Just Baking

Well, in my case, the answer is . . . rarely. But that’s mainly because I love the process itself and so don’t really look for the shortcuts, and also because I like food to be as close to its natural state as possible. (I’ll refrain from climbing up on my soapbox here, but if you’re interested, you can check out my personal blog, where I tend to wax philosophical about the joys of eating real food.) Now, having said that, there are a few notable exceptions, and over the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing them. First up, the premade pie crust.

Generally speaking, I prefer to make my own pie crusts. I have a reliable recipe that I’ve used for years, and it’s no trouble to throw together the pastry for a double-crust. Plus, there’s really nothing like homemade pie with real, scratch-made crust. But sometimes, Thanksgiving, say, when my kitchen turns into an assembly line for 8 pies at a time or I just want to throw something into the oven to turn out a quick dessert with no countertop mess, I do occasionally rely on the premade crust. Specifically, I use the Pillsbury refrigerated crusts that unroll beautifully into the pie plate.

Are these as good as homemade? Honestly, no. But they are good, and many people can’t tell the difference. (Trust me on that.) You can crimp the edges, so they look homemade, and the color and texture are quite nice. They’re more successful with some fillings than with others. For example, I like them with pecan pie better than, say, a juicy fresh raspberry pie, as the crust tends to get soggy and break down faster than a homemade crust would. This isn’t a problem if you plan on consuming the whole pie in one sitting, but it is an issue to consider if you’ll be refrigerating it for any length of time.

Also, the crust isn’t quite as thick or as flaky as homemade, but it’s really not a bad trade-off for the convenience of putting together a whole pie in minutes.

So, all things considered, although homemade pie pastry would be my first choice, the pie made with roll-out premade piecrust is a lot better than no pie at all. In many basic applications, premade refrigerated piecrust is a respectable substitute for scratch pastry, and it’s versatile enough to use with sweet or savory fillings, like quiche.