Making pastry

OrkneyStar

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Can I tag on the end of this please? I make a real pigs ear of pastry - I can bake cakes and bake bread but pastry seems to be beyond me for some reason.

I either do the rubbing in in the kenwood or I do it by hand, I then rest it in cling in the fridge for half an hour or so but when I roll it out I make a real mess, I can't get it in any sensible shape and end up having to roll and re-roll and then the pastry ends up hard and nasty and very bitty.

Can anyone help me with this? What recipe do you use (I usually use flour/butter/lard but I can't remember the proportions), and I just roll it on a floured work top - I wonder whether some sort of oil cloth would help?

Some people swear by rolling between clingfilm (I think that Rachel somebody- Irish cook lady, sorry forget her surname mentioned it).
TBH I try not to roll, using my hand to flatten and take small pieces to make into circles if needed- a bit rustic but tastes nice!

valk_scot

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

but when I roll it ut I make a real mess, I can't get it in any sensible shape and end up having to roll and re-roll and

Basically you roll it out bigger than necessary, giving it a 90' turn every couple of rolls or so. Then you cut your shape out and use the trimmings to make cheese straws.

Pitlanepiglet

valk_scot wrote: »

Basically you roll it out bigger than necessary, giving it a 90' turn every couple of rolls or so. Then you cut your shape out and use the trimmings to make cheese straws.

Now y'see this the problem, it sounds soooo straightforward but I can't do it! I end up with it all sticking to the work surface and in odd shapes so it's never entirely big enough for my quiche dish and I end up patching it together!

greenbee

A slightly different problem. If I blind bake my pastry it shrinks so much that it disappears from the sides of the tin. I'm sure it didn't used to do this... and it happens with bought pastry as well as home made. Any suggestions appreciated.

freyasmum

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Can I tag on the end of this please? I make a real pigs ear of pastry - I can bake cakes and bake bread but pastry seems to be beyond me for some reason.

I either do the rubbing in in the kenwood or I do it by hand, I then rest it in cling in the fridge for half an hour or so but when I roll it out I make a real mess, I can't get it in any sensible shape and end up having to roll and re-roll and then the pastry ends up hard and nasty and very bitty.

Can anyone help me with this? What recipe do you use (I usually use flour/butter/lard but I can't remember the proportions), and I just roll it on a floured work top - I wonder whether some sort of oil cloth would help?

You want to work with it as little as possible and keep it all as cold as possible. Personally, I find it a bit of a booger to roll too.

I wonder if you would find it easier to roll it out a bit (between some clingfilm) and THEN refridgerate :think:

Something thing to check is that the fat has been totally worked into the flour. If the mixing is uneven, the resulting pastry dough will be 'gritty' and murder to roll out.

Pastry is generally half fat to flour - you can use more fat for a richer pastry, but that makes it harder to work with - so pastry made with 4oz flour will require 2oz fat and cover a 6-7 inch flan ring; 6 oz will need 3oz fat and cover a 9in flan ring; and 8 oz will require 4oz of fat and cover a 10-11 inch flan ring. And so on.

I hope that helps? :undecided

dander

Pastry shrinks when it's been stretched - so you need to be careful when rolling that you are pushing down on the rolling pin and flattening and pressing the pastry into shape, rather than pushing it outwards and stretching it into shape. Also when you lift it up and put it in the dish, take care to support it fully and not let it dangle and stretch, and don't pull it to fit the dish - make sure you've rolled it oversized in the first place so you are trimming to fit.

While you're always told not to over-handle pastry, I think it does still need a good firm bringing together to get it ready to roll. If it's sticking to the surface, my guess would be that it's either too sticky because you've added a lot of water to get it to come together because you're trying to handle it so lightly - or that you just haven't got the pastry amalgamated well enough. Try adding less water, but working it slightly more - the heat of your hands should help soften the fat in the pastry and that will do the holding together work. Then when rolling I find you can't really over-flour your surface - if your pastry sticks add more flour to the surface!

Gigervamp

If you're using Trex, you use 20% less of it than you would with another fat.

Fruball

Gigervamp wrote: »

If you're using Trex, you use 20% less of it than you would with another fat.

ahhhhhhh I didn't know that - thank you

bluebag

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Now y'see this the problem, it sounds soooo straightforward but I can't do it! I end up with it all sticking to the work surface and in odd shapes so it's never entirely big enough for my quiche dish and I end up patching it together!

Plenty of flour on the work surface and loads on the rolling pin. Make sure your hands are cool too, wash them in cold water if your hands are warm.

I use a mixture of half lard and half soft margerine as it makes a softer dough and I don't rest it before rolling as I find it makes it harder to roll, just leave it 20 mins in fridge once rolled out.

pinkteapot

I make gluten-free pastry due to OH having coeliac disease, so I can't comment on the recipe, but in terms of the rising, I blind-bake my pastry with greaseproof paper and baking beans inside it. This stops it rising.

If I p-r-i-ck the pastry instead, will the paper/beans not be necessary?