I love making pies. Really, they are one of my most favorite items to make. I just love the whole process of it...rolling out the bottom layer, layering in the fruit, crimping the top layer, and seeing how beautiful and shiny the egg wash makes it. I will admit, though, that it can be a little time consuming. Last week I held a bake sale, in which I made everything that was sold (and can you believe I took no pictures? Bad blogger!) I decided to take a different pie route and make some rustic tarts (peach, in that case.) I whipped up a bunch of them in no time, and they sold out quickly. I had some pie dough left, and also some odd sized apples that didn't get made into caramel apples for the bake sale table, so today I decided to whip up a rustic apple tart. The results were fabulous. Unfortunately I'm the only one at home that eats apples....darn, just when my shorts were starting to fit again!
Aunt Delia's Perfect Pie Crust
4 1/2 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. shortening (*see note!)
1 Tbsp. white or cider vinegar
1 large egg
1/2 c. cold water
Place flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and mix well. Cut in shortening. In a separate bowl, beat together vinegar, egg, and water. Combine with dry ingredients. Stir until all is moistened. Wrap and chill for 1/2 hour.
*I never use all shortening. I used to use all butter, but recently had a "duh!" moment and realized that was why the crust wouldn't hold it's shape. For the rustic tarts, I used 1 c. shortening and 3/4 c. butter. The results were great; the dough held it's shape perfectly, and the taste of the crust was out of this world.
Once you have your dough, the sky is the limit for the filling. I rolled my dough out into a circle, spread out some brown sugar, sprinkled on cloves and cinnamon. Then I arranged thinly sliced apples within about 3/4 inch of the edge of the dough, sprinkled on more brown sugar, cloves, and cinnamon. Then I just folded the dough around the edges, and brushed on a french egg wash (egg mixed with heavy cream.) My tart was then ready to head into the oven. This apple tart I baked at 400 degrees for about 1/2 hour.
I love making pies. Really, they are one of my most favorite items to make. I just love the whole process of it...rolling out the bottom layer, layering in the fruit, crimping the top layer, and seeing how beautiful and shiny the egg wash makes it. I will admit, though, that it can be a little time consuming. Last week I held a bake sale, in which I made everything that was sold (and can you believe I took no pictures? Bad blogger!) I decided to take a different pie route and make some rustic tarts (peach, in that case.) I whipped up a bunch of them in no time, and they sold out quickly. I had some pie dough left, and also some odd sized apples that didn't get made into caramel apples for the bake sale table, so today I decided to whip up a rustic apple tart. The results were fabulous. Unfortunately I'm the only one at home that eats apples....darn, just when my shorts were starting to fit again! 
Aunt Delia's Perfect Pie Crust
