Description
Mary Berry’s classic shortcrust pastry delivers buttery, flaky perfection for pies and tarts. Bakers can create this quintessential British pastry with just four simple ingredients, guaranteeing a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth crust you’ll treasure in any baking adventure.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- 225 grams (8 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 100 grams (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cubed
Seasoning:
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Liquid:
- 2–3 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- Sift together the all-purpose flour and salt in a spacious mixing vessel, ensuring even distribution of dry ingredients.
- Introduce chilled butter cut into small cubes, then delicately work the butter into the flour mixture using nimble fingertips, creating a texture reminiscent of fine, crumbly breadcrumbs.
- Slowly introduce ice-cold water, tablespoon (15 milliliters) by tablespoon, gently incorporating with a fork until the ingredients bind and form a cohesive, slightly shaggy dough.
- Tenderly gather the dough, pressing and shaping it into a smooth, compact disc approximately 4 inches (10 centimeters) in diameter.
- Encase the pastry disc securely in food-grade plastic wrap, sealing out any potential air pockets.
- Allow the wrapped dough to rest and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes, which helps relax the gluten and prevents shrinkage during subsequent preparation.
Notes
- Wrap the pastry disc in plastic to protect it from drying and keep its moisture intact.
- Rest the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to help gluten relax and improve rollability.
- Handle butter and flour with cool fingertips to maintain the critical temperature for flaky layers.
- Keep butter very cold and cut into small cubes before incorporating into the flour mixture.
- Stop mixing once the dough looks like coarse, uneven crumbs to prevent developing tough pastry texture.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: None
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 0.6 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg