Making your own pastry at home is relatively simple provided you follow a few key rules
- Keep the pastry cool
- Handle the pastry lightly
- Bake the pastry at the correct oven temperature
Cool hands – a cool pastry board or worktop and water as cold as possible help to produce the best results. Use the fingertips, as they are the coolest part of the hands.
Lift the flour well out of the bowl to incorporate as much air as possible when rubbing in the fat. Always mix with a round bladed knife.
Add water gradually, a little at a time, to achieve the correct consistency for each type of pastry.
Avoid adding more flour after the water. In making pastry try to incorporate as much cold air as possible so that in baking this air expands and produces light pastry.
In Shortcrust this is done by rubbing in and light handling, and in Rough Puff and Flaky Pastry, the air is incorporated into the pastry by folding and rolling out.
Dust rolling pin with flour and work lightly to prevent sticking. Roll out quickly, always rolling away from you and not from side to side. Turn the pastry, not the rolling pin.
Avoid stretching the pastry as this causes shrinkage in baking. Roll evenly and do not roll over the ends of the pastry.
Pies, tarts, pastries and turnovers should be brushed over with a suitable glaze before baking.
Always bake in a hot oven and for rich pastry a very hot oven.
Different Types of Pastry
The three basic rules and foregoing hints apply for the following types of pastry:
- Shortcrust Pastry
- Suet Pastry
- Rough Puff Pastry
- Flaky Pastry
The following pastries are made by completely different methods:
- Hot Water Crust Pastry
- Choux Pastry
Type of flour:
Suet – use Be-Ro Self Raising Flour.
Shortcrust/Rough Puff/Flaky/Hot Water Crust/Choux – use plain flour. While this is generally recommended, good results may be obtained using self-raising flour – the pastry will be more crumbly and softer texture.