Pastry is a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery.
Flaky pastry is a layered pastry dough similar to puff pastry but it contains less fat and fewer layers. Typical flaky pastry has a fat-to-flour ratio of 3:4 and is rolled and folded only four times. Traditionally, lard and butter were used in flaky pastry preparation.
Puff pastry is a light and flaky pastry made from a laminated dough, or dough that is made by alternating layers of butter and dough. The only ingredients used to make puff pastry are butter, salt, water, and flour — no leavening agents are required.
The pastry or cake flour keeps the pastry dough tender, and the vinegar strengthens the gluten and adds elasticity. This pastry dough has more salt than most. Kosher salt is coarser than table salt. If you are using table salt instead, cut the amount of salt in half.
adj. A term describing a food, such as pie crust, with a dry texture that easily breaks off into flat, flakelike pieces.
There are variations within the categories, so let's start with the different types of shortcrust.
- Shortcrust Pastry. The shortcrust pastry is the most versatile type, and it is easy to make at home.
- Puff Pastry.
- Flaky Pastry.
- Rough Puff Pastry.
- Filo Pastry (Phyllo)
- Choux Pastry.
- Hot Water Crust Pastry.
“Pastry†refers both to a type of dough and certain baked products made from this dough, whereas “cake†can encompass a whole range of sweet desserts.
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- Croissants. A type of puff pastry from France, croissants are a rich, flaky roll named for their distinct crescent shape.
- Pies.
- Danishes.
- Macarons.
- Éclairs.
- Strudels.
- Cannoli.
- Pretzels.
What are the differences between puff pastry and croissant dough? Puff pastry and croissant dough are both laminated dought that uses similar folding techniques, but croissant dough is different from puff pastry because it contains yeast, which gives the dough a lighter and softer texture.
There are four commonly known types of puff pastry—'half,' 'three-quarter,' 'full' and 'inverted puff. The terms describe the amount of fat to the weight of flour.
Classic puff pastry dough can be wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator up to three days. If freezing, overwrap plastic-wrapped dough with foil and freeze up to three months. Thaw in refrigerator 24 hours before rolling.
Unbaked puff pastry dough may be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Baked filled pastries are best enjoyed the day they are made and don't refrigerate well. Baked unfilled pastry may be frozen in airtight containers for up to 6 weeks.
You can thaw Puff Pastry in the fridge. Separate and place each sheet on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and defrost in the refrigerator for about 4 hours. Once Puff Pastry is thawed, work quickly while it's still cold. You can cut it into desired shapes, then store in the fridge until you're ready for the next step.
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- Bite-size quiches.
- Flaky cinnamon rolls.
- Mini empanadas.
- Nutty cookies.
- Wee pains aux chocolats.
- Sundae toppings.
- Homemade cheese crackers.
- Exotic pigs in blankets.
Yes, you can freeze shortcrust pastry. Shortcrust pastry can be frozen for around a month. Some home bakers like to freeze their pastry as a dough ball.
Flakiness comes from the solid fat (butter, shortening, lard, or cream cheese) that's used to make the dough. During baking, the pieces of fat melt away, leaving air pockets that then expand a little from steam. The result is a slightly risen crust of layers separated by the air pockets-in other words, a flaky crust.
Pie-weights are available as ceramic or metal beads, but rice, dried peas, lentils, beans or other pulses can be used instead. When using this method for a fully baked crust, the weights are removed before the pre-baking is complete in order to achieve a browned crust.
If your pastry is hard and tough, this may because too much liquid was added or the pastry was over-handled, resulting in the development of gluten. If your pastry is too crumbly and hard to handle, this may be because too much fat was added, it was over-mixed or not enough liquid was added to bind the fat and flour.
Strengthener in dough: Salt tightens the gluten structure which is crucial for yeasted dough products. The higher the level of salt, the harder the dough becomes. This strengthening allows the dough to hold the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation.
Many cookie recipes call for long refrigeration times, but a finicky dough or a little extra chilling time can result in dough that's as hard as a rock, and nearly impossible to work with. Merrill recommends putting dough near a warm stove, and pounding it with a rolling pin once it starts to soften.
You can use the entire sheet of puff to make a big tart, shape smaller individual tarts, or even bake the puff inside muffin cups and fill them later. Bake the pastries at 425°F until puffed: Bake just until you see them puff up and just start to brown, roughly 10 minutes.
Lemon juice is added to these pastries as it makes the gluten in the flour more elastic. This elasticity is necessary as the gluten has to stretch a great deal in order to rise and form the structure of the flaky layers. The richer the pastry the hotter the oven that is required for baking.
Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape and, like other viennoiseries, are made of
a layered yeast-leavened dough.
Croissant.
| Type | Viennoiserie |
|---|
| Course | Breakfast |
| Place of origin | Austria |
| Associated national cuisine | Austrian, French |
| Main ingredients | Yeast-leavened dough, butter |
