Cold water
4 oz flour
1 oz lard (also at room temperature)
1 oz margarine at room temperature
1 pinch of salt
Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, holding the sieve up as high as possible to give the flour an airing. Then cut the fat into small cubes and add them to the flour. Now, using your fingertips, lightly and gently rub the pieces of fat into the flour—lifting your
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So far I have been setting out my own personal notes on ingredients and preferences. However, in the following recipes, the type of fat you use is up to you. If you’re a vegetarian, for instance, you will obviously want to use vegetable fat or margarine: similarly any recipe for short crust pastry can easily be changed to whole wheat short crust if you prefer it.
Transferring pastry to a tin The best way is to place the rolling-pin at either end of the pastry, and lightly roll the pastry round the pin, then transfer it to the waiting tin—place the tip of the pastry over one edge of the tin and unroll. Now start to ease the pastry gently into position to line the tin (what you need to keep in mind at this stage is that it is better for the pastry to shrink at the lining stage than to be stretched
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Rolling What you need for this is a flat surface, a table-top, laminated work-surface or a proper pastry board. Also the length of the rolling-pin is important: the longer it is, the more evenly it will roll. A flour dredger is not an expensive item and will sprinkle flour lightly and evenly. Place the dough on a lightly-floured surface, and first shape it with your hands (to a round, or oblong, or whatever your final shape must be).
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Resting It’s a bore, but if you don’t want your pastry to break as you roll it out or shrink while it is cooking, you must allow it at least 20-30 minutes before you roll it out. Why? Because, as we discovered with bread, the gluten in the flour reacts to water and develops in time, becoming more pliable and elastic (and so easier to roll and less likely to shrink). Wrap the dough carefully in foil or a polythene bag, and leave it to rest
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Mixing We’ve established that coolness is important, so here speed is what is needed. The less you handle it, the less likely the warmth of your hands will affect it. Once the fat has been evenly distributed and the mixture looks crumbly, you can start to add the water. Run the cold tap for a minute to get it really cold, half-fill a jug and sprinkle in the water all over (for 4 oz of flour start with 3 tablespoons of water).
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Rubbing in Once the flour is sifted into a bowl, you then divide the hit into smallish lumps and add them to the flour. Start off with a knife and ‘cut’ the fat into the flour. Then use your fingertips only: start to lift the pieces of fat up with the flour and rub them gently through your fingers. Now it’s well known that light hands make good pastry—that means, in a word, be as gentle as you can. Keep lifting your hands high above the bowl to let in the air and,
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Making the dough: keeping cool It is true everything should be as cool as you can manage for pastry-making, because if the ingredients—and your hands—are too warm the fat becomes too soft, even oily, and it coats more flour grains than it should. The flour is then unable to absorb enough water and the pastry will be too crumbly. However, don’t be put off if your kitchen is typically hot and steamy. Open a window and make the pastry as near to the window as possible.
