I finally gave up on my grandma's pie crust recipe

It happened yesterday when I was trying to make an apple pie for a friend. The dough just would not come together, no matter how much ice water I added, and it tore when I tried to roll it. I switched to a recipe from a cookbook I got in Chicago last year that uses vodka, and it rolled out perfectly on the first try. Has anyone else had a family recipe fail on them out of nowhere?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.felix2d ago

My great aunt's biscuit recipe did that to me last Thanksgiving. I swear I measured the flour exactly like always, but they came out like hockey pucks. Sometimes those old recipes just have a bad day, or our ingredients are slightly different. That vodka trick is a lifesaver for flaky crust.

miller.eva2d ago

Actually, that vodka trick always seemed like a cheat to me. If a recipe needs alcohol to work right, maybe it wasn't a good recipe to begin with. Those old family recipes are supposed to be reliable, not full of secret tricks. Blaming the ingredients or a "bad day" just lets the recipe off the hook for being flawed. Sometimes we need to admit that a beloved recipe just isn't as perfect as we remember.