Your favourite pastry recipe

A cheat's method for flaky pastry involves coarsely grating the frozen fat into the flour, with a pinch of salt, then mixing with cold water. Rest in fridge for 20 minutes, roll and use. I particularly like it for easy pasties using a cooked filling.
My hands are always warm, therefore I make good bread, but most of my pastry is awful. With the above method it hardly needs handling.

I like the idea of adding an ice cube, TriciaF - I'm definitely going to try that next time. The recipe otherwise looks like the method my MiL used for pastry, though she never measured any of the ingredients. We always used to tell her that when she'd gone her pastry would be missed as much as her. She had a good sense of humour fortunately . And we really do miss her apple pies (and her, of course)

My pastry used to be lovely (though I say it myself - and even DM said it was lovely)

However, since I have had a fan oven it has been hard and horrible.

I will try the ice cube method, as I have tried the egg method.

Jamie's sweet pastry recipie works for me.

x

Pastry is one of the culinary arts I'm quite good at, I'm glad to say. When I was a teenager, I had the job of making mince pies for the family and they were always highly complimented. Nowadays I'm more likely to bake quiches. I do have rather cold hands. I also have a fan oven but it has the option of cooking without the fan, which I usually do.

I had a fan oven with the option of cooking without, but unfortunately it blew up after 13 months (it was a 'good' make) and the only offer to replace it (under guarantee) was with a fan oven.

Rough puff - I was very surprised a few years ago on GBBO to see that none of them had ever made it before. To me, it was a cheat's way of making puff pastry, and is fantastic for pies of any kind. It's very easy to make, too.

You need to have a light hand for pastry. According to my mother she had it and I have inherited it. Her sister, my aunt didn't have it. her pastry was stone hard.

My favourite pastry these days which I use for rabbit pie is suet crust. I use the real suet and it takes 50g to 100 g flour to top the rabbit stew. Just mix with cold water and make a thick pie crust.
I try not to think of the dear lttle rabbits running and jumping about on my GDs garden!
But it always was my favourite dish and I have it only occasionally on a winters day. I love it.

Jusrol - only kiddding!

Well, just sometimes

Sadly I don't do pasty often these days (I love it) but I do find it more difficult to digest (DH has always had a problem with it). when I did do it I loved the puff pastry process and the results. I still go back to Delia.

People seem to enjoy my shortcrust pies.

The rules I use are,

Keep everything as cool as possible and handle as little as possible.

I use what I call the half, half, half method. ( still use imperial measures.) I also use SR flour which most say is a no no.

So, 8ozs SR flour
4ozs fat (half marge/butter and half lard)
2 fluid ozs. cold water.

I don't make puff pastry as I find the shop bought is just as good.

some good tips here - thanks to all.
I've noticed that most of the recipes on the internet tell you to use a machine to combine the ingredients, which I suppose would almost cut out handling altogether. The type I've got only has a dough hook and a ballon thing for eggwhites. And one other which I think is for beating a cake mixture. I'm not a fan of machines, too much cleaning up afterwards.
I wonder if my hand-held electric whisk would do it?
Phoenix - I've used bought pastry many times and it's not very good. Either too hard or too greasy. We can't get jusroll here.

It drives me mad - but pastry made by all machines isn't as good as my own, all of us can tell the difference. maybe I do have a light hand. As have arthritic fingers I now only make pastry on days when they feel ok, otherwise I use my machine. Plus, you can't make rough puff in a machine, but as you just stir it all in with a knife it is far easier for me to do.

I do the same quantities as you Ginny but I always add an ice cube to the water. I also use a metal bowl and mix the water in with a pallet knife to save handling too much.

The best pastry is made when you have visitors arriving in fifteen minutes and you are running late. The ingredients (twice the weight of flour as fat, which is best half marge, half white fat) get thrown into a bowl, rubbed in hastily and enough water added to bind it all together, then rolled out at full speed, slapped into a pie dish with the filling and the top crust put on, and shoved into the oven, giving you just enough time to clear up the debris and answer the doorbell with an air of composure, as though you were ready half an hour ago.

Do remember to set the oven timer, though, or the pie is likely to be forgotten and go rather black.

I'm hopeless at making conventional pastry and always use the following recipe. It makes quite a large amount, but keeps in the fridge for three weeks, or can be frozen in smaller amounts.

5 cups flour}
1lb lard. } Rub together until resembles breadcrumbs.

In a separate bowl,beat together:

two-thirds of a cup cold water
3 tsps brown sugar
2tsps salt
1 egg
1 tbsp vinegar

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and bring together with a knife, then your hands, although don't over handle it.

It needs to rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins before using. It makes delicious pastry and never fails.

Do any of you have a tried and tested gluten free recipe for shortcrust pastry? I fancy having a go, but the flour's so pricey I'd rather trust a recipe that someone on GN can recommend Thanks!

No, Minimouse, sorry.
Mine was like concrete, needed a hacksaw to get through it. I threw it out and even the birds refused to eat it.
Apparently you can buy it frozen but don't tell anyone

Elegran

Frozen Rosequartz? As if .......

Minimouse I am still practising, although I have now mastered cakes, but I found that I preferred pastry when I used gram flour in with the gluten-free. Also, the colour is better. I substituted around a quarter of the recipe with it. It's quite disconcerting when you have to nudge it into place rather than roll it, but it seems to work. Anything big has to be done between sheets of clingfilm. Also - add more xantham gum, even though it's already in the flour I always add an extra tsp.