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Family Pie Crust
One pound flour, three fourths pound of butter and lard (mixed); rub the shortening in the lard in lumps, not very fine, and wet with ice water, then put on ice or in the cold for one hour.
A weight-based crust from the era when flour came in barrels and pastry was mixed by feel. The proportions are richer than most modern recipes, and one line in the original is garbled.
- The garbled line"rub the shortening in the lard" appears to be a misprint; "shortening" here covers the butter and lard, so the line most likely should read as rubbing the fat into the flour, leaving it in lumps rather than working it to crumbs.
- Weights to volumeOne pound of flour is about 3 1/2 to 4 cups scooped, or 450 g — weigh it if you can, since this recipe lives or dies on the fat-to-flour ratio. Three quarters of a pound of mixed butter and lard is 12 oz (340 g); the original does not say in what proportion to mix the two.
- A very rich ratioAt 3 parts fat to 4 parts flour by weight this is richer than the usual American crust of roughly 2 parts flour to 1 part fat. It will be tender and hard to overwork, but also slack and prone to tearing, which is precisely why the hour of chilling is not optional.
- The water is not specifiedThe original just says "wet with ice water." Expect somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 cup for this quantity of flour, added a few tablespoons at a time until the dough just coheres when pressed. With this much fat you will need less than you think.
- Lumps on purposeLeaving the fat in visible pieces the size of peas and almonds is the whole method. Those lumps flatten into sheets when rolled and steam apart in the oven; a uniformly sandy mixture gives a short, crumbly crust instead of a flaky one.
- ChillingAn hour in the refrigerator, not the freezer. "On ice" meant the icebox, which ran warmer than a modern fridge, so the dough will come out firmer than intended — let it sit a few minutes before rolling if it cracks.
- YieldAbout 2 lb of dough once the water is in, enough for two 9-inch double-crust pies or three or four single shells. It is a family batch, meant to be divided; wrapped disks keep three days chilled or three months frozen.
- BakingNo temperature is given, since the original stops at the chilling stage. For a modern oven, start pastry at 425F to set the layers, then drop to 350-375F to finish; blind-bake shells at 400F with weights.
Pie crust recipes of this period are commonly given in pounds rather than cups, a habit of the shop and the kitchen scale rather than the measuring-cup standardization that Fannie Farmer's 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book did much to popularize. The mix of butter and lard is a common domestic compromise: lard, then cheap and widely available, produces flakiness and tenderness, while butter supplies the flavor it lacks. Vegetable shortening was only just arriving in American kitchens in the early twentieth century. The insistence on ice water and an hour "on ice" points to a household with an icebox and a regular delivery of ice.