Shortcrust Pastry

This recipe comes from my Mum, slightly tweaked.

I spent most of my teen years living in a country town with a population of 2,000 people. On a small country road on the way to a friend of my mother there was an enormous old apple tree that had the most incredible apples for stewing. If memory dictates, they were Johnny apples.


Each year the tree bore the most bountiful fruit, so my parents would take us to gather as many enormous buckets of the apples as we could. We'd then drive home and spend the afternoon as a family peeling, coring and cooking stewed apples we would then store to the brim in the freezer. There's nothing better than whipping up a scrummy apple pie when you're in the mood for a little comfort.


This is the recipe my mother originally taught me. I don't remember measuring cups or scales used back then...it came down to how many heaped tablespoons of this or that. Regardless, this is a recipe that always seems to work.

Shortcrust Pastry
2 metric cups flour (250g)
2 tsps baking powder (if you prefer a lighter pastry)
150g butter
2 egg yolks
3-4 tbsps water

Note: Add 3-4 tablespoons caster sugar for sweet short crust and spice as desired (e.g. cinnamon or nutmeg). Add a pinch of salt for a savory short crust.

Sieve flour and baking powder together. Put into food processor with butter cut into small chunks. Process until the mixture turns into bread crumb-like consistency. If you don’t have a food processor, rub the butter, flour and baking powder mix together until it forms bread crumbs. Put mixture into a bowl. Create a well in the middle. Add egg yolk and mix into the flour mixture with your fingers. Add water a little at a time until the pastry forms a loose, crumbly, but lightly moist dough. It is OK for the dough to be a little sticky before you rest it. But the dough should not be too dry/floury before you rest it as it will need more flour when you roll it out. Put dough into plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 mins.

After the dough has rested, roll it out on a clean, floured surface. The pastry will start out cold, but will quickly become more pliable as you roll it out. Consistency should be soft and pliable, but not sticky or too floury. Roll to desired thickness for dish you are creating. Some recipes require you to bake the pastry blind before you add other ingredients (e.g. tarts). My favourite apple pie made with a sweet short crust pastry does not require the pastry to be baked blind.


Hints:

• A basic rule of thumb for short crust pastry is ½ the amount of butter to the specified amount of flour.
• It is OK for the short crust dough to be a little sticky before you rest it. But the dough should not be too dry or floury before you rest it as it will need more flour when you roll it out. You want the dough to be soft and pliable so it is easy to work with.
• Try not to over work the dough. It does not require as much work as other types of dough such as bread. The less you handle it as you roll it out, the better it generally turns out.