# Bakin' with Crud #3: Shortcrust Pastry



## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Shortcrust pastry is the crumbly goodness you'll find surrounding quiches, flans, tarts and various other doodads and so on. Ahem...

*Basic Recipe*
_Ingredients:_ (metric/imperial conversions approx.)
225g (8oz) plain flour
115g (4oz) cooking fat
1/4tsp salt
3 tbsp cold (preferably iced) water

_Method:_
Note: Before beginning, ensure the fat is cold and hard. If it's too warm and soft it will turn oily and ruin the dough.

1. Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Place the block of fat on top of the flour and cut it either in to cubes or slices with a knife, then mix, ensuring that the fat is coated in flour.

2. Rub the fat in to the flour. Rubbing in (covered in the very first article in this series) means picking up lumps of fat and flour with the thumb, fore and index fingers then rubbing them against each other while applying pressure so as to squeeze the fat. Be careful to avoid warming the fat up with your fingers, it's a tricky technique to get down and on your first few times you may need to put the bowl in the fridge at regular intervals or, in a rather unpleasant technique, run your fingers under the cold tap every so often (making sure to dry them off before returning to the flour, of course)*. Periodically grab the bowl at the sides and give it a little shake, this will bring the un-rubbed lumps of fat to the surface. The finished mix should roughly resemble breadcrumbs.

3. Add a tablespoon of the cold water to the mixture and mix with a fork. When thoroughly mixed, attempt to shape the mixture in to a ball. If it's too crumbly, break it up and add another tablespoon of water and mix again. It should take no more than three tablespoons, and the fewer the better.

4. Wrap the ball of dough in clingfilm (or a clear clean plastic bag) and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour or until ready to use. When ready to use, take out and and allow to sit for 10-20 minutes until slightly softened.

*If you want to save yourself a lot of hassle consider investing in a _pastry blender_, it'll help you rub in the fat fast and easy and ensure the fat stays cold. You could also employ two or three butter knives to similar effect, though with more moving parts the technique can be quite awkward.

_Rolling Out:_

1. Remove the dough ball from the clingfilm and place on a lightly floured surface, apply a small amount of pressure so that the very bottommost point of the ball is flat. Get a little flour in one hand and apply to a rolling pin, rubbing up and down to ensure it is lightly covered.

2. Very gently roll the pin on the top of the ball. Turn it 90° and gently roll again. Continue turning (in the same direction each time) and rolling until the pastry is a moderately thin flat sheet. If the dough crumbles or breaks during the process, apply pressure at the sides to reform it and continue turning and rolling.

_Lining the tin:_

1. Using a soft-ish knob of butter thoroughly grease your tin of choice along the bottom and sides.

2. Take the rolled out sheet of pastry with a hand on one side and either another hand or something sturdy and flat like a fish slice or large knife on the other and lift it in to the tin. Press the pastry in to the base and sides and cut off the overhang (any pastry hanging over the edge). If there are any cracks or holes in the pastry, patch them up with bits of overhang.

_Baking Blind:_

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (390°F) (or 180°C (355°F) for a fan oven).

2. Place a sheet of greaseproof baking parchment on top of the pastry, pressing down. Weigh the parchment down with baking beans or any kind of dry, uncooked beans.

3. Bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven, remove the beans and parchment. Turn the oven down to 180°C (355°F), adjusting by the relevant amount for a fan oven as shown in step 1, and bake for another 10 mins.

4. Remove from the oven. At this point you would apply your filling and bake for the amount of time specified in the relevant recipe.

*Variations*
These variations on traditional shortcrust will come in handy for a variety of different bakes. Try them out!

_Rich shortcrust:_
225g (8oz) flour
175g (6oz) butter
1 egg, whisked
if using unsalted butter, you'll also need 1/2tsp salt

Quick method: As in the basic recipe, though the fully rubbed in mixture will likely not resemble breadcrumbs. To bind, mix the whisked egg in by hand. This is an exceptionally sturdy pastry that won't crack or crumble when rolling or lining a tin.

_Sweet shortcrust_
175g (6oz) plain flour
100g (3½ oz) unsalted butter
50g (2oz) icing sugar
1 egg yolk

Quick method: Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg yolk and beat in with a wooden spoon. Add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon. End result should be a thick, malleable paste. Form in to a ball, wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for one hour. This pastry is likely to crack while rolling and lining but is very soft, because of this it is very easy to patch back together. It makes a sweet crisp crust when baked. If you're making a dessert with almonds, consider adding 1tsp of ground almonds in with the flour.

Have fun and don't be put off by failure, shortcrust maybe the simplest of pastries, but *all pastry is hard to make*. Good luck!


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