Cut in the Fat

Cut the frozen fats into the well-sifted flour by hand, using a sharp, heavy-duty pastry blender, or in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. If you cut the fat in by hand it is easier to see the process of turning two separate ingredients into a mixture that looks like a combination of coarse meal mixed in with tiny pea-size bits of butter. If you use a food processor to cut the fat into the flour, use small pulses to control how much of the fat is being cut into the flour, so it still results in small bits of fat among the overall crumbly texture (these little “pea-size” bits of fat are imperative; as they melt, the dough steams apart, causing many thin, flaky layers of pastry to form).