This
pastry is perfect for making apple and other sweet pies. Even if you've never
made pastry before, as long as you stick to the correct measurements for the
ingredients and you follow the method exactly, you'll be laughing. The one
place where you can experiment is with flavoring. If you don't fancy using
lemon zest, try another dry ingredient like orange zest instead. Or a pinch of
cinnamon, nutmeg or cocoa powder. Vanilla seeds are great too. Just remember to
be subtle and don't go overboard with any of these flavors! Try to be confident
and bring the pastry together as quickly as you can - don't knead it too much
or the heat from your hands will melt the butter. A good tip is to hold your
hands under cold running water beforehand to make them as cold as possible.
That way you'll end up with a delicate, flaky pastry every time. PS. You can
also make this pastry using a food processor.
Ingredients
·
3 1/2 cups organic all-purpose flour,
plus extra for dusting
·
1 cup icing sugar, sifted· 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons good-quality cold butter, cut into small cubes
· 1 lemon, zested
· 2 large free-range or organic eggs, beaten
· Splash milk
· All-purpose flour, for dusting
Directions
Sift the flour from a
height onto a clean work surface and sift the icing sugar over the top. Using
your hands, work the cubes of butter into the flour and sugar by rubbing your
thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. This
is the point where you can spike the mixture with interesting flavors, so mix
in your lemon zest. Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it
together until you have a ball of dough. Flour it lightly. Don't work the
pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly
and short. Flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Pat it into a
flat round, flour it lightly, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it into the
refrigerator to rest for at least half an hour.
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