PIE LOVERS unite!! Some wish to fetishize pie. Others wish to demonize it. Some say it can only be made with the most precious of ingredients. Others make the claim that store-bought pies, which may be the best we can do at times, are just as good as homemade. Some say it is too fattening. Others say it’s okay to have any time.

Reject extremes. Love pie as the traditional and exceptional delicacy it is, unhealthy to eat every day or often, but so woven into our cultural history that to live entirely without pie is to live as a permanent exile, adrift and cut off from your own civilization with an existential hunger that cannot be satisfied. Pie is soul food, but don’t put it on a pedestal. Please, don’t ever be afraid to make it yourself! Lock yourself in a room with butter, shortening (or lard) and flour if you must. But make it!!

Baking expert Abby Dodge explains in this excellent video how to use the French technique called fraisage to make a flaky pie crust. It’s important to move quickly when doing this so the butter doesn’t get too soft or start to melt from the heat of your hands.

(Note: Wrap dough in wax paper rather than plastic wrap as she suggests.)

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