Here are some great pastry making tips when making and handling pastry. Use these pastry making tips to make great recipes such as golden syrup tarts, cream horns and apple pies.
- Along with cakes and sponges, when making pastry it does become more important to weigh the ingredients correctly.
- The type of flour used is also important – sieving flour not only removes any unwanted lumps.
- Make sure you use clean utensils and very clean hands when making pastry – it is a commonly held view that you need cold hands to make good pastry by hand, so it may be a good idea to wash them under cold running water for a few moments.
- After making the pastry, either by hand or in a processor, allow it time to rest otherwise it may shrink when baking and turn out rather hard. Wrap your finished pastry in some cling film and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before use.
- Try your hardest not to overwork the pastry, as the less you handle it, the better it will bake.
- When rolling out pastry, lightly dust your rolling pin and work surface with a little sieved flour, rather than dusting the pastry itself, as this would add more flour and may slightly change the texture of the pastry. Always try to treat your pastry gently!
Great pastry recipes
Shortcrust pastry
This pastry recipe is for a shortcrust pastry. If looking for recipes for pastry, this rich shortcrust pastry recipe will be ideal and can be used to make great recipes such as a golden syrup tart.
Quiche lorraine
This quiche recipe is for quiche lorraine. This recipe for quiche is great served with new potatoes and a green salad.
Tomato tart
This recipe for a tomato tart is an easy tart recipe to make and makes a great starter. This uses baby tomatoes and Dijon mustard.
Golden syrup tart
This is a recipe for a golden syrup tart, also known as golden syrup cakes and treacle tarts. These individual golden syrup tarts are great served with raspberries or rhubarb.
Choux pastry
This pastry recipe shows how to make a choux pastry. This choux pastry recipe can be used to make delicious recipes such as profiteroles.
Chicken and bacon pie
This chicken recipe is for a chicken and bacon pie. This chicken pie recipe is a great combination of chicken and pastry.
Pastry fleurons
This pastry recipe is for making pastry fleurons, which are a great accompaniment to many dishes.
Vol au vent
This pastry recipe is for pastry vol au vents. This vol au vent recipe can be used to make vol au vents that can be filled with foods of your choice.
Profiteroles
This is a recipe for profiteroles, also known as cream puffs. This profiteroles recipe uses choux pastry to make plain chocolate profiteroles.