Pastries Baking Basics

PASTRIES A tender, flaky product; made with flour, fat, salt and water, filled with either a sweet or a savory mixture

Pastry vs Puff Pastry Pastry dough is made up for four main ingredients: Flour Water Fat (typically shortening) Salt Puff Pastry dough is made by enclosing butter in layers of dough and rolling it out and folding it several times to create layers which puff up when baked. Puff Pastry is much lighter and flakier than traditional pastry dough

Handling Pastry Dough Too much flour, liquid, fat and too much handling can make the pastry tough. Dough should be covered with plastic wrap and chilled before using. Easy handling and rolling; also relaxes the gluten.

Handling Pastry Dough What NOT to do when handling dough: 1. Over mix the dough when adding the liquid 2. Use the rolling pin too vigorously when rolling the pastry 3. Stretch the pastry when fitting it into the pie plate

Rolling out the dough Roll out the dough on a floured surface to prevent sticking Roll the dough to a 1/8 in thickness all over, after lightly flattening it Roll the dough from the center outward to form a circle of even thickness Check the dough occasionally to be sure it is not sticking

Panning the dough Pie Shell- a bottom crust of a pie How to pan a pie shell: Roll the dough around the rolling pin to lift it without breaking Unroll the dough into the pan Without stretching it, press the dough into the sides of the pie pan The excess dough around the edges can be cut off using kitchen shears