|
I used to be terrified of making
pastry; it always seemed to be such tricky stuff. But in reality
there are no secrets or mysteries just a few guidelines.
Ingredients:
flour
ice-cold water.
salt
superfine sugar (castor sugar)
ground nuts
the pastry of mince pies at Christmas
25 g/1 oz flour
25 g/1 oz ground almonds in each
225 g/1 lb pastry. Method:
- Light handling is a must. The fat has to
be cold and rubbed gently into the flour so that it does not
become greasy. I use a pastry cutter or a food processor for
this job. Go very easy with the food processor though: only
pulse barely long enough to cut in the fat (so that it looks
like breadcrumbs), then pour in a little less liquid than you
would use by hand, and pulse for a second or two more until
the pastry throws itself into a ball. Stop right there.
- The amount of liquid that is used is
critical. Too much and the pastry will be hard or tough; too
little and it will be difficult to handle too `short'.
- Rest the pastry for at least half an hour
after making it mid before rolling it out. This allows the
liquid to be absorbed, making the pastry easier to handle. It
also enables the gluten to relax, thereby avoiding shrinkage
in the oven.
- Use ice-cold water.
- A pinch of salt brings out the flavour. Add
a teaspoon or two of castor sugar to sweeten and add herbs or
ground nuts to savoury pastry.
- I enrich the pastry of our mince pies at
Christmas by replacing 25 g/1 oz flour with 25 g/1 oz ground
almonds in each 225 g1' lb pastry.
- When rolling out pastry, use a
well-floured board, and flour the pin and the board rather
than the pastry. Use short strokes in one direction. Turn the
pastry around and do not let it stick. Try always to use your
first rolling (even if it needs patching). Pile trimmings up
for a second rolling.
Line a flan case and leave a little ledge of pastry when
cutting it away. Raise this and deepen the case by pinching
it up all around.
- Prick the base of this case with a fork
and bake `blind' by laying on it greaseproof paper or foil,
with some crusts or beans spread over. Cook like this for 15
minutes. Remove the paper/ foil and beans; cook for a further
10 minutes. Now put in your chosen filling and return to the
oven until the centre is puffed and set.
|