Pastry Cloth Magic

Thinking about baking a pie or maybe a quiche for dinner? I’ve “discovered” an old-timey, inexpensive tool that makes dough rolling a breeze. What is this magical device, you ask? A square of canvas!

I feel certain that my grandmother used a pastry cloth, but somehow in the age of plastic wrap it went out of use. Quel dommage! (Pardon the fancy French.) The magic of the pastry cloth is that it requires only a bit of flour rubbed in it and dough does not stick. No need to continually reposition the dough or pry it off the counter with a bench scraper. No need to curse under you breath when it sticks and rips. (What? You don’t curse under your breath?) No messy counter to clean. Drop the mic!

So, here’s what to do. Any piece of canvas will suffice. I didn’t happen to have any on hand, nor do I live anywhere near a fabric store, so I ordered this inexpensive cloth from Amazon (or “Frank’s store” as we typically refer to online purchases since our trusty UPS driver is named Frank). You can also order a non-slip pad to go under the cloth or simply cut one from shelf liner or an old carpet pad. (Okay, that last one doesn’t sound sanitary, but it does go under the pastry cloth!)

Before you use the cloth for the first time, sprinkle it liberally with flour and rub in the flour. Then, each time you use the cloth, sprinkle just a little more flour on it and rub-a-dub-dub. Next, sprinkle flour on top of your dough, as usual, and rub some flour over your rolling pin. That’s it! You will be amazed by how easy it is to roll out your dough and transfer it to a pie pan. (My cloth came with a rolling pin cover — more trouble than it’s worth.)

But wait, there’s more! No need to wash the cloth after each use. Simply shake out the excess flour and crumbs or scraps (over the trash can or porch railing is recommended), fold it up along with the son-slip pad, put them in a zip bag and store them in your freezer. That way nothing untoward will grow on your cloth, and it will be nicely chilled for the next time.

I reuse my cloth a good ten times before washing it out in my sink, rinsing it thoroughly and letting it air dry. True confessions, I do run an iron over it when it’s dry, then I give it a fresh liberal flouring and rubbing. Back in the freezer and it’s chilled and ready to go whenever the baking bug bites. (Hmmm… that sounds unpleasant🤪.) I’m sure my Grandmother is smiling.