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1
For pastry; mix flour, salt and sugar together and add butter to it.
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2
Toss the mix with a fork until small pea-sized lumps begin to form.
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3
Slowly start adding ice cold water to the mixture, around 1 tablespoon at a time, while mixing it all together (in this step mix by using hands or a blender.
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4
Hands preferred so you know the consistency of the dough.).
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5
Continue adding water until the dough just starts to hold together.
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6
Do not add too much water or you will have a chewy, tough crust.
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7
Form the dough in a mound (do not over knead the dough.
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8
This will release gluten and spoil the texture of pie crust).
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9
Divide it into two parts.
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10
Form into ballls.
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11
Roll one balls out around 1/8 inch thick over a floured surface.
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12
You could choose to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before the rolling it out but that's optional.
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13
Line the rolled pastry in a pie plate, trim off the excess dough along the edges and cover the plate with some cling film.
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14
I used an 8 inch removal-bottom plate in this recipe.
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15
Toss the plate into fridge and let it cool for at least 30 minutes to an hour.
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16
Meanwhile heat your oven to 180C.
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17
Remove the pie plate from the fridge, take off the cling film.
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18
Prick the lined pastry a few times all over with a fork.
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19
This will avoid formation of bubbles or uneven baking.
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20
But do not prick if filling and crust are baked together.
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21
Bake the pie for around 20 minutes or until it is golden in color.
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22
You could also line the pastry with baking paper, put some weights like beans over the baking paper and then bake.
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23
This too ensures no bubbles form in the pie crust.
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24
Let the pie crust cool.
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25
Beat 3 egg yolks and give the baked crust a nice egg wash. Bake again at 180C for 5 minutes.
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26
This makes the crust water-proof, ie it won't get soggy after you add filling to the pie.
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27
Mix all the filling ingredients together and fill into the baked pie crust.
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28
Dot butter or margarine over the filling.
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29
I added a few cashew nut pieces to the filling for a little crunch.
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30
For the top crust, roll the other ball of dough (preferably refrigerated before rolling) and cut it into 1/2 inch thick stripes with a knife or a pizze cutter.
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31
Weave the mesh like pattern right over the pie plate after adding the filling.
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32
Trim off the excess dough along the edges of the plate.
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33
Give the top crust a nice egg wash.
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34
Bake the pie for about 50 minutes at 180C or until top crust is nice and golden.
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35
Enjoy the fruits of your labor with some freah cream!
