If, like me, you love soft and crumbly shortcrust pastry, you can’t miss this one because it’s the easiest you can make.
It is one of the most used basic preparations in pastry making, appreciated for its versatility and crumbly, buttery texture.
Making it at home is simple and requires few ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, and eggs.
The dough should be worked quickly to avoid overheating the butter and compromising its crumbly texture. After forming a homogeneous dough, it’s essential to let it rest in the refrigerator, allowing the butter to solidify and the flavors to blend, for a perfectly workable and flavorful shortcrust pastry.
Work the ingredients as little as possible, just until you get a homogeneous dough.
If kneading by hand, use them cold and don’t spend too much time with your hands in the dough.
You can use a stand mixer or a food processor with a knife blade, always working briefly.
If you want it even more crumbly, try rubbing flour and butter together before adding the other ingredients.
As for flavor, I used the grated zest of a lemon, but feel free to use other citrus zest you prefer, vanilla, almond extract, or a pinch of cinnamon!
Once baked, it will be deliciously crumbly with every bite.
Try it soon, and you’ll always prepare tarts with this type of shortcrust pastry!
It is the ideal base for a wide range of desserts: from classic tarts with jam or cream to decorated cookies and tartlets filled with fresh fruit or chocolate.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8 people
- Cooking methods: Air Frying, Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 245.27 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 33.41 (g) of which sugars 11.57 (g)
- Proteins 4.38 (g)
- Fat 11.23 (g) of which saturated 7.04 (g)of which unsaturated 4.00 (g)
- Fibers 0.70 (g)
- Sodium 11.20 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Shortcrust pastry for a 9.5 inch pan
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar (or 120 erythritol)
- 1 egg (large at room temperature or two small)
- as needed lemon (Grated lemon zest)
Tools
- Bowl
- Pasta Board
Steps
Shortcrust Pastry
Start preparing the easy and soft shortcrust pastry:
First, begin with the sanding: in a bowl, pour the sifted flour, sugar, a pinch of salt, and cold butter from the fridge, roughly cubed, and the grated zest of a lemon.
Work until you get a sandy-looking mixture.
Add the eggs.
Then start combining everything.
Knead briefly, just enough to compact the dough for a perfect shortcrust pastry.
Form a dough ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to firm up for at least 30 minutes.
Once ready, take it out and use it to make all the desserts you want, such as jam tart by rolling the pastry and lining a 9.5-inch pan, pricking the bottom, adding the jam you want, and with leftover pieces, creating strips to place on top.
Bake at 350°F static for 30 min, then fan for 5 minutes.
Recommendations and Notes
Once kneaded, the dough must rest in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 30 minutes. This step is important because:
The butter firms up
The gluten relaxes
The dough compacts and will be easier to roll out
For more precise tarts or cookies, you can also let it rest overnight: it improves workability and flavor.
Cold shortcrust pastry is easier to roll out, but it can break if too stiff.
Let it soften for 5-10 minutes at room temperature before using it.
To prevent it from sticking:
Dust the surface with a little flour
Or roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper
During baking:
350°F is the ideal temperature for most preparations
Blind baking (i.e., without filling) is done by covering the base with parchment paper and dried legumes to avoid it puffing
Baking in an air fryer. Place the tart in the air fryer basket and cook at 320°F for 20 minutes.
If making cookies, watch the edges: when they start to brown, they’re ready.
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