Short Crust
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine 10 oz. of Allinson wholemeal, 8 oz. of butter or vege-butter, and 1 teacupful of cold water.
Rub the butter into the meal, add the water, and mix the paste with a knife.
Line and bake
Roll out the dough and cut strips to line the rim of the pie dish.
Cover the vegetable with the crust, decorate it, and bake the pie as directed.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Wholemeal flour (in the method)
- Provides the main structure, with gluten and starch setting as the crust bakes.
- Butter or vege-butter (in the method)
- Rubbed into the flour, it coats flour particles and tenderises the crust, adding richness and flakiness.
The step that matters
Rubbing the butter into the meal. Work the butter in until it looks like fine crumbs, then add the water and mix only until the dough holds together. Overworking the paste develops gluten, which makes the crust tough rather than short and tender.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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