Shortcrust pastry

Welcome to Shortcrust Pastry Month!



Shortcrust pastry is one of those things that I had always been afraid to attempt. Everyone knows the familiar warning that people with warm hands cannot make pastry, and if you try to, the world might actually end.

So far in my experimentation this has proved not to be the case. Last Saturday was the hottest day of the year and I made three batches of shortcrust pastry that came out just as I'd hoped. Although when it's hot you need to be even more careful not to overwork the dough, this instruction also has a tendency to put people off the idea of making their own pastry. I usually find that I under-work the dough as a consequence. This leaves some streaks of flour in the dough which you can see in the pictures, and whilst not ideal, doesn't affect the taste or texture of the pastry dramatically.

I realised after I designated July as Shortcrust Pastry Month that what I refer to as shortcrust pastry can actually be divided up into a few different sub categories with fancy french names, such as:

Pâte brisée: simple shortcrust made of flour, fat (butter and/or lard) and a little water. Also sometimes with egg yolks for a richer version.

Pâte sucrée: sweet shortcrust pastry with sugar, eggs, and a higher ratio of butter to flour.

Pâte sablée: a delicate, sandy textured pastry with an even more butter than pâte sucrée, making it rather difficult to work with but melts in the mouth like no other pastry.

During this month I will attempt as many of the different types of shortcrust, and the various methods of making them, as I have time for. This post covers the basic method for simple shortcrust (or pâte brisée) which can be thrown together in a matter of minutes and used for both sweet or savoury tarts.

Things I have learnt from making shortcrust pastry:

It is far quicker and easier to make the pastry in the food processor, but if you don't have one, then it's still pretty easy, even with very hot hands and on the hottest day of the year.

If you are making pastry on a hot day, put the butter in the freezer for 20 minutes before you want to use it. This will help keep it cool for longer once you start to work in into the flour. If it starts to become to soft or greasy, put the bowl of half finished pastry in the fridge for a while before continuing.

Most recipes for shortcrust use a ratio of fat to flour of 1:2. This can be all butter, or a mixture of butter and lard or shortening, which will give it a shorter texture but less of a buttery flavour.

The amount of water added is quite important – too little and the pastry won't hold together when rolled out, too much and the pastry will shrink when cooked and become hard in texture. But don't let that put you off giving it a try! In either case it will not make the pastry inedible or beyond repair.

Shortcrust pastry: enough for one 23m tart shell

120g plain flour
60g very cold unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cold water

Food processor method:

• Put the flour and salt in the food processor then add the cold butter in slices
• Pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the water slowly through the funnel whilst continuing to pulse
• At this point the pastry should look like it's starting to come together

• Lay a piece of cling film on a worktop and tip the dough out onto it

• Shape the dough into a round
• If there are visible streaks of flour knead it once or twice then shape into a disk

• Wrap in cling film and chill for about 20mins (or for up to 24 hours, or freeze until needed) then follow the instructions below for rolling out and baking the tart shell

Traditional method:

• Put the flour and salt in a bowl then added the cold butter in 2cm chunks
• Using two table knives, cut in the butter using a scissoring action until there are pea-sized lumps remaining

• Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips and lifting and dropping it back into the bowl to aerate and cool the mixture

• Once it reaches a breadcrumb consistency, add in the water and push the mixture together with your hand until it starts to come together

• Tip onto a worktop and knead it very briefly to form an even dough

• Shape the pastry into a disk and wrap in cling film
• Chill in the fridge and then follow the instructions below for rolling out and baking the tart shell

For both methods:

• Roll the pastry out to the thickness of a pound coin and place in the tart tin
• Trim off the excess pastry at the edges and then chill for 20mins before lining with foil and filling with baking beans
• Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 15mins
• Remove the foil and baking beans then bake for a further 15mins

You now have a shortcrust pastry shell that can be used in all kinds of savoury and sweet recipes