1. About 1 hour before you plan on making the dough. Place the vodka, butter, and the shortening in the freezer.

Version 1 very flakey and but will not hold delicate shapes.

1. In a food processor or if using a hand pastry blender in a medium bowl. Pulse or stir the 2 ½ cups of flour together with the salt and sugar.
2. Add in the ice-cold butter and shortening.
3. Pulse in the food processor only until there are still pea-sized pieces of butter. Or if using a pastry blender, work the butter and shortening only until there are pea-sized pieces. You want the pieces to give it it’s flakiness.
4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and sprinkle the water and the vodka over the mixture. Toss with a fork and stir until just combined. You may need to get your hands in there to get it to come together. That is ok but try not to work the dough very much. There should still be pieces of butter visible. Form 2 even balls and flatten into disks.

Version 2, more stable, but slightly less flakey:

1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses.
2. Add butter and shortening, process until the dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds, and there should be no uncoated flour).
3. Scrape bowl with a rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade.
4. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into a medium bowl.
5. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With a fork, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together.
6. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into a disk.
7. For either version:
8. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days. You can freeze this dough, and it will keep for 6 months