PERFECT PASTRY

When the going gets tough, the tough get baking, so to get things rolling, here’s our essential guide.

Pastry is one of those things in the culinary world that is well worth mastering – especially the ever-popular shortcrust pastry, be it sweet or savoury. Frozen sheets of various types of pastry, including sweet and savoury shortcrust, are readily available in supermarkets and no home freezer should be without them for those last-minute tops for pies, turnovers and pasties.

Goodies made using pastry are usually eaten in the cooler months, and ideally, pastry should always be made in a cool kitchen. Allow yourself time to make your own pastry; it’s well worth it.

As with any cooking method, but particularly baking, there are a few rules worth following. Use a good basic recipe like the one here and follow each step and the rules very carefully.

Perfect pastry has a ‘look’ and a ‘feel’ to it. It should be easy to handle and easy to roll without major cracks. Try to remember the way it looked and felt, then aim to come up with that same result every time. It’s a good idea to make notes to yourself on the recipe.

Cool fingertips and a light touch make good pastry; hot hands and heavy handling don’t. Food processors make good pastry too, provided that the ingredients are pulsed together using short bursts of power. Process only until the ingredients cling together.

Over-handling or over-processing will result in tough, hard-to-roll pastry: it will develop large cracks during the rolling process.

ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

All the ingredients, and even the mixing bowl, should be chilled.

FLOUR

Weigh or measure the flour, add a pinch of salt if you like and sift it into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a food processor. Refrigerate it for about 30 minutes.