Want a great pie crust recipe? Give this one a try.

We were visiting Rob and Amy, our son and daughter-in-law, in New England. We went to the apple orchard and picked apples. After we got back to the house, Amy made this beautiful pie and the taste was just as great as it looks.

First, she made the pie crust. This pie crust recipe makes pastry for a 9-inch pie shell or a 9 ½ or 10 inch x 1 inch tart shell. It is called:

Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cold
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp. pasty flour or
  1 cup (*dip and sweep method)bleached all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, cold
• 1 tbsp ice water
• 1 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar (Amy only uses 1/2 tsp. because she says she can taste the vinegar if she puts the hold 1 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar)

Cut the butter into small (about 3/4-inch) cubes. Wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it until frozen solid, at least 30 minutes. Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a reclosable gallon-size freezer bag and freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Place the flour mixture in a food processor with the metal blade and process for a few seconds to combine. Set the bag aside.

Cut the cream cheese into 3 or 4 pieces and add it to the flour. Process for about 20 seconds or until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add the frozen butter cubes and pulse until none of the butter is larger than the size of a pea. (Toss with a fork to see it better.)

Remove the cover and add the water and vinegar. Pulse until most of the butter is reduced to the size of small peas. The mixture will be in particles and will not hold together.

Spoon it into the plastic bag. (For a double-crust pie, it is easiest to divide the mixture in half at this point.)

Holding both ends of the bag opening with your fingers, knead the mixture by alternately pressing it, from the outside of the bag, with the knuckles and heels of your hands until the mixture holds together in one piece and feels slightly stretchy when pulled.

Wrap the dough with plastic wrap, flatten it into a disc (or discs), and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, preferably overnight. (For a pie shell and lattice, divide it in a ratio of two thirds; one third-use about 9.5 ounces for the shell and the rest for the lattice, flattening the smaller part into a rectangle.)

This dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days; frozen, up to 3 months.

Now that you are ready to use this pie crust recipe with any pie filling of your choice. Here is what Amy did to make her apple pie.

This recipe comes from The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.