How to Make Pie Crust

Measure two and a half cups of flour total. Stir it first, spoon it into the cup, then sweep the top level with the back of the spoon. Scooping straight from the bag packs it in and you end up with too much.

Put one and a half cups into the food processor and set the remaining cup aside in a separate bowl. Add a tablespoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt to the processor and pulse a few times to combine.

Take a cup of cold butter straight from the fridge and cut it into small cubes. Scatter them over the flour in the processor.

Cold is the whole point. Those solid pieces melt in the oven and leave behind the pockets of steam that separate the crust into layers. Soft butter blends into the flour instead and you get something closer to shortbread.

Run the processor until all the flour is coated in butter. It turns from white to a pale yellow, and a handful squeezed together will hold its shape rather than falling apart.

Now tip in the cup of flour you held back and pulse just enough to distribute it. This is the split-flour step, and it is what makes the difference between a flaky crust and a tough one.

Add ice to a measuring cup of water and let it get properly cold. Scatter six tablespoons over the dough to begin with, spreading it around rather than pouring it in one spot.

Pick out any ice cubes that make it into the bowl.

Use a spoon or spatula to press the dough against the side of the bowl. Add more water a tablespoon at a time and keep pressing between additions.

You want it looking crumbly but holding together when you squeeze a handful. If it pulls into one smooth ball on its own, there is too much water in it and the baked crust will be tough.

Tip the crumbly mixture out onto a work surface and push it together with your hands into one lump. Do not knead it. You are compacting it, not developing it.

Cut the lump in half, press each half into a flat disc and wrap well. A disc rolls out into a circle far more easily than a ball does.

Refrigerate until you need it. It keeps three days in the fridge and three months in the freezer.

The by-hand method is the same recipe. Put about 60% of your flour in a large bowl with the salt and sugar and whisk to combine.

Cut the cold butter in with a pastry cutter, pressing and rocking until the flour turns yellowish. It takes a minute or two of real effort and will not look as evenly blended as the processor version, which is fine.

Then add the reserved flour, the ice water and continue exactly as above.

Flour your work surface and set a chilled disc down. Press on it with the rolling pin a few times first to soften it, then roll away from you, turn the dough a quarter turn, and roll again.

Turning as you go keeps it round and stops it sticking. If the edges crack, pinch them back together. Keep going until the circle is at least an inch wider than your dish all the way round.

Slide the dough sideways now and then to check it is not gripping the counter. Add flour if it is. If it turns soft and floppy, chill it on a baking sheet for a few minutes.

Roll the dough loosely around your rolling pin, carry it over and unroll it across the dish. Ease it down into the corners without pulling it - stretched dough shrinks back in the oven and slumps down the sides.

Trim the overhang, then fold the edge back over itself to build up the rim. Any thin patches can be padded out with the scraps you just cut away.

Crimp with a finger and the knuckles of your other hand. Press harder for deeper crimps, lighter for smaller ones.