Shortcrust pastry: how is it made?
There are many women who have clashed with shortcrust pastry, yet, following a few simple instructions, making an excellent shortcrust pastry is child's play!
Prepare the shortcrust pastry for your cakes yourself and learn some tricks to never go wrong.
Shortcrust pastry: the basic recipe
- 250 g of flour
- 125 g of butter in small pieces, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- 125 g of sugar
- salt
Preparation
Work the softened butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until creamy. Add the egg, mix vigorously. Add the flour, salt and knead quickly by hand. Form a ball, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
The advices
Butter
It does not have to be melted before being incorporated, but simply soft
The development
Respect carefully the order in which the ingredients are added
Do not work the dough too much
The flour, when it comes into contact with heat and humidity, forms gluten, a substance that makes the dough elastic (essential for the breadcrumbs to be soft and compact, but it is the number 1 enemy of shortcrust pastry and pasta brisée)
Sugar
The more "coarse" the sugar is, the crispier the pasta is. With icing sugar, you can obtain a very thin pastry, with a crumbly dough and a soft consistency
Rest
Let the dough rest for 30 minutes in the fridge, and then leave 10 minutes at room temperature before rolling it out. Put it back in the fridge and put it in a hot oven
White cooking
Bake for 20 minutes at 180 ° C and fill once cold: chocolate cake, fruit tart and custard ...
Complete cake baking
Check the cooking of the pasta often, to prevent the edges from blackening.
Keep
48 hours in the fridge or well frozen (in block or pulled and rolled)
Even more delicious variant: shortcrust pastry with almond powder
- 250 g of flour
- 125 g of butter in small pieces, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- 80 g of powdered sugar
- 40 g of almond powder
- salt
Work the soft butter and the icing sugar with the wooden spoon. Add the almond powder, the egg, and mix vigorously. Add the flour, salt, and mix quickly by hand.
Form a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Flavor the dough with:
- cocoa, for a banana, pear or coffee tart;
- vanilla essence, for all cakes;
- some coffee, for the chocolate cakes;
- bitter almond, for the almond, apricot, cherry and raspberry cream tarts;
- the essence of orange blossom, for strawberry and plum tarts;
- some rum, for fruit tarts;
- thyme or basil, for apricot, strawberry or melon tarts.
See also:
Crepes: 6 tricks to freeze them
Snack tarts: five ideas for a delicious snack
How to line a pan with shortcrust pastry
Video / Making shortcrust pastry at home
The recipe for "Fregolotta"
The different types of flour
Vegan tart