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Shortcrust pastry

Name: Shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: Makes about 200g pastry
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: 100g plain flour; 50g butter, chilled and cut into small cubes; 1 medium egg yolk

Easy
October 2006

Easy
October 2006

Test kitchen approved

Makes about 200g pastry
Takes 15 minutes to make, plus chilling

It’s easy to make your own shortcrust pastry – and it’s cheaper and better than the shop-bought variety. Just three ingredients stand between you and it!

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Ingredients

100g plain flour
50g butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
1 medium egg yolk

Method

Sieve the flour into a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Add the butter to the flour, then rub everything together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the egg yolk and 1 teaspoon cold water. Mix it in with your hands, squeezing the crumbs together with your fingers. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
Turn the dough onto a sheet of baking paper and shape it into a ball. Top cooks wrap the pastry in cling film and chill it for 20 minutes before rolling, but if you haven’t the time, just roll it as suggested in the recipes and chill for about 15 minutes before cooking. This makes the shortcrust pastry light in texture and less likely to shrink during cooking.