Pastry Recipie - Need help

Supercell

I'm really struggling with pastry, I've made tarts and pies several times, and while the end results are passable, to be honest I'd be embarrassed to serve the pastry up at a dinner party or at a sale of work.

Does any one have any recipes that turn out well consistently and if possible any tips on pastry making I seem to be missing ?

rockbeer

There are loads of different types of pastry: shortcrust, puff pastry, sweet pastry, hot water pastry for substantial pies etc.
What are you looking for?

Shortcrust is the 'standard' pastry for a tart case. The best recipe I've ever found is from Denis Cotter, chef at the Cafe Paradiso in Cork...

For one 9" pastry case:
120g plain flour (be sure to use proper plain flour in which wheat is the only ingredient).
large pinch salt
60g cold butter
30mls cold water

- Sift flour & salt, then cut in the butter until you get a breadcrumb like texture. Use a food processor for this bit if you have one.
- Tip the 'crumbs' into a bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the water. Quickly mix with a few strokes of a wooden spoon.
- When it roughly comes together, use your hands to knead very briefly into a smooth ball. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least half an hour.
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface to fit the tart case comfortably, turning through 90 degrees after each roll to help roll evenly and avoid sticking.
- Lay the rolled pastry into the case, nudge into the edges without stretching the dough, and priick the base all over with a fork. Now chill again for a further half hour. You can freeze it at this stage.
- Bake the case 'blind': line with baking parchment covered with some dried beans and bake at 350F/gas 4 for 7 - 10 mins, and trim off the excess pastry from around the edge with a sharp knife. Now you can put your filling in and bake it again until the filling's cooked.

If you follow this process exactly it will work. At least it always does for me. I think the crucial points are:
- Measure the ingredients accurately
- Use cold butter and water
- Handle the pastry as little as is necessary to make it, & keep it as cold as possible while working with it.
- Chill it at the steps specified in the recipe.
- Don't overknead it as this will develop the gluten structure of the flour and make it chewy like bread.
- Practice lots. The basic method is contained in the recipe - work at it until it works rather than looking to change the method if you have a couple of initial failures.

Good luck, hth,
Bruce

Supercell

Many thanks Bruce, you've certainly highlighted a few mistakes there that I'm definitely guilty of doing :-

1) Just used room temperature butter and water
2) Over kneaded the dough as am more used to making pizza or bread doughs where this is a good thing.

I'll definitely try to follow all your pointers next time

olaola

The 'less handling the better' rule is paramount!
I let mine rest in the fridge for a while. It also freezes well too.
One thing I do too - I use a cold knife to mix in the water. It does work!

biaduit

For lovely flakey pastry try using half butter and half shortex - the resulting pastry is very light. Also if you are lining a dish for a pie or tart try grateing the pastry (after it rechills in the fridge) and just pressing the grated pieces together. You can get a really thin layer this way. A cold kitchen and cold hands work wonders also.

The Sweeper

Also make sure you're using the right size tin for the amount of pastry - rolling it out too thin makes it more liable to breakage.

Magic Monkey

Metal pie/pastry tins are also better than ceramic or silicone ones. Gather your utensils before making pastry and refrigerate them alongside your ingredients (mixing bowl, knife, tin, etc). Use plain/cream flour as opposed to strong flour, as the reduced gluten content prevents the bread-like texture (to a reasonable extent) should over-kneading occur. The reason for chilling your pastry base is so the flour will cook-out before the butter has a chance to melt and thus maintain structure, something which fails to occurs should you go from room temperature straight to oven.