How to make: Shortcrust Pastry | Baking Basics #1

Welcome to a new series on my blog: Baking Basics! This series will give you basic recipes for all areas of baking: cakes, biscuits, pastry and bread as well as tips on how to succeed! It will also act as a resource for explaining baking terminology and techniques!

For this first post on Baking Basics, we are talking Shortcrust Pastry!

Perhaps shortcrust pastry is an unusual thing to start this Baking Basics series off with, however, I have been making it a lot recently and therefore wanted to share it with you guys!

Homemade Shortcrust Pastry is a tricky one…

Shortcrust pastry is definitely a difficult pastry to master, but once you get the hang of it, I´m sure you will enjoy making it! That´s what it was like for me at least, I hated shortcrust (mine always used to crumble!) until I finally figured out a few tips and tricks that would guarantee me success!

I just had this the other day actually, I was trying to make custard tarts and initially tried using a different pastry recipe. It was an absolute disaster, so I decided to start again and use the recipe for this fail-proof sweet shortcrust pastry I am sharing with you below. And voilà, it worked no problem. I really don´t know what it is. But I really hope the recipe below works for you guys, too!

So let´s get into it:

Check out this video here for some tips and tricks when making Shortcrust Pastry!

What is Shortcrust Pastry?

Shortcrust pastry can be both sweet and savoury and is commonly used to make pies, tarts or quiches.

Since I am a scientist (or at least an aspiring scientist), I will also share with you the reason for its name. Shortcrust pastry is meant to be “short” which refers to the length of the chains of gluten in the pastry. The gluten chains in shortcrust pastry are short because they are interrupted by the fat coming from the butter. This gives the pastry its distinct, crumbly texture.

How do you make Shortcrust Pastry?

Shortcrust pastry is made by combining twice the amount of flour to fat by weight, plus a little cold water to bind it all together.
Sweet shortcrust pastry calls for the addition of a little icing sugar, and is richer, due to the addition of an egg to the mixture.

To start, the flour is rubbed in with the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Then you add the icing sugar (for sweet pastry) and add the water/egg to bring the mixture together. Next, you roll out the pastry and line the flan tin. I would recommend using a lose-based tin, something like this.
The pastry is then chilled in the fridge before baking.

It is important to blind-bake the shortcrust pastry before filling it in order to avoid that dreaded “soggy bottom”. Blind baking involves first baking the pastry with ceramic baking beans or dried rice weighing it down to prevent it from puffing up. You then remove the baking beans and continue baking the pastry for a few minutes more to dry out the base (see more tips below).

Trim the pastry case as soon as it comes out of the oven. Fill it and return to the oven for a filling that needs baking, or leave to cool completely before adding a no-bake filling.

Make Your Shortcrust Pastry Dairy-Free or Vegan

You can also make vegan or dairy-free shortcrust pastry by using a free-from butter. For a vegan version, substitute the egg for water! Check out my recipe for Mini Blueberry Bakewell Tarts (with dairy-free and vegan options) for more information on how to do it!

A few Tips for Success when making Shortcrust Pastry.

1) Keep your hands/the pastry cold.

• Always make sure your hands are cold when handling shortcrust pastry to prevent the butter from melting. If you think you hands are too warm, wash them with cold water.
• If you have one, you could use a food processor. That way you can avoid warming the butter with your hands. Simply blitz the flour and butter to reach a breadcrumb texture before adding the water/egg.
• Also, make sure your butter is cold when to start with!

2) Preventing crumbly pastry.

• Don´t be tempted to add more flour to the mixture! If the mixture is too dry it will crumble and break when you try to roll it out.
• If the pastry feels really sticky, just leave the dough for a second in the bowl. I think that sometimes the flour just needs time to “absorb” some of the liquid from the egg/water. After a minute or two, turn out onto a very lightly floured started and try to form into a nice dough.
  If it still feels too sticky, you can add a tiny amount of flour!

3) Stopping the pastry from becoming tough/rubbery.

• Unlike when you are making bread, when making pastry you want to prevent gluten development as much as possible!
• Gluten starts to develop when you add liquid to the flour, so you want to try and add as little water as possible.
• Gluten is also developed by working/kneading the dough, so try to work quickly and handle the pastry as little as possible.

4) How to line the tart tin.

• Once made, roll out the pastry immediately and line the tart tin.
• ALWAYS lightly flour the surface and rolling pin, NEVER the pastry!
• The best way I have found to line a pastry case is by doing the following:
  Place the base of the loose-based flan tin on your work surface and flour the surrounding area. Place the pastry in the middle of the base and flatten down into a disk with your hands.
  Put a piece of baking paper over the pastry and then roll it out with a rolling pin until about 0.25 cm thick and about 2-3 cm larger in diameter than the base of the tin.
  Remove the baking paper and fold the overhanging bits of the pastry towards the middle of the base. Pick up the base and put it into the fluted pastry case ring. Then fold out the pastry again to line the sides of the tin.
• Alternatively, I have seen people roll out the pastry and then roll it around the rolling pin. Then they unroll it again over the tart tin. I have tried this numerous times but my pastry always sticks or tears, so I would recommend the method above.
• DO NOT REMOVE ALL THE OVERHANGING PASTRY! The pastry might shrink during chilling and baking, so leave a good amount of overhang to be safe. Leaving the trimming of the pastry until after blind baking (see below) will ensure that you end up with a perfect looking pastry case.
• Use a piece of excess pastry and form it into a ball. Use this to gently press the pastry against the walls of the tart rim, making sure the pastry goes into all of the sides.

For a step-by-step picture guide on how to line a tart/flan tin, check out my Baking Skills and Techniques post here.

5) The importance of chilling the pastry.

• I used to make the mistake of chilling my pastry completely before rolling it out. It then became so crumbly that it just fell apart when rolling out.
• Chill the pastry after you have lined the tart tin! This will help the pastry relax and also slow down the gluten development.
• Chilling the pastry will also help the butter solidify again, which will avoid your pastry from becoming too greasy.

6) Preventing a soggy bottom – Blind Baking

• to prevent a soggy bottom, it is important to bake the shortcrust pastry blindly. Blind baking is when you bake the pastry before adding the filling, to ensure that the pastry is cooked first. If you are adding a filling that requires baking, too, you only partially bake the pastry base. For an uncooked filling, you must cook the base completely.
• Start by pricking the base all over with a fork. This will prevent the pastry from rising and ensure it stays nice and thin.
• Next, line the pastry case with non-stick baking paper. A good trick is to scrunch it up into a ball, and then unfold it again. This will make it easier to fit perfectly into the round pastry tin.
• Another way to prevent the base from rising and ensuring it cooks evenly is to weigh the pastry down. To do this, fill the pastry case with ceramic baking beans or uncooked rice (you cannot eat the rice afterwards, but you could store it in an air-tight container and re-use it for blind baking pastry). I would recommend buying a box of baking beans, they are a good investment if you want to make pastry more regularly and aren´t usually too expensive. You can often get them in large supermarkets, I bought mine from Morrisons, for example, but if you could also get them from Amazon.
• Bake the pastry with the baking beans for about 15-20 minutes. Carefully remove the baking baker with the ceramic beans. Careful, they will be extremely hot. I usually pick them up holding up the sides of the baking paper and then pour them into a measuring jug to cool completely.
• Return the pastry case to the oven and bake for roughly 5 minutes more, or a bit longer if you are adding a no-bake filling.

7) Trimming the pastry – Making a perfect shortcrust shell for your tarts.

• It is really important to trim the pastry when it is still hot!!!
  I made the mistake in the beginning, of trying to trim the pastry case once it had cooled. With my already pretty bad crumbly pastry (thank goodness I have managed to overcome that) it just caused the whole thing to crumble.
• As soon as you have removed the cake from the oven after blind baking, trim the case before adding any filling.
• Hold the pastry case (you might want to wear an oven glove if it is too hot) and run along the top of the tin with a very sharp knife to cut off any excess pastry.

Check out the other posts in this series – Baking Basics

• #1 How To Make Shortcrust Pastry
• #2 How To Master Chocolate (Melting, Tempering, Decorating)
• #3 How To Make Puff Pastry
• #4 How To Make a Sourdough Starter
• #5 How To Make Buttercream (Normal, Dairy-free, Vegan)
• #6 How To Make Hot Water Crust Pastry
• #7 How To Make Crème Chantilly | Chantilly (Sweetened) Cream
• #8 How To Make Crème Pâtissière | French Pastry Cream
• #9 How To Make Lemon Curd
• #10 How To Make Crème Anglaise (Vanilla Custard)
• #11 The 5 Cake Making Methods – Explained
• #12 How to Make Filo Pastry
• #13 How to Make Royal Icing | Perfect for Biscuit Decorating
• #14 How to Make Honeycomb (Cinder Toffee, Hokey Pokey)

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry – Basic Recipe

This is my fail-proof recipe for a sweet shortcrust pastry. You could use it for all sorts of recipes, for example, this classic British Bakewell Tart, my Mini Blueberry Bakewell Tarts, or Mary´s Lemon Meringue Pie.

To increase flavour, why not add a touch of orange zest to this pastry when making Christmas Mince Pies or a pinch of nutmeg for Mini Custard Tarts.

Ingredients:

• 225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 150g cold butter, cubed
• 25g icing sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten

Method:

1. In a bowl, rub together the flour and cold butter with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the icing sugar.
3. Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, and mix until the pastry starts to come together into a nice ball. You might not have to add all of the egg!
4. The pastry is now ready to roll out and use in whichever recipe you choose. If it seems far too sticky, chill in the fridge for a bit before rolling, if not chill after you have put it into the tin.

Plain Shortcrust Pastry – Basic Recipe

This plain shortcrust pastry only requires 3 ingredients and can be used for savoury bakes, such as quiche! Why not try making this pastry and use it to make a classic quiche lorraine?

Ingredients:

• 175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 85g cold butter, cubed
• 2-3 tbsp of cold water

Method:

1. In a bowl, rub together the flour and cold butter with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Start adding the water, but be very careful as adding too much will result in a tough pastry that could shrink from the sides of the tin. Using a little water at a time and form the mixture into a smooth dough, adding a little more water at a time if the pastry is still too dry.
3. The pastry is now ready to roll out and use in whichever recipe you choose. If it seems far too sticky, chill in the fridge for a bit before chilling, if not chill after you have put it into the tin.