Now I pulse the butter until it's more like cornmeal and add a little extra water. Crust is sturdier but still tastes good. Has anyone else had someone point out a flaw in their cooking that turned out to be a real improvement?

2 comments

2 Comments

abby_chen1mo ago

Realized this but in reverse actually. My grandma used to make her pie crust with lard and it was always super tough and dense. I switched to butter and got way flakier but then my uncle said it was falling apart on him. Compromised by doing half butter half shortening. Gives you that tender flake but with enough structure to hold up to a fork. Maybe try a mix instead of going all in on one fat.

casey8431mo ago

Pushing that half and half idea even further, I started doing a third each of butter, shortening, and cream cheese. The cream cheese gives it this slight tang and makes the dough SO much easier to roll out without cracking. You still get that flake from the butter, the shortening keeps it sturdy, but the cream cheese adds a little give so it doesn't shatter when you slice into it. Also, freezing the fats and grating them like cheese before mixing is a game changer. It keeps everything cold so you get those distinct layers instead of a uniform paste. Took me a few tries to get the water ratio right but now I make it for every holiday and nobody complains.