Harold McGee

Pastry Styles

Appears in
On Food and Cooking
On Food and Cooking

By Harold McGee

Published 2004

  • About
There are several different styles of pastry, each with a different texture that is created by the kinds of particles into which they come apart when chewed.
  • Crumbly pastries—short pastry, pâte brisée—come apart into small, irregular particles.
  • Flaky pastries—American pie crusts—come apart in small, irregular, thin flakes.
  • Laminated pastries—puff pastry, phyllo, strudel—are constructed of large, separate, very thin layers that shatter in the mouth into small, delicate shards.
  • Laminated breads—croissants, Danish pastries—combine the layering of the laminated pastries with the soft chewiness of bread.