What is the secret of good pastry?

Cooking pastry at the right temperature is vitally important; too cool and the butter will melt before the pastry becomes firm causing it to collapse, too hot and the pastry may burn before the filling is cooked.

What are four characteristics of a good pastry?

What 4 main ingredients must be in all pastry?

Pie crusts are made from four basic ingredients: flour, fat, salt, and water. 2. Flour gives structure to the pastry.

What makes a pastry good?

A good pastry is light and airy and fatty, but firm enough to support the weight of the filling. When making a shortcrust pastry, care must be taken to blend the fat and flour thoroughly before adding any liquid. This ensures that the flour granules are adequately coated with fat and less likely to develop gluten.

What is the key factor to make perfect shortcrust pastry?

When making shortcrust pastry you need to restrict the development of gluten, in order to keep the pastry short and tender. This is in contrast to making bread, where the aim is to develop the gluten to create an elastic texture and tough crust, achieved by adding plenty of water and vigorous kneading.

The secret to the perfect Danish pastry

How do you make pastry successful?

What is the golden rule of pastry making?

Follow these easy tips the next time you're making pastry. The first golden rule of making pastry; keep the ingredients, the bowl and the hands as cool as possible. Sieve the flour to add extra air and lightness to the pastry.

Which flour is best for pastry?

Ordinary plain flour is fine. If you are making puff pastry, however, you want the gluten to develop into sheets – these will be your flaky layers – so adding a little strong bread flour with lots of protein to your plain flour can be a good idea.

What are the 5 basic ingredients in pastry?

What does egg do for pastry?

What Eggs Do in Baking Recipes. Eggs play an important role in everything from cakes and cookies to meringues and pastry cream — they create structure and stability within a batter, they help thicken and emulsify sauces and custards, they add moisture to cakes and other baked goods, and can even act as glue or glaze.

Do you put egg in pastry?

Egg yolks contain fat and act as an extra shortening agent but are used more to add colour and richness to the pastry. When you're adding water to pastry, be careful to add only enough to bring the mixture from a crumbly dough to one that can be kneaded and rolled easily.

Why do you chill pastry before baking?

Pastry must always be chilled in a fridge after making. This helps it to relax which in turn will help to prevent it shrinking on baking. Additionally, instead of trimming excess pastry from a tart case before baking blind you could also leave it overhanging the tin.

What fat is best for pastry?

The best fat for pastry-making

Unless you don't eat dairy, we recommend butter for flavour and texture. You can also try a 50/50 split between butter and lard, which works well for savoury recipes like quiches. Make sure your butter is really cold when you rub it in to the flour.

How can I improve my pastry chef?

What can go wrong when making pastry?

Undercooking can be a result of rolling the dough too thick or setting the oven temperature too low. Also, not using enough fat in the dough will create a pale color as fat aids in the browning process.

What 2 characteristics are used to describe high quality pastry?

High-quality pastry is both tender and flaky. The amount and distribution of gluten determines tenderness. Flakiness is due to layers of gluten separated by layers of fat and expanded by steam.

How do you achieve a tender and flaky pastry?

If you are using table salt instead, cut the amount of salt in half. For the flakiest pastry, be sure your fats (butter and vegetable shortening) are very cold. Before you start your dough, dice the butter and portion the shortening into a few clumps and place the fats on a plate, then cover with plastic wrap.

What is the best pastry?

What are the 3 types of dough?

There are three types of pastry dough in a classically trained chef's arsenal that should be known by heart. To the uninformed observer, these doughs may seem quite similar, even interchangeable.

What flour rises the best?

Bleached white flours also absorb more liquid than unbleached white flours, and rise better than whole wheat flours. Most of the common types of wheat flour (bread, pastry, etc.) are available as both white and whole wheat.

How do you stop pastry cracking?

One or two cracks can be fixed by brushing with water and rolling the edges together to seal. Next time, allow the dough to warm up slightly if very cold and roll as evenly as possible near the edges to prevent cracking.

What is the best shortening for pastry dough?

What are the two keys to making good pastry dough?

There are two keys to making good pastry dough: Avoid gluten development as much as possible since excessive gluten will make for a very dense, tough texture. The lower water content and minimal manipulation of the dough both help reduce gluten development.

Should butter be cold for pastry?

If you're looking for flakiness, cold butter is the way to go. You want the butter to be as solid as possible before working with it in the dough, so that it will keep its shape in layers rather than seeping into the dough and tenderizing it.

How long should pastry rest?

Pastry of all kinds needs to be left to rest in a cool place for at least 15 minutes. This allows the fat to resolidify after handling, making the pastry easier to work with and ensuring that it will hold its shape during the early stages of cooking.