With continuing coverage of Serious Eat’s Pie Day 2008 posts …

Serious Eats talked to one of my favorite reliable food sources, Christopher Kimball of “America’s Test Kitchen” and “Cook’s Illustrated,” and wrested the secret of a no-fail pie crust from the living font of cooking wisdom!

The original post is here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/11/cooks-illustrated-foolproof-pie-dough-recipe.html

And here’s the recipe:

Foolproof Pie Dough

- makes one 9-inch double-crust pie -

The trick to this pie crust is the inclusion of vodka. Eighty-proof vodka, which is 60 percent water and 40 percent alcohol, adds moistness to the dough without aiding in gluten formation since gluten doesn’t form in ethanol. Although the recipe includes 8 tablespoons of liquid, the alcohol vaporizes during baking, resulting in a tender crust that only contains 6 1/2 tablespoons of water. Because of the extra liquid, the dough will be moister than most standard pie doughs and will require up to 1/4 cup more flour.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

Procedure

1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Last fall, Karyn of the hotpotato blog did a writeup of the “cup pie revolution” for Serious Eats and posted her baking results on her own blog! Under the premise that not every person is a cupcake person, preferring pie to cake, she makes a sound argument for perpetuating the cup pie revolution!

Read more and get her recipe here: http://threepotato.blogspot.com/2007/11/mini-pies.html

Making cup pies is easier than one might think–just press your standard full-size pie recipe into a cup-sized tins, or even actual cups, and reduce bake times suitably. Really, the only big advantage cupcakes have over cup pies is the sheer amount of time it would take to press so many crusts, especially if you’re making double-crust pies! The cute and novelty factors may trump the cupcake’s ease of assembly, though, at least once in awhile.

Personally, I’d cheerfully endorse any cup-sized dessert!

More on the spot reporting of Serious Eats’ National Pie Day 2008 coverage …

Serious Eats just did a blurb on Pies on Parade, a young, annual event held in Rockland, Maine, to celebrate National Pay Die! For the event, three of Rockland’s historic New England inns offer samples of savory and sweet pies, host pie-related demonstrations, and conduct tours of the participating inns. Proceeds for the event benefit the Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry! Guests staying at one of the three inns also receive an entire pie of their own!

We missed last year’s, but perhaps we’ll be able to make next year’s 5th annual event!

More info here: http://www.historicinnsofrockland.com/specials/pies.html

In honor of Pie Day, <a href=”http://www.seriouseats.com/”>Serious Eats</a> is posting pie posts throughout the day. So far, here are a couple of highlights:

Pie Honor Roll: http://www.seriouseats.com/eating_out/2008/01/the-best-pies-in-america.html

A pietoon: http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2008/01/in-videos-mr-scruffs-sweet-smoke.html