The Art of Creating Perfect Shortcrust Pastry: A Recipe for Success

When it comes to shortcrust pastry, many people think of a semi-flaky texture, but the true secret lies in its rich buttery taste. To start, you'll need 200g of plain flour and a large pinch of salt. It's essential to bring the butter up to room temperature before incorporating it into the flour. If the butter becomes too soft, it will prevent the flour from absorbing it properly.

Rubbing together the flour and butter with your fingers is just the beginning. The real magic happens when you grab big handfuls of dough and squeeze the butter into the flour. This process, which can be completed in as little as 30 seconds, results in a crumbly texture that's both desirable and achievable. Adding only a couple of tablespoons of water is crucial, as too much moisture will make the pastry difficult to work with.

To avoid this common mistake, it's essential to strike the right balance between wetness and dryness. A touch too dry, and the pastry won't hold together properly; add just enough water to create a smooth, firm dough. Once you've achieved this perfect consistency, shape the pastry into a ball and place it onto your work surface.

Now that you have your shortcrust pastry ready, it's time to relax it in the fridge for 20 minutes. This allows the gluten to settle, making the pastry easier to roll out and more prone to holding its shape. While your pastry is resting, you can prepare your kiche filling or choose a different recipe altogether.

For those interested in creating their own kiches, using an ordinary flan dish is perfectly fine. However, the author recommends using manyi frying pans, which add an extra layer of rustic charm to the finished product. To prevent the pastry from sticking, brush it with oil before rolling it out and placing it into your chosen pan.

Rolling out the shortcrust pastry to a thickness that's just right is crucial for achieving a crispy crust and a flaky interior. The author advises against using fingers to shape the dough, as this can lead to holes in the finished product. Instead, use a gentle touch and a little bit of dough to flatten out any excess.

One of the most critical components of creating perfect shortcrust pastry is blind baking. This involves pre-cooking your pastry before adding the filling, ensuring that you'll have a fantastic crisp crust on top. To achieve this, line your pan with foil or baking paper and weigh it down with rice pulses or ceramic baking stones.

The author recommends letting the pastry bake for 10 minutes at 20°C to achieve the perfect crispiness. While your pastry is baking, prepare your kiche filling by cooking the bacon and leaks until they're caramelized and crispy. This adds a depth of flavor that's essential for any truly great recipe.

For those looking to create their own unique kiches, consider using cured Panetta, which is made from belly pork seasoned with ingredients like Juniper, nutmeg, and fennel. Unsmoked bacon can be used as a substitute for the real thing, but it won't quite replicate the same rich flavor. Once you've cooked your bacon and leaks, drain off any excess fat and add in some cream to create a rich and creamy sauce.

The secret to creating perfect shortcrust pastry lies not just in its recipe, but also in the attention to detail that goes into preparing each component. By following these simple tips and techniques, you'll be well on your way to creating the most delicious kiches and other baked goods that impress even the most discerning palates.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entake a SI when you think of shortcrust pastry it's sort of semi flaky but it's Rich buttery start by siting 200 g of plain flour into a mixing bowl large pinch of salt 200 g of unsalted butter bring the butter up to room temperature if you let the butter become too soft and the flour so doesn't absorb it in with your fingers rub together first now the secret is grab big handfuls and squeeze the butter into the flour so look what's happened literally in 30 seconds I've got that nice crumbly texture now couple of tablespoons of water nothing worse when the pastry is so wet you can't bring it together it needs to shape like a nice rich cookie dough it's just a touch too dry so one more tablespoon of water water and there you go it's coming nicely now that's what I want a nice sort of firm ball of pastry onto the board we're going to use these one of the strongest parts of the body pull towards you and push back down use those wrists to really need it together so just that nice sort of smooth texture now wrap it in C film set that in the fridge for 20 minutes really important that you let the shortcut pastry relax now to make the kiche you can use just an ordinary flan dish but I love making them in manyi frying pans which give them an extra rustic charm brush with oil to stop the pastry from sticking once the pastry is at room temperature roll it out to a nice Eden thickness place it in the center of your little pan turn it in don't use your fingers because what we don't want is any holes in this just get a little bit of dough cuz that sort of acts like a little sort of Mallet flattens it out nicely I'm building a sort of extra lip cuz that way I can get the filling at it absolute maximum levels we're going to cook them blind first to Blind bake simply means to pre-cook your pastry before adding the filling this ensures you'll have a fantastic crisp pastry add a sheet of foil or baking paper and weigh it down you can use rice pulses or ceramic baking Stones just make sure you keep them for the next time and feel them 20° for 10 minutes now for the filling I'm going to do a classic kiche bacon and leags this is a amazing cured Panetta Panetta is an Italian cured meat made from belly pork seasoned with things like Juniper nutmeg fennel a great substitute is unsmoked bacon as a vetta gets lovely and crispy finally slice leaks and add W leaks and bacon nice it's really important to cook those leaks down it's exactly what I want those leaks are almost sort of caramelized slightly crispy the flavor is amazing and just drain them off so any excess fat gets drained couple of tablespoons of cream it gives it really nice richness I want 2/3 garnish i e bacon and Leakes in my kiche and 1/3 of the Savory custard touches salt Touch of pepper grat some G cheese that makes a really nice sort of creamy less of an eggy kiche take my amazing crispy Panetta and leaks in give that a good mix needs one more little thing some freshness flat leaf parsley incredible really important just to taste the mixture with the kich filling ready next next finish off the pastry remove the foil and weights and return to the oven to get it lovely and golden all over now when we fill them give that a really good mix up beautiful great over some more cheese which will Bubble Up and melt beautifully and then into the oven bake your kich for 15 to 20 minutes incredible but it's got that nice sort of cheese on toast smell from the top it's sort of baked but the secret of any good kiche is in the short crust cuz that's the hero one nicely skined salmon just like a perfect snake skin because slide is a bite-sized Burger designed to go in small buns you don't want to make them too bigtake a SI when you think of shortcrust pastry it's sort of semi flaky but it's Rich buttery start by siting 200 g of plain flour into a mixing bowl large pinch of salt 200 g of unsalted butter bring the butter up to room temperature if you let the butter become too soft and the flour so doesn't absorb it in with your fingers rub together first now the secret is grab big handfuls and squeeze the butter into the flour so look what's happened literally in 30 seconds I've got that nice crumbly texture now couple of tablespoons of water nothing worse when the pastry is so wet you can't bring it together it needs to shape like a nice rich cookie dough it's just a touch too dry so one more tablespoon of water water and there you go it's coming nicely now that's what I want a nice sort of firm ball of pastry onto the board we're going to use these one of the strongest parts of the body pull towards you and push back down use those wrists to really need it together so just that nice sort of smooth texture now wrap it in C film set that in the fridge for 20 minutes really important that you let the shortcut pastry relax now to make the kiche you can use just an ordinary flan dish but I love making them in manyi frying pans which give them an extra rustic charm brush with oil to stop the pastry from sticking once the pastry is at room temperature roll it out to a nice Eden thickness place it in the center of your little pan turn it in don't use your fingers because what we don't want is any holes in this just get a little bit of dough cuz that sort of acts like a little sort of Mallet flattens it out nicely I'm building a sort of extra lip cuz that way I can get the filling at it absolute maximum levels we're going to cook them blind first to Blind bake simply means to pre-cook your pastry before adding the filling this ensures you'll have a fantastic crisp pastry add a sheet of foil or baking paper and weigh it down you can use rice pulses or ceramic baking Stones just make sure you keep them for the next time and feel them 20° for 10 minutes now for the filling I'm going to do a classic kiche bacon and leags this is a amazing cured Panetta Panetta is an Italian cured meat made from belly pork seasoned with things like Juniper nutmeg fennel a great substitute is unsmoked bacon as a vetta gets lovely and crispy finally slice leaks and add W leaks and bacon nice it's really important to cook those leaks down it's exactly what I want those leaks are almost sort of caramelized slightly crispy the flavor is amazing and just drain them off so any excess fat gets drained couple of tablespoons of cream it gives it really nice richness I want 2/3 garnish i e bacon and Leakes in my kiche and 1/3 of the Savory custard touches salt Touch of pepper grat some G cheese that makes a really nice sort of creamy less of an eggy kiche take my amazing crispy Panetta and leaks in give that a good mix needs one more little thing some freshness flat leaf parsley incredible really important just to taste the mixture with the kich filling ready next next finish off the pastry remove the foil and weights and return to the oven to get it lovely and golden all over now when we fill them give that a really good mix up beautiful great over some more cheese which will Bubble Up and melt beautifully and then into the oven bake your kich for 15 to 20 minutes incredible but it's got that nice sort of cheese on toast smell from the top it's sort of baked but the secret of any good kiche is in the short crust cuz that's the hero one nicely skined salmon just like a perfect snake skin because slide is a bite-sized Burger designed to go in small buns you don't want to make them too big\n"