How To Make Shortcrust Pastry

By garciamoss

This is the easiest, quickest and probably the most popular of pastries to make than the richer pastries.
It can be used for both savoury and sweet dishes, such as a quiche or a frangipane.
The technique is to lightly rub in the fat using your fingertips, and as with all pastry, you should work in cool conditions.

Ingredients

• 5 g, 1/2 stick butter at fridge temperature, cut into 1 cm cubes.
• 170 g, 1 1/3 cups Plain / All purpose flour (sieved)
• pinch of salt
• 2-4 tablespoons cold water
• 2 tablespoons sugar if making a sweet dish.

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat oven to 180 C, 375 F, Gas 5 (if recipe requires BAKING BLIND the pastry)
2. Mix sieved flour, salt and sugar(if using) in a large bowl. Add cubes of butter.
3. Rub in fat using the tips of your fingers until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
4. Once the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, make a well in the middle and start by adding 1 tablespoon of cold water. Using a metal round bladed knife, stir the mixture and combine well before adding a further tablespoon of water.
5. Once the mixture starts to go lumpy, use your hand to combine the mixture. Try not to handle the dough too much as it will lose its lightness and crumbliness once cooked. Keep combining with your hand, adding a tiny bit of water as you go if necessary. Don't worry at this stage if you think it's too dry. Your instinct is to add lots more water, but trust me, DON'T! The more your mix it, the dough will come together. Be patient! The ultimate goal is to have the mixture come together into a ball, your bowl should be completely cleaned from pastry, (i.e. it is not sticky and gluey), and the dough should be dry enough it doesn't stick to your hands, and quite stiff. Once your dough is ready you can place in the fridge for 20 minutes to rest, or just continue with your recipe for what you are cooking.
Shape the dough into a ball, or what ever shape your dish is. Roll lightly and try not to 'over work' or roll too much as this will damage the structure of the pastry and you will lose the 'shortness' or crumbliness, plus all that air you were so busy incorporating when you were rubbing in the fat! Cooking times will vary depending on what you are using the pastry for. As a rough guide, 8-10 minutes for something small, 20-35 minutes for larger pies, or until the pastry takes on a nice golden brown colour. Follow the instructions on the recipe you are making!