Description
A classic shortcrust pastry recipe perfect for making quiche crusts and pie bases. This recipe guides you through creating a buttery, flaky pastry using a food processor, followed by blind baking to ensure a crisp base that prevents sogginess when filled.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (185g / 5.6 oz) plain white flour (all purpose flour)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1cm / 1/3″ cubes
- 3 tbsp ice cold water (plus more as required)
Instructions
- Prepare Dry and Fat Ingredients: Place flour, salt, and cold cubed unsalted butter into a food processor.
- Pulse to Breadcrumbs: Pulse the mixture about 10 times or until it resembles fine breadcrumbs with chunks of butter still visible.
- Add Water Gradually: With the motor running on low speed, pour 2.5 tbsp of ice cold water into the feed tube of the processor.
- Combine Into Dough: Increase the processor speed to high and blitz for up to 30 seconds. The mixture will transform from breadcrumbs into a soft dough ball; if it does not, add an additional 1/2 tbsp water slowly. Avoid processing longer than 30 seconds.
- Form Dough Disc and Chill: Turn the dough out, press escaped crumbs into a disc shape, wrap tightly in cling film, and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours to firm up.
- Preheat Oven: Heat your oven to 200°C/390°F (standard) or 180°C/350°F (fan forced).
- Roll Out Dough: Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Unwrap the dough and place it on the surface. Sprinkle some flour on top, then roll out into a 27cm (11 inch) circle.
- Transfer Pastry to Pan: Roll the pastry loosely around the rolling pin and unroll it carefully over a 23cm (9 inch) quiche or pie dish.
- Fit the Pastry: Press the pastry gently into the edges of the pan and patch any gaps or thin areas. If the dough doesn’t reach to the rim, patch as needed.
- Trim Excess: Roll the rolling pin across the top edge of the pie dish to cut away the excess pastry for a clean edge.
- Optional Chill Again: For a firmer crust and to prevent shrinkage, refrigerate the lined pan for 15 minutes before baking.
- Blind Bake Setup: Cover the pastry with a large piece of parchment paper, then fill with baking beads, rice, or dried beans to weigh down the crust.
- First Bake: Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 20 minutes to set the base and edges.
- Lower Oven Temperature: Remove the pan, then reduce the oven heat to 180°C/350°F (160°C/320°F fan forced).
- Remove Weights and Continue Baking: Carefully lift out the parchment paper with baking weights and return the crust to the oven for an additional 10 minutes or until the base is a light golden color.
- Ready for Filling: Remove the crust from the oven. It is now partially cooked to prevent sogginess and ready for your favorite quiche filling such as Quiche Lorraine, Salmon, or Italian Sausage.
- Finish Baking With Filling: The dough will finish cooking along with the filling in your quiche recipe.
Notes
- Cold butter is essential for flaky texture in pastry.
- Refrigerating the dough after rolling can help prevent shrinkage during baking.
- Blind baking with weights ensures the crust holds its shape and prevents bubbling.
- If you do not have baking beads, rice or dried beans are excellent alternatives for weights.
- This pastry recipe is versatile and can be used for both sweet and savory pies with minor ingredient adjustments.
