With all the holiday baking that's afoot I'm sure I don't have to remind anyone that last Fall, Cook's Illustrated magazine created nothing short of a pastry dough revolution. No, not a stir or a little hubub, but a full on revolution.
Though the Cook's recipe uses butter and we don't, we still get the incredible results of their secret ingredient, vodka*. This recipe creates a miracle dough. You will commit this recipe to memory and use no other for the rest of your natural days.
Here's Fog City Vegan's version for a two-crust 9-inch pie. It may be prepared up to two days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. And it freezes grrrrrrrrrrrreat!
2.5 cups (12.5 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 pinches sugar
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) cold Earth Balance cut into 1/4 " slices
1/2 cup cold non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1/4 cup cold Vodka
1/4 cup cold water
Measure and put into freezer: Earth Balance, vegetable shortening, water and vodka.
Process 1.5 cups flour, salt and sugar in the food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add Earth Balance and shortening. 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 - 6 pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
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 2 even balls and flatten each into a 4 inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days.
Remove 1 disk of dough from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand.
This dough it is very supple to work with. You're not doing anything wrong, so don't lose faith! You'll have to trust me when I tell you that this super delicate flaky crispy "buttery" product, whether used for tarts, pies, or savory dishes, will have you shrieking "You're right Fog City Vegan, this pastry dough is revolutionary!"
*vodka note:
Pie dough gets its structure from gluten, long chains of protein that form when flour mixes with water. But too much gluten will make pie dough tough. That's why traditional pie doughs are so stingy with the water. Cook's Illustrated discovered that vodka lets you add more liquid (so the dough is easy to roll out) without toughening the crust. Why?
80-proof vodka consists of 60-percent water and 40-percent ethanol. While gluten forms readily in water, it does not form in ethanol. Thus, our recipe, which contains 4-Tablespoons each of cold water and vodka, gets the benefits of 8 Tablespoons of liquid (supple, easy-to-roll dough) but actually has the equivalent of about 6.5 Tablespoons of water - an amount that limits gluten formation and ensures tenderness. As for the alcohol, it vaporizes in the oven.
Go Vegan. Why not?
