Magpie Dough for Flaky Piecrust

Makes 2 piecrusts

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2½ cups or 312 grams all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons or 28g granulated sugar

1 teaspoon or 6g fine salt

¾ cup or 170g cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes and frozen

¼ cup or 60g vegetable shortening, in baking stick form, frozen, cut into ¼-inch pieces, and put back in the freezer

½ cup + 1 tablespoon or 130g ice-cold water

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1. Mix: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse the machine 3 times to blend. Scatter the frozen butter cubes over the flour mixture. Pulse the machine 5 to 7 times, holding each pulse for 5 full seconds, to cut all of the butter into pea-size pieces. Scatter pieces of frozen shortening over the flour-and-butter mixture. Pulse the machine

4 more 1-second pulses to blend shortening with flour. The mixture will resemble coarse cornmeal, but a bit more floury, riddled with pale butter bits (no pure-white shortening should be visible).

2. Turn the mixture out into a large mixing bowl, and make a small well in the center. If you find a few butter clumps larger than pea size (about ¼ inch), give them a quick smoosh with your fingers. Pour the cold water into the well. Use a curved bowl scraper to lightly scoop the flour mixture up and over the water, covering the water to help get the absorption started. Continue mixing by scraping flour up from sides and bottom of the bowl into the center, rotating the bowl as you mix, and occasionally pausing to clean off the scraper on the side of the bowl, until the mixture begins to gather into clumps but is still very crumbly. (In very dry conditions, if the ingredients refuse to clump together, add another tablespoon of ice water.)

3. Lightly gather the clumps with your fingers, and use your palm to fold over and press the dough a few times (don't knead - just give the dough a few quick squishes) until it just begins to come together into a single large mass. It will be a raggedy wad, moist but not damp, that barely holds together; this is exactly as it should be - all it needs is a good night's rest in the fridge.

4. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, and gently shape each portion into a flat disk 1½ to 2 inches thick, and wrap each tightly with plastic wrap.

5. Chill: The dough MUST have its beauty sleep - at least 8 hours in the refrigerator. Extra rest is just fine, for up to 3 days before rolling. (At this stage, the wrapped dough can be put in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.)

6. Roll: Lightly flour a smooth work surface and a rolling pin. Take a chilled disk out of the fridge. Give it a couple of firm squeezes, then unwrap and set it on the floured work surface. Set the pin crosswise on the dough and press down firmly. Turn the disk 180 degrees and repeat, making a second indentation, forming a plus sign. Use your rolling pin to press down each wedge, turning the dough 45 degrees each time. This will give you the beginning of a thick circle. Roll the dough from the center outward, rotating it a quarter-turn to maintain circular shape, until the dough is a 13-inch, 1/4-inch-thick circle.

7. Carefully fold the dough in half, transfer it to the pie pan, and unfold. Now, without stretching it, set the dough down in the pan so that is flush against the sides and bottom. Use a light touch to help cozy it in. Fold the overhang under to form a 1-inch wall that rests on the lip of the pan with the seam slightly below the pan's top edge. Chill the panned dough in the freezer until firm, 15 to 20 minutes.

- From Magpie: Sweets and Savories from Philadelphia's

Favorite Pie Boutique by Holly Ricciardi

Per Serving (based on 12): 242 calories; 3 grams protein; 22 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams sugar; 16 grams fat; 31 milligrams cholesterol; 276 milligrams sodium; 1 gram dietary fiber.EndText