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Using a food processor or a pastry blender cut cold butter into flour, brown sugar and salt until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Small pieces of butter should still be visible.
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Pour vanilla into cold water then pour over the mixture and work in by tossing with a fork until dough begins to form. Use your hands as little as possible and work the dough as little as possible.
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Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten into 2 rounds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 20 minutes.You can make your dough the previous day but make sure you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes to warm slightly before rolling out. Since this is a a one crust pie, freeze one of the pastry rounds for later.
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Roll the dough into a 12 inch round and place in the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate. Trim and flute the edges as desired. You will need to blind bake this bottom crust before adding the filling. Blind baking is essential so that the bottom crust will not get soggy.
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To blind bake a crust simply place a piece of parchment paper over the dough and cover the bottom of the pie plate with baking weights. (Marbles, dry beans, peas, rice or barley work just as well as anything else.) Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Remove baking weights and parchment and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
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Cool the pastry for about 10 minutes before adding the fruit filing.