LC Pie Crust Thread

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by CRosie

I'm just trying to follow up on this thread to see if any subsequent tests were held and if there's a tried and true crust recipe that's as good or almost as good as a regular flour crust?!

Rose, the crust in the 1st post is every bit as good as any high carb regular crust. I have made it at least 50 times and have given it to high and low carbers and nobody knows the difference.

[Zuleikaa]

Kevin
Your almond flour recipe is great as the base for lemon and pecan squares.

[Nigel]

Originally Posted by Zuleikaa

Kevin
Your almond flour recipe is great as the base for lemon and pecan squares.

do you have a lemon square recipe to share please?

[Zuleikaa]

Originally Posted by Nigel

do you have a lemon square recipe to share please?

Will do when I have time.

[Zuleikaa]

Here it is:

Lemon Squares
Crust:
Kevinpa’s Almond Flour Pie Crust with ½ c. equivalent sweeteners added if desired.

Lemon Layer:
Zest of 3 lemons, finely grated *
1/3 cup carbalose
4 large eggs
2 tbsp. butter, melted
2 tbsp. thicken thin not sugar
1 cup equivalent sugar substitute, sweeten to taste
Juice of 3 lemons, strained *
Enough water to make ½ c. lemon juice
1. Pat almond flour crust mixture into pan in an even layer in 9-inch square pan. Chill briefly in freezer or refrigerator until it's firm, about 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350*F (180*C) and bake crust 15 to 20 minutes or until the surface appears a light golden brown all-over. After crust is baked reduce oven temperature to 300*F (150*C).
3. While crust is baking prepare lemon custard layer. In a large mixing bowl, grate the zest of 3 lemons (zest is only the yellow skin, not the bitter white pith which lies underneath it). Add zest to the carbalose, eggs, not sugar, and butter whisking well by hand. In a steady stream, add the lemon juice and whisk until incorporated. I use a food processor. Taste custard to adjust sweetness.
4. To bake, gently pour the custard over the warm crust, return to 300*F (150*C) oven and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes until custard is just barely set all over. Custard will continue to bake a few minutes longer after it has been removed from the oven. Cool thoroughly Makes 12 bars.

*Reconstituted lemon juice can be substituted but it won’t be as good.

[Nigel]

thank you very much Zuleikaa

[hirezmary]

I've been really pleased with using CQ for crust. I just use the CQ, butter flavored crisco, and a little water. It works great for pumpkin pie and lemon merigne pie. Taste wise the carbalose is probably even better, but that's more carbs that I dont need. Next, I'm looking forward to making a tasty pot pie now that the weather is getting cold.

[Barbara Ray]

Kevin,

I made the first pie crust without the almond flour - because of the grainy texture - the crust was stupendous!!!!! I made an apple pie using a "regular" recipe substituting the sugar with a "blend" of LC sweetners - I made a second crust which I latticed - EVERYONE at my Thanksgiving table were thrilled - even the non-Low Carbers!!! This is a "keeper".

I now see why you use resistant wheat starch along with the Carbalose flour - it really does eliminate that "taste" that goes along with using only Carbalose.

Thank you for all the wonderful recipes and helpful hints!!!!

[Kisal]

I absolutely LOVE each and every one of you! I have gone without "treats" for 2 years, and I'm sooooooo excited about these wonderful recipes! You must all be scientists to be able to develop such wonderful things! Cheers and many, many thanks to each and every one of you!

[Barbara Ray]

Originally Posted by Kisal

I absolutely LOVE each and every one of you! I have gone without "treats" for 2 years, and I'm sooooooo excited about these wonderful recipes! You must all be scientists to be able to develop such wonderful things! Cheers and many, many thanks to each and every one of you!

I couldn't agree more - I have printed "tons" of wonderful recipes and "helpful hints" - and have NEVER been disappointed - I was with one recipe - then I found out it was my "fault"!

[CarolynF]

I made a #1 crust tonight and it rolled out beautifully and tasted great and was even pie crusty in texture. Next time I will try #2..Or maybe we could combine
#1 and #2 and have #1.5..by using 1/2 cup Carbalose and 1/4 cup almond flour
with the WRS..

Did you ever do that Kevin?

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by CarolynF

I made a #1 crust tonight and it rolled out beautifully and tasted great and was even pie crusty in texture. Next time I will try #2..Or maybe we could combine
#1 and #2 and have #1.5..by using 1/2 cup Carbalose and 1/4 cup almond flour
with the WRS..

Did you ever do that Kevin?

not exactly although this is something close

Notes in journal:
With this third attempt I decided to use a nut flour as the main flour and because nut flours are much heavier I decided to add a bit of Carbalose white flour because it is much lighter than Carbquik.

1/3 c. + 1 T. shortening (I used crisco green with no trans fats)
3/4 c. Almond flour
1/4 c. Carbalose white flour
1 T. wheat protein isolate 8000
1/2 t. sea salt
1 T. + 1 t. cold water

Cut shortening into flour until the particles are like small peas.
Sprinkle in water, 1 T. at a time tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry is clinging to the side of the bowl.

Dump into plate and push into place with fingers.

Note: Once again I use the rough method.

Prick crust all over with a fork and bake 400° for 11 min.

This crust had a very nice nutty taste.
Like the other 2 it pasted the fingernail flake test but this crust was the crumbliest of the 3 and very light.
Of the 3 crusts, I rank this one in the middle.
A final note, the next time I make this crust I am going to try a half and half of the 2 flours and I'll bet it makes a better crust but also would add a few more carbs and for this attemp I want to keep them as low as I while getting the best taste.

this crust is:
14 carbs at 8 slices is 1.75 per slice or 3.5 with double crust

[boss lady]

Kevin, just wanted to thank you for your time and effort. I used your first crust recipe for my pumpkin pie, it worked beautifully! I did refrigerate after rolling it out, I'll defintely use this one alot! So THANK YOU!!

p.s. next time I make a pie I'm going to use a light egg wash and bake for 7-8minutes first. do you think that will keep it from getting soggy on the bottom?

[Barbara Ray]

Originally Posted by boss lady

Kevin, just wanted to thank you for your time and effort. I used your first crust recipe for my pumpkin pie, it worked beautifully! I did refrigerate after rolling it out, I'll defintely use this one alot! So THANK YOU!!

p.s. next time I make a pie I'm going to use a light egg wash and bake for 7-8minutes first. do you think that will keep it from getting soggy on the bottom?

Boss lady - Semper Fi - I'm a "former" Marine - and darn PROUD of it!!!
Where is your daughter stationed??

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by boss lady

p.s. next time I make a pie I'm going to use a light egg wash and bake for 7-8minutes first. do you think that will keep it from getting soggy on the bottom?

I never had a problem with my old oven. As soon as I adjust the baking temp a bit I think that is all it will take.

[Zuleikaa]

Originally Posted by boss lady

Kevin, just wanted to thank you for your time and effort. I used your first crust recipe for my pumpkin pie, it worked beautifully! I did refrigerate after rolling it out, I'll defintely use this one alot! So THANK YOU!!

p.s. next time I make a pie I'm going to use a light egg wash and bake for 7-8minutes first. do you think that will keep it from getting soggy on the bottom?

I bake my pies at 400 degrees for 10 minutes to set the crust and then lower the temp to cook the filling.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by Zuleikaa

I bake my pies at 400 degrees for 10 minutes to set the crust and then lower the temp to cook the filling.

Yea, I have always done that also but since I got my new stove I have needed to adjust that time a tad since my new oven is way more accurate at maintaining the temp in my oven.

[boss lady]

O.K., that makes sense, I baked the pumpkin pie at 400 for 15 minutes then lowered to 350 for the remainder, the bottom was still kind of soggy though. But that happened with a "regular" crust too. I'll play around with the time and temps a bit. Thanks!

p.s. Barbara Ray, that's awesome your a Marine! Don't run into too many WM's. My dd actually got out last Dec. I just haven't changed the avi, and I'm still really proud of her so.... her last station was Camp Pendelton.

[Zuleikaa]

Originally Posted by boss lady

O.K., that makes sense, I baked the pumpkin pie at 400 for 15 minutes then lowered to 350 for the remainder, the bottom was still kind of soggy though. But that happened with a "regular" crust too. I'll play around with the time and temps a bit. Thanks!

p.s. Barbara Ray, that's awesome your a Marine! Don't run into too many WM's. My dd actually got out last Dec. I just haven't changed the avi, and I'm still really proud of her so.... her last station was Camp Pendelton.

You might want to crank it up to 425 degrees for the 10 minutes.

[metqa]

I'm sorry but I'm a bit confused.
Are you guys saying that you bake the crust separately to "set"
the crust, then lower the temperature and put in the filling
then bake?

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by metqa

I'm sorry but I'm a bit confused.
Are you guys saying that you bake the crust separately to "set"
the crust, then lower the temperature and put in the filling
then bake?

No, at least I am not saying that. I put the filling in and bake the entire thing at a higher temp for 15 min and then reduce the temp for the rest of the baking time.

[Zuleikaa]

What Kevinpa said.

[ItsTheWooo]

KevinPA,
I want to thank you for this crust. I made an apple pie and a pumpkin pie for thanksgiving with it, and they were delicious.

I did an apple pie with a crumb topping using half apples and half zucchini. I used your zucchini pie as an inspiration, and the apple strawberry crisp topping as the inspiration for the top layer. It came out to like 7 carbs per slice and it was great (in fact too sweet, as I underestimated natural sugar in apples).

The only question is, is there any way to make the crusts more durable? They were fairly fragile. I think this might have been from the resistant starch. Other than that, they were flaky and delicious and near perfect. Do you think adding wheat protein isolate or gluten would help without sacrificing flakiness?

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by ItsTheWooo

KevinPA,
I want to thank you for this crust. I made an apple pie and a pumpkin pie for thanksgiving with it, and they were delicious.

I did an apple pie with a crumb topping using half apples and half zucchini. I used your zucchini pie as an inspiration, and the apple strawberry crisp topping as the inspiration for the top layer. It came out to like 7 carbs per slice and it was great (in fact too sweet, as I underestimated natural sugar in apples).

The only question is, is there any way to make the crusts more durable? They were fairly fragile. I think this might have been from the resistant starch. Other than that, they were flaky and delicious and near perfect. Do you think adding wheat protein isolate or gluten would help without sacrificing flakiness?

Nora, so far I have tried somewhere around 20 different variations of LC crusts. This by far was the best to date although I did make this crust thicker and ended up with a sturdier crust yet still flaky. If you don't mind the few extra carbs you can make a multiple of this recipe and make it thicker. With the extra I buttered it and sprinkled it with cinnamon and sweetener rolled it up and cut into pinwheels.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by Kevinpa

1/3 c. + 1 T. shortening (I used crisco green with no trans fats)
3/4 c. Carbalose flour
1/4 c. resistant wheat starch
2 T. + 1 t. cold water
Cut shortening into flour until the particles are like small peas.
Sprinkle in water, 1 T. at a time tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry is clinging to the side of the bowl.

Roll out between 2 lightly dusted(WPI) sheets of wax paper.


Prick crust all over with a fork and bake 350° for 16 min.

In this following picture you can see the layers of flakiness in this LC crust. Counting 8 serving it adds only 2.25 carbs for a single crust and 4.5 carbs for a double crust pie. You can easily compare the taste to any high or low carb crust.

I finally tried this crust subbing lard for the shortening in it to eliminate the trans fats completely and I have to admit that I was pleasatly suprised with the results.
Although I did not try it with a desert crust, it was super as a savory crust.

[Jeska]

My grandmother always made her dessert pie crusts with a combo of butter and lard. They tasted good to me!

I can't wait to try this recipe when I get further into the carb ladder!