Parve Piecrust

[cheesecake17]

I'm going to be making a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie for Shabbat this weekend. Does anyone have a good recipe to use for a parve piecrust? I'd like to use margarine only, no Crisco. Last time I adapted a regular recipe (with butter) to margarine, I ended up with a mess.

Thanks!

[Prettypoodle]

Try looking for a vegan version and use the margerine you wish.

[Sherri]

I believe this recipe qualifies as Parve

1 3/4 Cup AP flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 Cup oil
3 TBLS cold water

Stir with fork until moistened.
Chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper.
Makes a 2-crust pie.

[cheesecake17]

Thanks, this looks like what I'm looking for.

[GilaB]

I've found that the easiest way for me to sidestep the toughness issue is not to use a solid fat at all; after all, with a pareve pie crust, there isn't going to be a flavor from butter (or lard!), so one might as well use something that gives a flaky result without the unhealthiness of trans fats. I use the Wesson Oil Pie Crust recipe, taken from here: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/...

I replace the milk with soy milk, and if I'm making a crust for a sweet pie, I add 1 T sugar; otherwise, I make it as written. It's much easier to mix than the average pie crust, with decently flaky results, although it's a little harder to move around.

[rockycat]

Toughness comes from overhandling the dough and using too much water, regardless of what type of fat is used. The ideal in the non-kosher world is lard because it gives both flavor and flakiness. Butter gives flavor but not flakiness, vegetable shortening gives flakiness but no flavor. For dairy I generally use half each, as per Julia Child, to get some of the best of both worlds. I know of many kosher cooks who do use butter-flavor Crisco but since the OP does not want to use shortening I might suggest Earth Balance soy margarine - stick, not tub. I have no personal experience with it but it has been recommended to me by a few kosher cooks.

Remember, if you are using margarine, it is softer than butter. You might want to freeze it briefly before using. In fact, it's not a bad idea to freeze all your pie dough ingredients before use. You'll get the best results from using cold ingredients, a minimal amount of water, and handling the dough as little as possible.

[ferret]

Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen) has a "foolproof pie crust" recipe that replaces half the water volume with vodka. More than half the vodka volume evaporates rapidly so you get a lot less water in the crust.

[avitrek]

More important than evaporation is that vodka doesn't form gluten so you get the moisture needed for the crust without the gluten toughening it up.

[websterhall1994]

The Earth Balance stick margarine is salted. You'd be better off using the Earth Balance Shortening sticks which are not.

[ferret]

Safeway's house brand is Pareve. It's what I use for chicken pot pie.

[DeisCane]

Many, if not most, prepared crusts at supermarkets are pareve. Keebler, etc. However, the OP was looking to make it him/herself.

[cheesecake17]

I actually happened to be out last night, and picked up a package of 2 Mrs Smith's deep dish crusts.

[vallevin]

Honestly, that's what I do ALL the time.

[cheesecake17]

I usually keep them in the freezer, but I ran out. Figured I would try making piecrust for once.. but it was easier to buy it!

Pies look great, BTW. I used a new recipe for pecan pie- with no corn syrup.

[vallevin]

BLASHPHEMY! No corn syrup? Really?

[cheesecake17]

It's from the new issue of Good Housekeeping. The filling was eggs, margarine, brown sugar, and maple syrup. It came out fabulous- finished right away.

[vallevin]

What maple syrup did you use?

[cheesecake17]

Kirkland brand from Costco. It comes in a large plastic jug and it's about $11.

[mrsphud]

I like the Oronocco Farms prepared pie crusts or even those from Whole foods market.