Making Shortcrust Pastry

Making A Shortcrust Pastry

A meltingly short, crumbly pastry sets off any filling to perfection, whether sweet or savory. The fat content of the pastry dough can be made up of half butter or margarine and half white vegetable fat or with all one kind of fat.

Ingredients:

For a 23cm/9inch pastry case
225g/ 80z/ 2cups plain flour
1.5ml/ 1/4tsp salt
115g/ 4oz/ 8tbsp fat, chilled and diced

Procedure:

1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the fat. Rub it into the flour with your fingertips and until the mixture is crumbly.

2. Sprinkle 45ml/ 3tbsp iced water over the mixture. With a fork, toss gently to mix and moisten it.

3. Press the dough into a ball, if it is too dry to hold together, gradually add another 15ml/ 1tbsp iced water.

4. Wrap the ball of dough with clear film of greaseproof paper and chill it for at least 30 minutes.

5. To make pastry in a food processor:
a). combine the flour, salt and cubed fat in the work bowl. Process,
turning the machine on and off,just until the mixture is crumbly.
b). Add 45ml--60ml--/ 3 to 4 tbsp iced water and process again briefly.
just until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
c). It should not look crumbly. Remove the dough from the processor and
gather it into a ball. Wrap and chill.

I got this from Ultimate Desserts Cookbook


*image courtesy of www.thepiepeople.com