Basic shortcrust pastry

It’s good to have a reliable easy pastry recipe in your arsenal. Very little beats a good shortcrust; buttery, short, crisp, delicious…Need I say more?

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup plain flour

• 65g unsalted butter, diced

• 3 tsp caster sugar

• 1 egg beaten with ~2 tsp cold water

• 1/2 tsp salt

You can do this entire recipe by hand, I just prefer to use a food processor because it’s quicker and cleaner!

In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, salt and butter. Pulse until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs.

If you’re doing this by hand, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you get the same coarse breadcrumb result.

While blending, stream in the egg-water mixture until the mixture starts coming together. At this point stop blending, it’s important not to overwork the dough as this will make it tough.

While messier, doing this step by hand means you are far less likely to overmix the dough or add too much liquid.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and using your hands, gently bring it together into a smooth ball. Again, do not overwork the dough. You’re just bringing it together into a ball, not kneading it.

Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30mins to an hour before using.