Pie crust

Hello all...I am also looking for pie crust...the already made kind...anyone know a shop to buy this at?
A

depends on the type of pastry you need... I know Kaufhof in Marienplatz has all kinds of fresh dough and pastry, maybe worth a try...

Unless it has recently appeared in a market that I haven't been too, you won't find it.
You can make it from scratch fairly easily or subsitute crushed vanilla wafers for the crust.

looking for the pie crust like in states for apple pie...also could use graham cracker crust... not looing for something i have to make out of dough

Well, if you can find graham crackers, then you're all set!
And tell me where you found them, I wanna make smores!

oooh, obviously american pie crust! we make proper pastry in England, daaaahlings

hee hee just for reference this isnt for me..but for an older american lady here...she wont take anything but american pie for an answer
...looks like she'll have to learn to cook here
thanks for the tips guys!

Eurovol, I haven't found graham crackers, but whole wheat Leibniz cookies do a pretty good imitation, especially the crumbs.

For the imitation pie crust bit, yeah your right they do work pretty good, but for smores...there IS no substitute.

Eir platzchen are basically vanilla wafers without the vanilla, but for pie crusts and banana pudding, you can always add more vanilla.

@planegirl1720 I will be making pie crust from scratch next week for Pecan Pies! I can make a few extra and roll them up to freeze. I will sell your little old lady these at 2for€5.

hey that sounds great...two for me then!!! When will u make them, i could come pick them up from u
Amber
ps my email is planegirl1720@yahoo.com or pm me!

Thursday or Friday. Depends on what all is left to do for the big Thanksgiving do. Others want Pumpkin Pie, I want PECAN!!!

im with u there!! i LOVE pecan pie...part of my mothers texas upbringing

just make ur own pie crust...

Just made four crusts and will only use two. So, two are up for grabs or else I will freeze them for Xmas.

You can make them yourself and here is the recipe:
3 cups sifted flour (it really does have to be sifted)
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons water
1 small Tengelmann size Biskin (or 1 cup Crisco)

Mix flour and salt in a bowl and cut in the Biskin. Use two knives and "chop" until the pieces are pea size. This will take a good 15-20 minutes to do it right.
Now take about a cup of this and add to it the water and mix. Dump it back into the "dry" ingredients and mix with a fork. Mix and mix and mix some more.
Then using your hands, make a ball out of the stuff. It should not stick to anything at this point. It should be a greasy ball of dough.
This is enough for EXACTLY four pie shells.
Take Toppits baking paper (non-stick on both sides) and roll out the dough to about 1/8th of an inch. Use a big ass bowl or pot to cut the dough about 1/2 inch larger than your pie pan. Do the same for all four. Stack the shells on each other with the backing paper in between. Refrigerate flat or roll up using a paper towell tube. Once thoroughly chilled, use or freeze. If you freeze, thaw slowly before using.
Lay gently onto pie pan and pull away the paper. Fold under the edges and flute. For dry pies, use as is. For wet pies, paint on melted butter and precook a bit, but be sure to prick the entire surface before pre cooking.
There you have it.

Ya know, I think I once saw ready-made pie crusts at Kaufhof. Was I hallucinating? Could be...

"1 small Tengelmann size Biskin (or 1 cup Crisco)"

Is Biskin a substitute for crisco? I never noticed it in the store, what is this?

Any luck finding grahm cracker like cookies?

How about chocolate bicuit(oreo like) cookies for cheesecake crusts?

Similar I think...comes in a little square/rectangular tub from what I remember...that looks like a marg container. I used it to make cookies but did not find it to be quite the same as Crisco.

Crisco is available in many of the North American sections i.e. Walmart, Hertie, MiniMal, etc.

I was hoping to find an alternative to crisco, it was like E6 for a tiny tub at Kaufof.

I recenty came across this website: http://www.british-american-food.de

has everything from betty crocker pie crust mix to cranberry juice (which is strangely listed as a british and not american item). the prices are reasonable too, and they get the order out in just a couple days.

Oh just make it yourself. Then you can gorge yourself on all the extra bits. If you make sweet pastry, it's basically raw cookie dough. Yum yum yum!

@Julie

In theory Biskin does serve the same purpose as Crisco. And it is cheaper. Just doesn't seem to have the same effect in recipes...but perhaps it was not the Biskin that affected my cookies. It really could have been anything I suppose.

I would use it again as a Crisco alternative.

Cardnaxela, did you just find that site today or something? You're posting it everywhere. BTW, I wasn't being a shit on the other thread, as you apparently thought, just realistic. When people repeat posts, the mods normally merge the threads. That site has been posted several times.

I've bought from them before, and it's a great place to get some things so long as you buy in bulk. Otherwise, the shipping cost isn't worth it. Just don't order the ruby red grapefruit juice. Since it comes in a carton, it leaks easily unless packed appropriately. Mine wasn't and dribbled all over everything. At any rate, it's a great resource for rootbeer! Actually, it's the only source for rootbeer that I've found.

The Biskin was probably not the cause of your cookie failure. The flour is most likely blame as it is all just plain flour here and most recipes call for self rising.

I don't know what kind of cookies you're talking about, but for my chocolate chips I do a half and half mix of 550 and 405 and it works nicely.

Yeah chocolate chip cookies. I will try the flour mix next time...that might be it. I have blamed everything from the brown sugar to the chocolate chips themselves...the cookies are GOOD...just not like when I make them at home.

I know this is an obvious question, but are you using German brown sugar or have you brought some from home? You've gotta have the packed brown sugar like C&H. They definitely sell that on the site mentioned above.

So, is Biskin shortening or lard (or are those the same things)?

Biskin is shortening made from veg. Lard is made from animal and is called schmalz here, but it is not really the same.

lard isn't schmalz, schmalz is processed (often has bacon, onions, or other spices in it), lard is the raw stuff. Read about lard / suet / Nierenfett / Talg here. Earwax is Ohrenschmalz, btw. How's that for gross.

And don't forget British and American Foods in Munich either!

Oh and when I make pie crust I use butter only and I have it frozen so that I can cut it up into pieces and add it to the other ingredients in my food processor and whirl it about a bit. Works great and I don't have to spend 15-20 minutes with the knives (did that once in my life and said there's gotta be a better way! )

I tried them first with the German grainy stuff...and used the Backpulver (which I believe to be more like baking soda?). That didn't work.

Then someone brought me proper sugar from home...and voila...much better...but still...they go off very quickly. I like chewy, not dry crumbly ones (however with a cookie monster husband around they get eaten regardless).

So now I use almost everything North American...including baking soda...and they are very close to what I have at home. The problem is the recipe calls for Golden Crisco and they don't have that here. So I try a mixture of Crisco and marg and hope for the best.

The other issue may be the flour as previously mentioned...so I will try a mix next time

Sorry for twisting the thread away from pie crust...but I guess that happens.

For crusts, you don't want the margarine. The crust is actually technically fried and that is why you use crisco. With prebaked stuff like wafers and graham's etc.. you can use butter or margarine then.

You should also know that for baking and cookies, the backpulver here is not the same strength as the baking powder back home. I usually double the amount here and get good results then.

the page of British and American foods linked above talks about the differences between baking powder, baking soda, backpulver, and natron.

perhaps i overlooked it in all of the baking threads, but what is the equivalent to "all-purpose" flour? & what is "instant-mehl"?

405 is all-purpose. never heard of instant-mehl. Got a picture?

Rosenmehl company website (in German only) Instant-Mehl is 405 flour that doesn't need sieving.

oh thank god. i just put p.b. cookies (made with instant-mehl) in the oven & was crossing my fingers. thanks gen & katrina!

Oh my Blimeygirl, you shouldn't be using Backpulver in chocolate chip cookies at all. The German equivalent to baking soda is Natron (though I've got a box of Arm & Hammer if you want some). Backpulver is their equivalent to baking powder, which has no place in chocolate chip cookies.

Well I was misinformed by someone else when I first embarked on this cookie adventure.

But nevertheless...I now use A&H only for my cookies. It might cost a bit more...but they turn out much better

I use Palmin soft (in the refrigerated foods section, usually next to the butter) as a substitue for Crisco. Looks exactly like it and so far has always worked just like Crisco. AND it only costs like €3 fór 500g

Palmin is made from coconut oil, Biskin is made from vegetable oil and may be closer to Crisco than Palmin but both will work.
For British bakers, Crisco = Trex
I use Biskin for some pastry (when I don't want a very short shortcrust).
Katrina

Might be vaguely related.
We went over baking powder and baking soda in a previous thread

But don, when it comes to mince pies, do you go for all-butter shortcrust (which is very short), use Trex/veg fat or half-and-half?
I usually make all-butter but am considering going for half-half.
Actually do you make mince pies?
Katrina
PS sorry for thread hijack

Proper suet from dead animals, butter - good.

Veg suet, margerine - should be illegal.

I'm cheating this year, and getting a shedload of mince pies next week - got a day trip to some poncy meeting in Blighty. If I make any, I'll be doing mince pies with actual meat in them. Lamb to be precise. Never tried them, and sounds great.

I'd go for a full on all butter shortcrust at any rate.
8 oz flour, 5 oz butter, 3 oz sugar.
1 egg, and a yolk too.

To be painfully honest, and believe me, I really hate to say this, but probably the best mince pie recipe out there is by Delia bloody Smith. That pains me to write, really.
For those not in the know, Delia is mrs tv cook in England. She did a whole bloody half hour program on how to boil a f**cking egg. Fair play, the majority of English people do not actually know that, but it hardly warrants any tv time. She also recommended a particular brand of pan for making omelettes, and the company who made them, on the brink of bankrupcy at the time so I hear, got 567 zillion orders the next day. Unreal.
She tried to cook something vaguely more interesting with eggs, and turned out one of the worse "spanish omelettes" I have ever seen in my life. Nearly as bad as some of the muck Keith Floyd throws about in saucepans on his TV programs.
She's the sort of person that describes things as "zingy" if they have chilli in them. Awful.
Anyhoo, good mince pies, but BAD BAD "Spanish omelette".

I use her mincemeat recipe Don. But with Captain Morgan Overproof Rum. Fantastic gear that.
For those that don't know, these are mince pies.
I bought her Christmas mag when I was back over, there is a beautiful rolled shoulder of pork recipe in there that I fancy having a go at...
Cheers love,
xx

Sounds like the UK version of Martha Stewart?

Martha is LIFESTYLE. Delia is just food. Delia also is heavily involved in Norwich Football Club (The Canaries), which Martha wouldn't do (would muck up that hairdo).
Martha is great, although I begrudge the € prices for her mags (but I keep every copy I can get hold of).
When Martha got done for insider trading, 6 people texted me the verdict within 30mins.

So Katrina & Don, do you use shop-bought mincemeat for your mince pies? Where's a good place to get decent mincemeat? Marks and Sparks?
I'm toying with the idea of having a bash at mincepies meself this year, since I'll be over here on the big day.

I use Delia Smith's recipe and make my own. It makes tons but it doesn't go off. I might have a spare jar, I'll have a look.
Most shop-bought are fine (Tesco's finest seemed good, my sister used that but M&S is always a good bet) but I would still warm it up in a pan and stick a splashette of booze (rum/cognac/cointreau/whateverisleftinthecupboard in to warm through before letting it cool and then using it.
You can get Fortnum & Mason mincemeat in Hertie I think (I know you're going home Topsy though love)?
PS Mods: do you want to do a mince pie special thread split?

Definitely Delia's recipe if you make your own. Do it soon though, like this weekend soon. Flavour gets better over time of course. This stuff lasts for ever as well as Katrina says, so you can actually even save some for next year. How's that for advance planning.
Luckily, you do not even have to buy any of Delia's books to get her mincemeat recipe - Gary Rhodes uses the exact same recipe in "New British Classics". Not too bad a book that. Also the recipe is available for free, nada, nix on Delia Online

I feel shamed and dirty that I have directed people to Delia Online.

Hmmm, thanks for the info - looks like a lot of work, though, doesn't it.
Might just have to pop into Tesco's next week and pick up half a dozen of their finest instead.
Specially since on reflection all the ingredients are on dearest boyf's list of least favourite foods
Oh well, nobody's perfect.