Tips for Perfect Pastry

Appears in

Published 2009

The kitchen needs to be as cool as possible when making pastry.
The butter for pastry should be cold, straight from the refrigerator. Cut the butter into even-sized pieces, about 5 mm (¼ inch) thick.
Flour should be sifted before use. This will remove any lumps and incorporate air into the flour, helping to make the dough light. For sweet shortcrust pastry, always sift icing sugar and flour to remove any lumps and help aerate them.
If the dough is too cold to roll out it will crack easily, so leave at room temperature, still covered in plastic wrap, for 15 minutes to soften.
Roll pastry out on a lightly floured work surface to prevent it sticking. Always roll from the middle outwards (not using a back-and-forth motion) and rotate the pastry frequently as you go to keep to the required shape. Occasionally use both hands to push the edges of the dough back inwards to help keep the shape.
If possible, use a marble slab or a cold work surface to roll dough. This helps to keep the butter from warming up as it is rolled.
If the dough feels really soft and starts to stick to the work surface, roll it out between two sheets of baking paper.
Never pull or stretch pastry as you roll it or the pastry will shrink during cooking.

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