Pastry

Pastry the name given to various kinds of dough made from ingredients such as flour, butter and eggs, that are rolled out thinly and used as the base for baked goods. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, and quiches.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A good pastry is very light and airy, but firm enough to support the weight of the filling. The shortening is distributed between the flour-and-water in many thin layers or sheets; when baked, the resulting pastry is delicate and flaky.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Good pastry must be uniformly mixed to achieve this layering, and should not have any large bubbles of air in it, as these will expand during cooking and spoil the texture. However, overworking of the pastry will cause long gluten chains to form, resulting in a tough product. Thus the manufacture of good pastry is something of a fine art.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As pastry must be baked to be edible, and pie fillings often do not need extra baking, many pie recipes involve blind-baking the pastry before the filling is added.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some types of pastry are:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Choux pastry
• Danish pastry
• Filo pastry
• Hot water crust pastry
• Kolacky pastry
• Puff pastry
• Shortcrust pastry
• Suet pastry
• Spanish pastry
• Strudel pastry

Small cakes, tarts and other sweet dishes involving pastry are often called 'pastries' after their primary ingredient, and bakers and chefs who specialise in producing them are called Pastry chefs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pastry: See also ►



 

Dough: Dough is a paste made out of any cereals (grains) or leguminous crops by grinding with small amount of water. This step is a precursor to making of breads, pastries and cookies....

Flour: An ingredient used in many foods, flour is a fine powder made from cereals or other starchy food sources. It is most commonly made from wheat, but also maize (aka corn), rye, barley and rice, amongst many other grasses and non-grain plants (including many Australian species of acacia)....

Butter: Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh cream. It consists of an emulsion of water and milk proteins in a matrix of fat, with over 80% being fat. It is used as a condiment and for cooking in much the same ways as vegetable oils or lard....




Pastry related Images and Photos (experimental)

Pastry in a Silver Dish Sweetmeats on a Plate	Designs for Pastry Decoration from "Le Patissier Royal Parisien"	Still Life with Ball of Pastry and Various Baking Utensils	Tart Tin Lined with Pastry
Goat's Cheese Tarts with Puff Pastry