I make a lot of pie crusts for French-style tartes aux fruits and quiches, which are one-crust pies. Pies with two crusts are usually called tourtes. For the one-crust pies, my pâte brisée is always better when I've blind-baked it before filling it.
To do this, I put the crust in its buttered pan, poke some holes it in with the tines of a fork, then line the crust with a piece of kitchen parchment, or papier sulfurisé as it's called here. Then the pie weights go in.
I've heard that you can use beans or rice, but I got these ceramic weights from a kitchen store back in San Francisco many years ago and they work great. The weights keep the pie crust from rising up out of the pan while it pre-bakes without a filling.
After about fifteen minutes in a hot oven, the crust is ready to cool a bit and be filled with good stuff, then it goes back into the oven for the final baking. The crust is always done and never soggy.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have apples and no crust... You know the address for the FedEx shipment.
ReplyDelete;-)
I remember my mother using beans!
ReplyDeleteQuite an interesting photo, actually. I would never have guessed what it was.
My mom gave these to me for Christmas last year, and I must confess, I've only used them twice. I am not the master crust maker that you are, Walt, but I'm going to keep trying. I'm sure I'll be using them again around Thanksgiving.
ReplyDelete