Ready rolled pastry is handy and speedy, but apart from good quality prepared puff, your own gives much greater satisfaction and the more often you make it, the better you get at it. There are a couple of easy types that you can't buy anyway.
If you have a food processor, short crust is easy - add a little lard as well as butter to make it very short and mix with egg for sweet things. For a flan base , use Sweet Flan Pastry.
It is worth sometimes making Rough Puff, but Delia's Quick Flaky, especially for sausage rolls and cheese straws at Christmas, is really as good as anything.
Quick Flaky
8oz Plain flour with a pinch of salt
5oz butter ( Delia says 6 but I find that too much)
8oz SR flour with a pinch of salt
4 oz suet - you can use vegetarian which it is lighter too
Just mix them, add enough water to make a dough and roll as lightly and quickly as possible. You don't need to rest this and it is better to use it straight away.
Rough Puff pastry
This is a longer process and needs patience and gentle hands. It makes fab mince pies though.
1lb strong plain bread flour plus pinch salt
8oz butter, softened and cut into 1/2 (10g) pieces
8oz soft lard or shortening, cut into 1/2 oz (10g) pieces
1 tbs lemon juice made up to 10fl oz with iced water plus 2 tbs iced water
If you have a food processor, short crust is easy - add a little lard as well as butter to make it very short and mix with egg for sweet things. For a flan base , use Sweet Flan Pastry.
It is worth sometimes making Rough Puff, but Delia's Quick Flaky, especially for sausage rolls and cheese straws at Christmas, is really as good as anything.
Quick Flaky
8oz Plain flour with a pinch of salt
5oz butter ( Delia says 6 but I find that too much)
- Put the weighed butter into the freezer wrapped in foil for at least 1/2 hour.
- Grate the butter into the sieved flour, using the foil to keep it cool for as long as possible.
- Use flat bladed knife or a fork to separate the flakes of butter into the flour evenly.
- Mix with cold water into a dough, being careful not to add too much.
- Rest the dough and then use for your pie, or whatever.
8oz SR flour with a pinch of salt
4 oz suet - you can use vegetarian which it is lighter too
Just mix them, add enough water to make a dough and roll as lightly and quickly as possible. You don't need to rest this and it is better to use it straight away.
Rough Puff pastry
This is a longer process and needs patience and gentle hands. It makes fab mince pies though.
1lb strong plain bread flour plus pinch salt
8oz butter, softened and cut into 1/2 (10g) pieces
8oz soft lard or shortening, cut into 1/2 oz (10g) pieces
1 tbs lemon juice made up to 10fl oz with iced water plus 2 tbs iced water
- Sieve flour, scatter in the fat pieces and gently mix with your hands.
- When the lumps of fat are lightly coated in flour, make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid.
- Bring it all together quickly using a flat bladed palette knife. This will look 'manky'.
- Sprinkle flour onto your surface - you will need quite lot. Put the dough onto this and shape gently till it is a brick.
- Now the tricky part; use a rolling pin to tap the brick at the far end, the middle and then the end nearest you. Sart rolling from your end, gently pushing it forward. Never go backwards towards you.
- You are aiming to make it approx 16in (40cm) long by 7in(18cm) wide. Use the edge of your rolling pin to smack the edges so that you have a rectangle. Make sure the corners are square rather than rounded.
- Now bring the bottom third up over the middle third and then the top over covering the middle again.
- Press the folds firmly down and give the whole a quarter turn clockwise.
- Repeat two more times, always keeping the folded over edge to your right.
- Wrap the final dough in clingfilm or foil and put in the fridge for at least one hour before using.
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