My great aunt's pie crust uses vodka, and I finally tried it

I was going through her old recipe box from the 1970s and saw '1/4 cup vodka' in her apple pie notes. She wrote 'the alcohol cooks off, leaves it flaky.' I made it yesterday and it was the best crust I've ever had, super tender. Did anyone else's family use weird tricks like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan_young2917d ago

Wait, is that the trick with the vodka? My buddy's mom swore by that for her holiday tarts... she said the water in the vodka makes steam for flakiness but the alcohol part stops the gluten from getting tough. He brought some over last Christmas and I was shocked how good it was, like it just melted. I always thought it was some weird rumor until I tried his mom's baking.

adamr1417d ago

That gluten thing makes sense. The vodka basically lets you add more liquid for steam without making the dough tough from overworking it. I've seen recipes that use vinegar for the same reason, to keep it tender. It's a solid trick if you're heavy-handed with the dough.

the_grace17d ago

Seriously? That just sounds like a waste of good vodka. My grandma's crust uses plain ice water and cold lard, and it's perfect every time. All that extra liquid from the vodka just makes the dough harder to handle and sticky. I tried it once and it was a mess, ended up way too wet.