Shortcrust pastry

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Shortcrust pastry is used in many pies and flans. Pastry uses half fat to flour, so it is very easy to adapt this recipe to any required amount.

Pastry should be light, crisp and melt in the mouth. To achieve this, you need to mix the flour and butter thoroughly, but without melting the butter. In good pastry, the grains of the flour fry in the butter as it cooks. If the butter melts during mixing, it is absorbed by the flour and you end up with cardboard pastry.

So make sure the butter is cold, chop it into small (1cm) cubes, then rub it into the flour quickly and lightly using your finger tips. Stop when it has the texture of breadcrumbs, and there are no obvious pieces of butter to be seen.

You need to add water to bind the mixture, but add the bare minimum. The mixture should be just about holding together, so that you can roll it out without it falling apart. Too much water gets absorbed by the flour and creates ... cardboard pastry.

After making the pastry, chill it for an hour before using it.

Finally, don't overwork the pastry. Roll it out once and use it. If you are making small tarts or individual pies, you will need to reuse the trimmings, but they will not be quite as nice as the first cut.

This recipe contains a lot of butter, and of course it is not a good idea to eat excessive amounts of butter. If you wish to reduce the amount of butter in your pastry, eat pastry less often but enjoy it when you do.

Ingredients

400g plain flour
200g butter

Method

  1. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl.

  2. Chop the butter into small (1cm) cubes and mix with the flour.

  3. Rub the fat into the flour, using your finger tips. Stop when the mixture resembles bread crumbs and the butter is completely mixed.

  4. Add water, 10ml at a time, until the pastry is just bound together. After each spoon of water, mix the pastry to see if it is bound. When it is ready, it should just hold together when you roll it.

  5. Chill the pastry in the fridge, if possible, for an hour.

I think that good pastry is one of life's simple pleasures. Just flour and butter, fresh baked. It takes practice and care to make, but it is worthwhile.

This recipe is for 600g.