Shortcrust pastry is not easy to make at the best of times, and trying to make it gluten-free is even trickier! I have written up a Baking Basics post on How to make Shortcrust Pastry in the past, but here is just a little additional post that covers the basics of a gluten-free version.
Many of the main principles of making “normal” shortcrust pastry still apply though, so make sure to check out the Baking Basics #1 post as well for some tips and helpful pictures.
What ingredients should you use when making Gluten-free Shortcrust Pastry?
Naturally, you will have to use gluten-free flour for making gluten-free shortcrust pastry. That probably won’t come as a surprise. However, a second very important ingredient in xanthan gum powder.
Xanthan gum is actually an extremely interesting food additive and you’d be surprised by the variety of it’s uses. But I’ll refer you to the Wikipedia page here rather than turn this post into a novel. But in gluten-free baking, xanthan gum is what provides the “stickness” that would usually be given by the gluten contained in flour. Xanthan gum basically acts like a glue that will try to keep the pastry together. Short disclaimer though, I don’t think it makes up for the lack of gluten in the flour completely. The pastry is still slightly harder to work with, and might tear when you try and use it to line your tart tin. Just use some of the excess pastry though to patch up any holes – you’ll be fine 😊.
Other useful Tips and Tricks
When working with shortcrust pastry, it is always important to handle the pastry as little as possible and to keep the butter cold. This will ensure the pastry stays short and crumbly, and doesn’t become rubbery. A good idea is to keep your hands cold by washing your hands with cold water before rubbing the butter into the flour. If you have a food processor, that is even better to use to make shortcrust pastry! That way you don’t touch the pastry at all which can stop the butter from becoming too warm. Check out the video here to see how well it worked making shortcrust pastry in the food processor.
To prevent the pastry from having a soggy bottom, it is vital that you bake the pastry blindly. I explained more about what that means in my first Baking Basics post, so click here to read more about that. Finally, I also have a great trick for lining a tart tin with shortcrust pastry – you can see the instructions and pictures for that here.
Recipes you can use this Gluten-free Shortcrust Pastry for
I just created a Gluten-free Summer Fruit Tart recipe for which I also made this gluten-free shortcrust pastry recipe for. So that is at least one recipe you could use this in!
I have a few other tart recipes on my blog, where the filling is naturally gluten-free, or you could make it gluten-free by simple replacing the plain flour with gluten-free flour. For example, you could make this Bakewell Tart with Feathered Icing, Blueberry Bakewell Tart, or Lemon Meringue Pie using this gluten-free shortcrust pastry.
Gluten-free Shortcrust Pastry | Basic Recipe
Recipe
Ingredients (makes enough for a 25cm round fluted tart tin):
- 225g gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 110g unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks
- 1 medium egg, beaten
Method:
- Place the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum powder and caster sugar into a small bowl or the bowl of a food processor. Add the cold, cubed butter to the bowl and then either rub it in with your fingertips, or blitz in the food processor, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Next, add in the beaten egg and briefly mix or blitz until the pastry starts coming together in a ball. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and briefly work together in a smooth dough – you do not want to over-work the dough!
- If the pastry seems too soft, flatten into a disk, wrap it in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. If not, continue straight to the next step.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.
- Place the loose base of the tart tin onto a clean work surface and then dust the top and the surroundings with a bit of flour. Place the shortcrust pastry into the middle of the base, then roll out until 2-3mm thick and the edges of the circle are roughly 3-4 cm from the edge of the base of the tin.
- Lightly flour the top of the pastry and fold the overhanging pastry into the middle of the tin, then carefully place the base into the tin and unfold the edges again (check out this video and Baking Techniques post here for a visual). If the pastry tears when you are moving it, simply patch up the holes with any leftover pastry.
- Use a small bit of excess pastry to gently press the pastry into the fluted edges around the tin. Trim off most of the overhanging pastry, but leave some to allow for pastry shrinkage.
- Prick the base all over with a fork and then chill the pastry case in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Take the pastry case out of the fridge and scrunch up a piece of baking paper (this will make it easier to fit into the case). Place the baking paper over the pastry case and fill with baking beans and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until the edges start to brown.
- Remove the tart case from the oven and lift out the ceramic baking beans and baking paper (carefully tip the beans into a container and leave to cool, they will be very hot). Use a sharp knife to run around the top of the tart tin and trim the edges of the pastry.
- Then return the tart to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes to dry out the bottom. Then cool on a wire rack before carefully removing the tart from the tin. Alternatively, if you are adding a filling (e.g. when making a Bakewell tart), pour in the filling and return to the oven until the filling is baked.
