My great-aunt insisted I use lard in my pie crust, and wow, she was right

I was making her old apple pie recipe from 1950s Kentucky and almost used butter, but she called and told me not to. The crust came out so flaky and tender, nothing like my usual tough ones. Has anyone else had a family recipe tip that seemed outdated but totally worked?

3 comments

3 Comments

jakep2418d ago

Okay, "outdated" is doing a lot of work there. My grandma's pie crust secret was a splash of vinegar, which sounded nuts until I tried it. Turns out old ladies with fifty years of baking wins are rarely wrong.

diana_foster18d ago

But @jakep24, does a pie crust trick really need a whole debate?

johnh825d ago

Oh, the old ways are "outdated" until your pie crust shatters like fine china. My granddad swore by using ice-cold vodka instead of water, said it made the dough easier to handle. I thought he was just trying to put his drink in everything, but the crust doesn't get tough. Sometimes you just have to accept that people who baked through wars and shortages might know a trick or two.