I had a small container of both raspberries and blackberries. Fearing that they would go bad, I decided to again turn my oven up to 350F while it was 90F outside/in my apartment to bake me some mini pies. Instead of using my time-tested butter crust, I went to the dark side and used faux lard, shortening. Admittedly, the shortening crust far surpasses the butter crust in terms of elasticity, taste, and flakiness. I think butter crust and I have finally broken up as I am clearly in love.
I halved the recipe from the Crisco container and combined:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
a little more than 1/3 shortening stick (I bought sticks, not tubs)
2-4 tablespoons of water
Using my mixer was excessive for this small amount, but a potato masher worked wonderfully as I mashed everything in a large bowl until it all held together, and then put in the refrigerator for approximately 30 minutes. After it had cooled (much unlike myself), I rolled it out on the counter and used a large circular cookie cutter, which I then rolled it out further. I used a muffin tin as my pie trays, and covered six spots with wax paper before I carefully put the dough in it and filled with sugared berries. Because this dough was so elastic, I even got to use my pie cutter and created the lattice top I was unable to use on my cherry pie. It was a long and tedious undertaking, but looked completelyfingadorable.
Now that the magic of shortening has exposed itself, I am more interested in what lard has to offer. Moreover, real, homemade lard!
