Baking Pies for the Holidays?
By Patricia Ann Talley, Editor
A Facebook group friend from Oaxaca posted about making a sweet potato pie for the holidays and how difficult it was to make the pie crust. It’s the humidity here in the tropics!
Many years ago, I owned and operated three “American-style” restaurants near the beach in Guerrero. We had to experiment and learn to cook traditional recipes with local ingredients and we had to change many recipes due to the heat and humidity.
So, I am sharing my pie crust recipe with you.
PIE CRUST
Makes 4
Secrets:
- COLD – I turn on the air conditioner to cool the room before starting the crust.
- Use COLD water.
- Knead on a COLD surface, if possible. I wipe my countertop with COLD water before starting.
- SIFT the flour first.
- Use INCA which is like Crisco. My family recipe called for margarine, but it is too hot and humid in the tropics! Here is a picture so you know what to look for in the store.
Cut Together (using 2 sharp knives)
- 5 cups sifted Flour
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 2 tablespoons Sugar
- 400 grams of INCA
Sit back, turn on a movie and the air conditioner, and cut up that INCA into the flour mixture until it is evenly distributed.
- Add the COLD water, a little at a time. Depending on your climate, you might not need it all, or you might need a little more. The objective is to bind the mixture together, but you do not want it too damp.
- Generously flour your counter
- Kneed gently
- Cut in 4 parts and wrap the dough in wax paper or put each one in a plastic bag
- CHILL the balls of dough. You can put the extra balls in the freezer to use later. If you freeze the dough, remove it from the freezer, let it thaw, then chill it again.
Put a lot of flour on your counter. Get out the rolling pin or a bottle (that you are not drinking out of) and roll out the pie crust! Enjoy!
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