These guides compliment our recipes that use pastry
How to Make Pastry
Why Make Your Own 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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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!
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
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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