Plain Short Pastry
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together.
Rub in the lard until well combined.
Form and bake
Add cold water gradually to form a stiff paste.
Roll out the dough twice and bake immediately.
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 dough once combined with liquid.
- Lard
- Coats flour particles to tenderize the dough and give a crumbly texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas to lighten the dough slightly as it bakes.
The step that matters
Adding the cold water gradually. Adding water slowly lets you stop once the dough forms a stiff paste. Too much water develops gluten and makes the shortbread tough rather than 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.
More shortbread recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.