I’ve never made shortcrust pastry before because I had no idea how easy it is.
Tip: Sift flour into a large bowl from as high as possible to make airy, use very soft butter, and use knife as much as possible before fingers.
Ingredients
6 oz plain flour
6 oz very soft butter (I used Lurpak spreadable)
1.5 tablespoons of water approx
1 pinch of salt
- Sift flour from up high into a large bowl
- Add flour and using a knife cut and lift into flour until its like crumbs
- Then crumble a little more with finger tips
- Sprinkle on water and again with knife cutting and lifting
- Use fingers until a nice smooth ball of pastry is made – add more water if necessary
- Chill for 30minutes in a plastic bag before rolling out and lining a flan dish
- Push edges down before cutting then squash afterwards, try to cut generously above edge if poss
- Coat all surfaces except the very top edges with egg
- Prick base gently all over with a fork – Holes get bigger during baking, so take care
- Pre-bake at 190C for 20-25 minutes until only just turning golden brown
- Check during cooking incase its lifting and prick again and push down with hands if necessary
See Quiche fillings for some ideas
NOTES : I used 4 oz instead of 6oz of flour and butter and it created a very thin pastry – it baked in 20 mins. I prefer thicker so have increased the ingredients and so baking time will probably increase
Filed under: Pastry
