Plain Pastry
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine the pastry flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
Cut in the fat until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Form the dough
Add ice water gradually until the dough comes together.
Knead gently and roll out as needed.
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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Pastry flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure.
- Fat
- Coats flour particles and creates flaky layers by staying solid until baked.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lifts the pastry and gives it a lighter texture.
- Ice water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together without developing too much gluten.
The step that matters
Add ice water gradually. Too much water or warm water makes the dough sticky and tough. Adding it slowly and stopping once the dough comes together keeps the fat cold and the texture 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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