Basic Pie Dough

One can never have enough pie dough recipes in their arsenal. This an easy recipe that is great for the beginner. It yields a standard, all-purpose dough that is perfect for all single-crust pies and galettes.

Basic Pie Dough
Yields enough dough for 2 single-crust pies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar**
• 4 ounces cold non-hydrogenated shortening, cut into small cubes
  
• 2 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 2/3 cup cold water

Whisk flour, salt, and sugar together in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the shortening and butter, and using the paddle attachment, mix together on low speed until the ingredients look like coarse corn meal. Be sure that there are no large lumps of shortening or butter that have not been thoroughly blended into the flour. With the mixer on low speed, add the cold water and mix until the dough just starts to come together. If the dough is still too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough begins to stick together.

Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface, and gently knead it a couple of times until it is smooth and uniform. Divide dough in half and flatten into circles. Wrap circles separately in plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before using in your recipes.
Dough can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.

** if using dough for savory pies or quiche, omit the sugar.

Doce de Ovos: The Sweet Soul of Portugal

In the March 2009 issue of Saveur Magazine there was a short article about an ever-shrinking town in Portugal called Tentugal. This sleepy little place was once an illustrious gastronomic center known for its local pastry specialty, Pasteis de Tentugal. These are little packages of thin, flaky pastry, that is made much like strudel or filo dough, wrapped around a filling of doce de ovos - a simple mix of egg, sugar, and water. It doesn't sound very impressive, but for some reason I was drawn to this simple sweet. I had never heard of Pasteis de Tentugal, or for that matter doce de ovos! Why was something so simple so important? I had to find out. Sadly, the article did not give a recipe, only the basic ingredients.

The history of this pastry, which has been made for 500 years, is inextricably tied to the town of Tentugal. The recipe is one of the many great convent sweets that this part of Portugal is known for. In the old days, the peasantry would bring offerings of eggs to the local monasteries and convents. The Religious would turn these eggs into a multitude of delicious sweets.

According to the article, a 9 pound lump of dough is placed on a clean sheet on the floor and pulled and stretched until you can read a newspaper through it. It can reach up to 300 square feet! The dough is then cut into circles and wrapped around a sweet egg filling.

I knew that the dough would take years of practice to master, but that there was bound to be a recipe for doce de ovos on-line. There were recipes, and they were in Portuguese! Luckily, with a basic knowledge of all Romance languages, I was able to decipher the recipes - despite the comical translations that you get when you click on the "translate this page" link options!

I assembled my ingredients and began to make doce de ovos. It is one of those recipes that you think can't possibly work until something magical happens and you end up with one of the greatest sweets the world has ever known. It is rich and decadent. It is versatile, not only good for a filling, but it can also be thinned out and used as a sauce or as a glaze for cakes and tarts.

To humbly replicate the Pasteis de Tentugal, I decided that I would cheat and wrap my filling in filo dough. It was good, but I'm sure it was a far cry from the true recipe. After doing more research, I discovered another sweet called Charutinhos de Doce de Ovos, which is actually closer to what I made. Who knew!?

Doce de Ovos
Makes about 1 cup

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 whole egg
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla, optional*
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water, optional*

Place water and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, insert candy thermometer, and continue boiling until sugar reaches 240 degrees. While sugar is cooking, whisk egg and yolks together in a metal or glass bowl.

Once sugar reaches 240 degrees, immediately begin to drizzle hot sugar into egg mixture, a little at a time, whisking constantly. Once all of the sugar has been added to the eggs, scrape eggs and sugar back into the same pot and return to medium-high heat. Return mixture to boil, whisking constantly. Be sure to get into the "corners" of the pot. Continue whisking until mixture begins to thicken and get foamy, about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, scrape mixture into a clean bowl.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, and add the vanilla and orange blossom water, if using. Whisk thoroughly to combine. Scrape sides of the bowl, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until completely cooled. Mixture will thicken as it cools. Thin with water if using as a sauce or glaze.

* These ingredients are not traditional, but make the doce de ovos even more delicious!