What are the 5 rules for making pastry?

Answer 1

1 - Make sure you kitchen work-surfaces are clean and tidy.

2- Take the butter out of the fridge and cut into cubes about 30minutes to an hour before you wish to use it. (Depends on what the room temperature is like - you want the butter soft but not warm).

3- Wash you hands thoroughly. Then run them under cold water, to prevent the pastry from overheating.

4. When the recipes calls for butter to be rubbed into the flour, make sure it is done so that the resulting texture is very fine. (I.e no visible lumps of butter). Unless you're making rough-puff pastry, in which case you want to leave lumps.

5. When adding the liquid to combine the flour/butter mixture, don't overwork the dough. This will develop the gluten strands and make the resulting pastry hard.

6. Chill the pastry for at least an hour before use.

7. Always, always, always use actual butter (or lard, where the recipe states). Margarine/spreads will not give the correct result.

8. Lining the tin correctly and blind-baking are (in most cases) just as important as getting the actual pastry correct. There's nothing worse than making a perfect dough but ruining it on the bake.

9. Shortcrust and sweet pastry will always shrink a little during cooking, not matter how much you chill the dough. Allow for this by lining the tin with the pastry protruding slightly above the upper edge of the tin.

10. (A tip, not a rule) Supposedly, clean coins (spare change) are better for blind-baking than ceramic baking beans/dried beans/rice etc.., because they head up quicker so there's no soggy bases. I have yet to try this, but I do intend to do so.

Answer 2

The basic steps, and probably the most critical, are ensuring your ingredients are cold and taking care not to over work the dough. However, English Pastry Chef Skye Gyngell has written an article outlining the process in 10 steps. Please see the Related Links below to read the complete article. See also Related Questions for additional help from other WikiUsers.

Answer 3

Use fresh ingredients, keep every thing cold and do not over work the pastry, use your finger tips to rub the fat into the flour, cover and leave the pastry to 'rest' for at least thirty minutes in the fridge between making the pastry and rolling the pastry, use a cold surface to roll the pastry such as a marble slab. When rolling never turn the pastry over.

Answer 4

you have to go home prick