Top Pastry Tips (2024)

FAQs

What is the golden rule of pastry? ›

The first golden rule of making pastry; keep the ingredients, the bowl and the hands as cool as possible.

General rules

Measure the ingredients carefully. Use good quality flour. Mix together the flour and salt by sieving. Keep everything as cool as possible otherwise the fat may melt which would spoil the finished dish.

Water, however, is absorbed much less easily into flour proteins when the temperature is colder. That's why purists recommend cold ingredients, cold equipment and marble boards. Keeping the butter cold also helps when making short crust pastry because it doesn't melt into the flour when you are working it in.

If the dough is overworked, it can become tough and difficult to roll out. This can happen if the dough is kneaded too much or if too much flour is added during the rolling process. Shortcrust pastry can shrink during baking if it's not properly chilled beforehand or if it's rolled too thin.

After chilling the pastry in the fridge, remove it when it is cold and firm to the touch, not completely hard or it will crack when rolled; it should be just pliable. If it has been chilled for more than 2–3 hours, remove from the fridge and leave at room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling, to soften it slightly.

Remember that the more you knead your pastry, the greater the development of gluten, the protein that holds dough together. Less kneading and rolling results in a lighter dough.

Most pie dough/pastry benefits from a rest in the refrigerator as it allows the glutens in the flour to relax - this should help to give a more tender pie crust with less shrinkage. It can also give time for the liquids in the dough to be absorbed, giving slightly less dry spots in the pastry.

Plain flours are best for pastry because their gluten strands are relaxed while the stronger gluten in bread flours can cause pastry to shrink back. Warm pastry cooked in an oven that was not pre-heated can collapse as its water evaporates before the pastry cooks and hardens.

How long should pastry dough rest? ›

The initial dough should be rough in look. Don't overwork or it will become elastic and make rolling out very difficult. Rest the dough for 60 mins in the fridge before making the turns. Keep track of the number of turns you give the pastry by making a small indentation in the top of the dough.

We prefer unbleached pastry flour, such as King Arthur. If you prefer, you can substitute cake flour for the pastry flour. The pastry or cake flour keeps the pastry dough tender, and the vinegar strengthens the gluten and adds elasticity.

It is important to handle the pastry as little as possible when mixing and rolling. Overworking it will 'develop' the gluten in the flour, which can make the pastry hard to roll. Overworked pastry is also more likely shrink during cooking and to be tough in texture once cooked. Take a break.

Basically, all you need to know about baking is that the longer you mix a dough or batter, the stronger the gluten, and the more gluten, the better the chew. But you don't want the same chew from a beautiful cake as you would a baguette, so you minimise the development of gluten by not over-working the dough or batter.

In baking, many recipes call for an egg wash to be brushed on the baked goods before it goes into the oven. The purpose of this is to give the final product a golden brown color that is slightly shiny. Egg washes can make the final product look more professional, a bit crispier, or act as a binder."

Remember, you should always follow the five golden rules of cooking: quality ingredients, preparation, tasting, cleanliness, and timing.

#1 Read through the recipe

Make sure to quickly skim the recipe before you start baking to understand the general flow and key steps. You can even make notes on the recipe or highlight key points to help you along.