Plain Short Pastry
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the pastry
Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together.
Rub in the lard until well combined.
Add cold water gradually to form a stiff paste.
Roll and bake
Roll out the dough twice.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the pastry as its proteins and starch set in the oven.
- Lard or dripping
- Coats flour particles so the pastry turns out short and tender rather than tough.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the pastry rise and lighten.
The step that matters
Add cold water gradually to form a stiff paste. Adding too much water or working the dough too much develops gluten, which makes the pastry tough. Cold water and a stiff, barely mixed dough keep the fat distinct, so the result stays short and crumbly.
“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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