Flaky pastry
| Servings | 12 portions |
|---|---|
| Prep time | 10 minutes plus 30 chilling |
| Cooking time | 20-25 minutes |
This is flaky pastry—sometimes called "rough puff"—that's a good substitute for puff pastry in small baked goods, like sausage rolls or small pies. The secret is using frozen, grated butter, allowing for the fat to remain mostly intact in the dough. When it bakes, the small pieces of fat help to create a crumbly, layered structure.
You can use this same recipe with the addition of 70g caster sugar to make a sweet short pastry that's good for mince pies in particular.
Equipment
- Grater
Ingredients
- 75g frozen butter
- 110g plain flour
- 1 pinch salt
- chilled water
Directions
- Sift the flour into a large bowl.
- With the grater held directly above the flour, grate the butter directly on top of the flour.
- Using a spoon or spatula, start bringing the butter and flour together. Don't use your hands – it's important that the fat remains cold. What you're trying to do here is coat all of the butter with flour.
- Add a tablespoon of cold water and continue mixing gently. Add one or two more tablespoons at a time, until the dough just starts to come together. You're aiming for a very short, clean dough – there should be no bits of loose fat or flour once you are done, but the dough shouldn't be wet or mushy.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. After that, it's ready to use in your recipe.