Home Pastry Making

These guides compliment our recipes that use pastry

How to Make Pastry

Why Make Your Own Pastry

Making Pastry

Pie with Lattice Pastry – The Better the Pastry, The Better the Pie!

The basic ingredients for all pastries are flour and fats neither of which need be expensive to buy. It’s worth buying the best quality ingredients you can afford but if you’re on a really tight budget, cheap flour and cheap cooking margarine or lard can still provide an excellent pastry.

My grandmother made the best, lightest shortcrust pastry I’ve ever tasted using the cheapest ingredients possible. If only I’d found out how when I had the chance!

Even using premium ingredients you will save money on buying in ready-made pastry from the store.

Pastry Making is Usually Easy & Fast

Although it does take a little time to make your own pastry and with some pastries some skill, generally it’s not difficult to make your own pastry. The exception to this rule is, as far as we are concerned, is filo pastry. This is difficult and usually better bought in.

Pastry Making in Food Processor

To save time some pastries can be made in a food-processor in a matter of seconds but you don’t need any special equipment beyond scales, mixing bowl, rolling pin and a flat surface. In an ideal world, a polished piece of marble or granite for rolling out on is perfect but the glass-like worktop savers that can be picked up cheaply do nearly as well.

Guides to making pastry.

Pastry Making - Basic Guide  & Tips to How to Make Pastry

Pastry Making - Basic Guide & Tips to How to Make Pastry

This basic guide and tips will help the beginner and more experienced cook produce better pastry. Includes 10 great tips along with the pastry making guide
How to Make Filo (Phyllo) Pastry

How to Make Filo (Phyllo) Pastry

A basic guide to making filo pastry and its uses. Filo is also called phyllo or fillo. It is not an easy pastry to make but if you like a challenge..
How to Make Cheese Pastry

How to Make Cheese Pastry

Cheese pastry is used for cheese biscuits and straws, savoury tarts, pies, flans and turnovers. It works well with a strong cheese, such as a mature cheddar
How to Make Choux Pastry

How to Make Choux Pastry

A light and airy pastry with a hollow centre cavity that is usually shaped through a piping bag to make both sweet and savoury dishes.
How to Make Flaky Pastry

How to Make Flaky Pastry

Flaky pastry is a delicious and rich pastry used for sweet and savoury pies, eg sausage rolls and cream slices. Fairly easy to make if not the most simple.
How to Make Fleur Pastry

How to Make Fleur Pastry

Fleur pastry is used for sweet flans such as peach and apricot. Can be used instead of shortcrust pastry, less the sugar, for a rich savoury flan or quiche
How to Make Hot Water Pastry

How to Make Hot Water Pastry

Hot water pastry is used for pork pies, game pies and raised pies as it stands without support. It's easy to make but you have to work quickly once made.
How to Make Puff Pastry

How to Make Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is both rich and very light. Ideal for vol-au-vent cases and sweet or savoury pie crusts. It does take some patience to make but it's not hard!
How to Make Rough Puff Pastry

How to Make Rough Puff Pastry

Rough Puff Pastry is easier to make than flaky or puff pastry but has larger flakes and is not as light. It does, however, give a nice crispy crust.
How to Make Shortcrust Pastry

How to Make Shortcrust Pastry

Shortcrust pastry is an easy basic pastry that can be made in just a minute with a food processor or 5 minutes by hand. We also cover a number of variations
How to Make Suet Pastry

How to Make Suet Pastry

Suet pastry is a simple, good, old fashioned British pastry used for steamed and boiled sweet and savoury puddings, roly-poly puddings and dumplings.
How to Make Potato Pastry

How to Make Potato Pastry

Potato pastry is easy to make and used for savoury vegetable, meat and fish pies. It was popular in WW2 as a way of extending the ration and works well

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