Let’s prepare shortcrust pastry together, one of the basic preparations of pastry. It’s very simple to make; you just need butter, flour, eggs, and sugar to create a delicious and versatile pastry recipe to make many tasty desserts: cakes, tarts, cookies, and pastries.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2.2 lbs of shortcrust pastry
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs (2 whole and 2 yolks)
- 1 cup butter
- lemon zest
- 1 pinch salt
Steps
Shortcrust pastry is a basic pastry preparation and serves as the base for many desserts, from simple cookies to tarts and more complex modern desserts. Depending on what you will make, choose the most suitable preparation method.
1) classic method
This method yields a compact pastry more suitable for tarts and tartlets.
Start by working the butter with the sugar without whipping it.
Add the eggs one at a time and then the flour, a pinch of salt, and the lemon zest.
Mix everything in a stand mixer with the dough hook.
2) sandy method
Using this method, you’ll get a less compact but crumbly pastry, which will be characterized by a significantly higher friability compared to the classic method.
Make the classic well on the work surface, add the butter and start incorporating it into the flour with your fingertips, then add the sugar, a pinch of salt, and finally the eggs.
Knead until you get a homogeneous and non-sticky dough.
Regardless of the method used, the next step is to wrap the formed shortcrust pastry in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator. Ideally, it should be for at least 2 hours, but if you don’t have that much time, 30 minutes will suffice. After the resting time, take the dough, work it for a few minutes with your hands to soften it a bit, and it’s ready to be used in your chosen dessert.
