Pastry: when flaky is a good thing...

My mother has always produced perfect rolled pie crusts with a rope edge, so perfect they look like fakes. They never need patches, the bottoms perfectly even, and to this day I convinced she was born with a French pastry pin in one hand and a handful of pie weights in other. My mother's pies were always so good that I always requested pie, rather than cake, for my birthdays. She would dutifully cut a small hole in the crispy top crust to hold a couple of candles. I took it upon myself to master this kitchen voodoo that my mother knew so well, the Julie Child sucre (sweet) French pastry shell.

After I had been married four or five years I tried one from the Martha Stewart magazine and my husband flipped his lid. Three years ago, I tried the America's Test Kitchen one with vodka and he proclaimed that I ruined Thanksgiving. I remade the pies the next day. Last year, feeling feisty, I tried the part barley crust one from King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking and got a pass, which is quite a feat indeed. So, feeling brave, I decided to take it up a notch and try replacing part of the butter with palm shortening to yield a softer dough that could be pressed into place to make it easier for newbies (*ahem*, fledgling teen and tween cooks) and go totally whole grain. I didn't tell him which pumpkin pie had a different crust, or even that there might be a difference, but the cat is out of the bag now! He couldn't tell. He had two pieces at one time, each from a different pie, and adored them both and never even noticed. I win! Well, Tropical Traditions and you win.

You see, Tropical Traditions sent me a sample pail of the non-hydrogenated palm shortening to review for a giveaway. I put it through it's paces. I fried eggs in it, I fried potatoes in it, I popped corn in it, I greased bread pans with it, I made and deep fried buneulos in it (Mexican donuts, recipe to come soon!), I fried tostadas in it, I rescued the baby's stuck hand from a play kitchen drinking glass by greasing her with it, I made Italian  buttercream with it, I seasoned a new cast iron panini pan with it and I risked marital harmony and Thanksgiving's very essence by making pastry with it. So here are my findings:

Palm shortening has a mild neutral flavor which allows other flavors to take center stage. My children noticed the brighter, less muddled flavor to the eggs and I noticed that nobody could smell it (unlike coconut oil) when I sneaked in to the kitchen to pop some corn  when the kids were supposed to sleeping. It has the stability to deep fry without breaking down and has a very high smoke point. It is also firm enough at room temperature to be a perfect substitution for the few tablespoons of standard shortening that most pastry chefs rely on to make piped frostings more stable. Yet, is soft at room temperature with less waxiness than my usual coconut oil making it easier to get out of the container and easier for greasing pans. The high smoke point made it perfect for seasoning my new panini press, which despite being pre-seasoned stuck a little at first. I was thrilled that it made a great substitute for lard in my tortilla recipe HERE because I happened to be a little low on lard this month. I am definitely going to make sure that I keep this in the pantry, it has been so fantastic to have around. If you haven't tried it, you should, and Tropical Traditions is going to make it a little easier for you by giving one reader some palm shortening to try in their own kitchen. I'll be announcing the start of that giveaway later this week. Until then, here is the pie pastry recipe that sated even my husband this Thanksgiving, and there is no white flour in it...

Barley, Palm and Butter Sucre Pastry
(yields enough for two pies, or one double-crust pie)


2 1/2 C barley flour
large pinch of salt
2 Tb honey
1 and 1/2 stick butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
8 Tb palm shortening, cut into small pieces and chilled
2 egg yolks, beaten
1-3 teaspoons heavy cream, not UHP

Combine flour and salt and cut in fats. Gently knead in the honey and yolks. Sprinkle on small amounts of cream until dough holds together. Shape into a wheel, wrap and chill for 15 minutes before pressing out into pie plate. Need a recipe to fill your pie pastry? Try my real food pies HERE.

Lastly, I want to make sure I mention the great new tool that Tropical Traditions is carrying! They have sweet green wrench looking thing for prying the lids off buckets. I have all sorts of products in buckets from the palm shortening, to coconut oil, to Real Salt and I hate getting them open. This makes it no fuss, no mess, the buckets are still able to be re-closed and no need to make my husband do it. The tool is heavy and metal and looks like it is going to last forever. This tool belongs in yours and everyone's kitchen. I wish I had ordered it sooner!

Linking up to Monday Mania and Weekend Gourmet


To enter the  shortening giveaway, click HERE!


Want to enter the Twitter Giveaway? Comment here, second entry if you tweet it, one random winner, drawing on the same day as above. Again, not sponsored, a gift from me to you!