SHORTCRUST paste is probably one of the first things a student cook learns to make in pastry. An hour later, he or she emerges, flushed with success, convinced that making it is as easy as pie. The standard recipe of 250g flour, 125g fat, about 3tsp water and a pinch of salt is one that no cook ever forgets.
And yet, the family of friable (crumbly) pastries opens up many creative opportunities to chefs and pƒtissiers. Pastry is not just a form of edible packaging or shell which you fill with something more tasty. Nor can a chef argue that there is only one right way of doing the job - a pastry mixer or food processor can give as light a result as the coolest, most nimble fingers.
At Butlers Wharf Chef School in London, director Gary Witchalls teaches his students to prepare short pastry that is not only richer than the basic lining pastry taught in many colleges and domestic science classes, but also more fragile, more at risk of falling to pieces. He is also realistic enough to point out that there are several routes to preparing good pastry, not just his. For example, paté sablée can be made by an emulsifying method, creaming butter, sugar and eggs and adding in the flour, or by rubbing fat into the flour and mixing in the liquid as a binder.
Although making pastry appeals to some chefs and frightens others who claim they don't have the touch, it isn't a God-given gift. If you respect quantities, keep your hands cool, work quickly without forcing the paste, and know your oven, even the most delicate short paste is easy.
Ingredients
Flour: soft flour - that is, a low-protein cake flour - will produce more melting, crumbly pastry, but it is hard to work with and absorbs less liquid. A standard plain flour may be better for savoury flans and quiches, or where thin rolling is preferable. Note that a very soft cake flour will not achieve a sufficiently sheeted structure to roll and line a hoop or tin. Wholemeal and brown flours can make light, melting pastry but, for better results, sift 50% white flour with the brown. Some home cooks and traditional bakers work with self-raising flour. The pastry swells during baking and is quite biscuit-like. Keep flour dry or your recipe balance will alter.
Fats: butter has the best taste, and a good one will give a more sophisticated flavour than a cheaper one. If you use salted butter, you don't have to add the pinch of salt. However, pastry margarines and lards developed for baking may give a lighter finish.
For all-purpose short paste enriched with egg, sugar paste or paté sablée butter is better, but for traditional English pie-making, other fats, or combinations of fats, are worth considering - at Butlers Wharf, for instance, Witchalls prefers lard for pie and mash. When rubbing in fat, it should be soft enough to coat the flour particles easily. Oil produces the most crumbly pastry of all, but so much so that it may not bind properly.
Water: the precise temperature of water, when used, isn't critical, provided that it's cold. It's safer to estimate the quantity you need conservatively and add a little extra, rather than have a sticky dough to which you have to add more flour, spoiling the recipe balance. Milk is a good alternative for English baking.
Salt: there for the taste, but it also prevents gluten from becoming too sticky when mixed with liquids.
Sugar: apart from sweetening a paste, sugar will give it the texture of a biscuit. It will also give a darker colour. If using icing sugar, you can sift it with the flour. If using caster sugar, mix it with the liquids. The ratio of sugar to flour should not exceed 1:2 and will generally be less.
Eggs: these enrich pastry and improve its flavour and colour. If you use whole egg, the pastry will be easier to handle. Yolk by itself gives the richest of all short pastry. Cheaper eggs can have a higher moisture content than the best free range ones, and may make enough difference to alter a recipe balance.
Flavourings: pastry can be flavoured with chopped herbs, spices, vanilla or citrus zests. Ground almonds or toasted hazelnuts will also change its character.
Working with paste
After making the paste, especially if it contains a high proportion of fat, it has to be chilled in order to make it easier to work. During this period, which lasts at least an hour and often for 24 hours, it develops the gluten which helps rolling and lets the moisture disperse more evenly through the dough.
The paste has to be taken from the fridge and left to soften at ambient temperature before it can be rolled. This will take 10-30 minutes depending on its temperature and the kitchen temperature.
The classic way of rolling pastry is to flatten it slightly on a floured board and pin it out, giving the dough a quarter-turn or eighth-turn after each roll. The pin should not run over the edge of the paste or squeeze or press down on the dough.
At Butlers Wharf, Witchalls prefers to roll out pastes between two sheets of film if they have a high proportion of fat. This way, there is no need to handle the pastry at all and it doesn't absorb any additional flour.
The thickness of a rolled-out sheet will be determined by its subsequent use. A rule of thumb is a maximum of 2mm thick for all tartlets, petits fours, pies, and flans up to 160mm in diameter, and a maximum of 3mm thick for all pastries above 200mm wide.
When assessing quantities of pastry for bulk production, allow 50g pastry for a 100mm flan ring or hoop, 100g for a 140mm ring, 150g for a 180mm ring, 200g for a 200mm ring, 250g for a 220mm ring, 300g for a 240mm ring, 400g for a 300mm ring and 500g for a 340mm one.
Before lining a large tart shell, it is advisable to prick the dough and lay the pricked surface against the tin or baking sheet. Smaller tartlets can be pricked after they've been lined. Tins, hoops, flan rings, etc, have to be brushed with melted (preferably clarified) butter before lining with pastry. Baking trays may be lined with silicon paper or, more frequently these days, Matfer baking mats.
When lining any ring or tin, ensure that the pastry presses snugly against it or there will be a strong chance of it blistering and breaking during the baking process. With small barquettes and tartlets, excess pastry trimmings can be rolled off for an even finish.
Witchalls recommends leaving any overlapping trimmings in place when baking large tarts. The overlapping parts should be cut off after baking, while the pastry case is still hot. While this technique is fine for small-scale production, it would probably not be adopted in a large pƒtisserie.
Before baking, always give the pastry a second rest, preferably in the fridge, to reduce risk of shrinkage.
Baking blind
To bake blind, line the uncooked pastry with a cartouche of silicon paper. According to Witchalls, it's essential that it should lie flat against the pastry, like wallpaper, so as to prevent any blowing during baking.
Fill with ceramic beads or baking beans, again making sure that the beads fit well to the edges. Preheat the oven to 180¼C (any higher than 190¼C is unnecessary). Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the cartouche and ceramic beads. Brush the pastry all over with beaten egg white and return to the oven to finish baking.
When the pastry is golden and cooked through, transfer it to a cooling wire. Freshly baked pastry should always be used the day that it is baked. n
Next week: part two of the shortcrust pastry masterclass