This pastry dough is one of Canadian Living’s fail-safe Test Kitchen recipes. The combination of lard and butter makes the dough endlessly flaky and easy to work with. A full recipe makes enough for a double-crust pie, so simply halve it for a single-crust pie, using 1 egg yolk instead of a whole egg. Or, even better, freeze the remaining half of the dough for another use.
Ingredients
2-1/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup (125 mL) lard or vegetable shortening, cubed
1/4 cup (60 mL) cold water, approx
3 tbsp (45 mL) sour cream
1 egg
Preparation
In bowl, whisk flour with salt. Using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter and lard until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger pieces.
Whisk together cold water, sour cream and egg; drizzle over flour mixture, tossing with fork and adding up to 1 tsp more cold water if necessary until ragged dough forms. Divide in half; shape into discs. Wrap each and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.)
