• Home
  • Recipes
    • Soup Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Vegetarian Dinners
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Breakfast Recipes
    • Lunch Recipes
    • Salad Recipes
    • Baking Recipes
    • Meal Plans
    • How To….
    • Preserves and Sauces
  • Recipe Collections
    • 7 Crumble Recipes
    • 7 Apple Dessert Recipes
    • 7 Easy Beef Mince Recipes
    • 7 Lentil Recipes
    • 7 Friday Night Supper Ideas
    • 7 Flexible Recipes For Meat Eaters And Vegetarians
    • 7 Recipes To Cook With Children
    • 7 TV Dinners
    • 7 Make Ahead Meals For A Self-Catering Holiday
  • Life, Food And Everything
  • Penny’s Blog
  • My Story
  • Contact

How To Make Pastry

May 9, 2020 Penny Leave a Comment

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Pin It
  • 0

Basic Pastry For All Occasions

Several of the recipes on this website require shortcrust pastry – such as the Goats Cheese Quiche and Lemon Meringue Pie. Making shortcrust pastry is easy and quick but it is useful to know a few basic tips which will ensure that your pastry is the best it can be.

You can make pastry from wholemeal plain flour or from white plain flour, or indeed a mix of the two. This is just personal preference. Wholemeal flour is nutty and has more texture and flavour. I especially like wholemeal flour with vegetable and cheese based quiches.

The key to good pastry is keep everything cool, work quickly and do not ‘overwork’ the pastry dough. Start by running your hands under sold water to cool them down.

Add the water a little at a time until you get the perfect consistency – smooth but not soggy. How much water you need will vary a little according to the type of flour and the atmosphere

To make enough for a flan or quiche

How To Make Pastry


Ingredients

  • 140g /5oz plain flour (wholemeal or white)
  • 70g / 2 1/2 oz butter or margarine (cold)
  • 3-4 tablespoons cold water
  • pinch of salt (optional)

Cooking Directions

  1. Sift the flour into a bowl

  2. Add the butter and cut into chunks with a knife

  3. Working quickly and with light fingers, rub the butter into the flour using just your fingertips

  4. Once the mixture is like fine breadcrumbs, with no lumps of butter it is ready for water

  5. The amount of water you need varies with the type of flour and the air temperature, so add the water slowly

  6. Too much water will make the pastry sticky and hard to manage, and will be heavy when baked – too little will make it crumbly and difficult to handle

  7. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water in and stir it in with a knife

  8. The pastry will form into bigger lumps

  9. Try to bring the pastry together with your fingertips, adding more water if necessary, but just a drop at a time

  10. Once you can bring the mixture together into one smooth lump, it is ready

  11. Only work the dough enough to bring it all together and then stop

  12. Place it in a polythene bag and let it ‘rest’ in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will make it much easier to roll out

  13. Lightly dust your work surface and the rolling pin with flour

  14. Start by gently pressing the rolling pin down on the pastry

  15. Gently roll out in single forward motions

  16. Every few rolls, turn the pastry one quarter round to roll out evenly

  17. Continue until you have the size and thickness you need for your purpose

How To.... Pastry Recipes

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Recipe

Leave A Review Or Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Recipe & Ingredient Search

Hello!

Penny's Portrait

Hi I'm Penny. I created Penny's Recipes to share my favourite simple, fresh and economical recipes for you to cook.

I know what it is to lead a busy life and to want great meals without spending too much time in the kitchen.

I hope you enjoy them!

Disclaimer

I Penny Ritson - owner of Penny's Recipes - recommend products on this website for which I may receive a commission if you purchase the item. The price to you is the same. This helps to fund this website.

Most Popular Recipes

Eve's Pudding
Oatcakes
Stuffed Marrow With Beef Mince
Lemon Mousse
Blackberry Crumble
Rock Cake Recipe
Date And Walnut Cake
Cut And Come Again Fruit Cake
Easy Lentil Bake
Chicken, Bacon And Leek Pie

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · Daily Dish Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in