The secret of shortcrust pastry is the right proportion of ingredientsand its key element is fat. Basic ingredient proportions assume constant ratio of flour to fat and sugar, 3:2:1, respectively. All ingredients should be well cooled before starting work. Here’s what you need to know about the base products of shortcrust pastry:
The best choice is krupczatka flour or wheat flour with low gluten content. You can add some potato flour to make the dough more crumbly. Almond flour adds delicacy and a unique aroma.
Butter with a high fat content (82%) ensures the perfect structure of the dough. You can replace a small part of it with lard, which will make the cake exceptionally delicate. In the vegan version, the butter is replaced with chilled coconut oil or vegetable margarine.
Regular sugar is not recommended because it can caramelize and change the structure of the cake. Powdered sugar is best for shortcrust pastry as it dissolves easily during baking.
It is not recommended to use whole eggs. Typically, only the yolks are used, which improve the crispness of the dough. Egg whites can make the dough harder. In some recipes, eggs can be replaced with water, milk or sour cream, which further softens the structure.
A well-made cake is half the success. When kneading it, it is worth following several important rules:
All ingredients should be well cooled before starting work. We are talking here primarily about fat, which in plant versions (coconut oil) must take its solid form.
The shortcrust pastry requires short kneading – preferably until the ingredients are combined. This can be done using a food processor, kitchen knife or chopper, which prevents the heat from your hands from warming the mass. Over-kneading causes the dough to become hard and distorted after baking.
- Cooling and rolling
After kneading the dough, wrap it in foil and chill it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Rolling between sheets of baking paper helps avoid excess flour, which prevents the dough from hardening. After placing the dough in the form, it is worth cooling it again so that it does not lose its shape during baking.
The baking temperature of the cake is crucial to obtain its perfect structure. The oven should be preheated before adding the dough to prevent the fat from melting and the baked goods from shrinking. The baking temperature for shortcrust pastry ranges from 170°C to 200°Cdepending on its thickness. Thinner bases respond well to higher temperatures, while thicker ones require baking at lower temperatures.
To avoid bulges in the dough, prick it with a fork before baking or weight it with baking paper filled with beans or ceramic balls. Convection allows you to shorten the baking time to 15-20 minuteswhile with the traditional setting it takes about 25 minutes. After baking, the cake should cool completely before removing from the tinto maintain structure.
Source: Terazgotuje.pl
