Can you use milk instead of water in shortcrust pastry?

Table of Contents:

1. Can you use milk instead of water in shortcrust pastry?
2. Do you cook shortcrust pastry before adding filling?
3. Why has my shortcrust pastry risen?
4. Can you make pastry with a hand mixer?
5. Can you knead dough with hand mixer?
6. What can I use instead of a pastry blender?
7. What do you use to cut in shortening?
8. How do you cut in butter and shortening?
9. What does cut in the shortening mean?
10. What does cut in lard mean?
11. What does it mean to cut lard into flour?

Can you use milk instead of water in shortcrust pastry?

At its most basic a short-crust pastry is just flour and fat mixed with water. However, the water can be substituted with milk or beaten egg, you can use either/or lard and butter for the fats, and other ingredients like sugar or salt can flavour the pastry.

Do you cook shortcrust pastry before adding filling?

To prevent them becoming soggy, shortcrust pastry cases need to be partially cooked before adding moist fillings. This process, known as blind baking, which seals the surface and results in a crisp pastry case.

Why has my shortcrust pastry risen?

The base of my pastry case has risen during baking. This can happen if self raising flour is used – only plain flour should be used when making pastry. You also need to carefully press the pastry into the tin, making sure that no air is trapped underneath.

Can you make pastry with a hand mixer?

Stir the water in with a round bladed knife until the mixture starts to stick together in large clumps. This is generally where I cheat think smart and get the hand mixer out with the dough hooks on. Mixer with dough hooks. ... Once it's all mixed and in a nice doughy ball of pastry knead it for a few seconds.

Can you knead dough with hand mixer?

You can knead most bread doughs by hand or in a stand mixer (we'll show each technique in detail below). While hand kneading can be a gratifying process, we recommend using a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment for this task.

What can I use instead of a pastry blender?

Two butter knives – Two knives held together at an angle may be substituted for a pastry blender when cutting in butter. Use the knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the pieces of flour-coated butter become smaller and have the texture of coarse crumbs.

What do you use to cut in shortening?

To cut in, you can use either two knives or a pastry blender. If you are using knives, hold a knife in each hand and cut across the shortening in opposite directions, working it into the flour—this may take a bit of time.

How do you cut in butter and shortening?

Here's how you "cut in": Press your pastry blender into the fat/flour, and twist your wrist as you do it, in sort of a grinding motion. Be sure to scrape off the blades of your pastry blender in between cuts so the fat doesn't build up on them. If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can use two knives (below).

What does cut in the shortening mean?

Often a recipe will call for you to "cut in" butter or shortening—usually when making biscuits, scones, or some other pastry that needs to be flaky. "Cutting in" means incorporating the butter into the flour in such a way that little lumps of the raw butter remain whole within the flour mixture.

What does cut in lard mean?

Cutting in the fat in a baking recipe is the process of working fat (typically butter, lard, or shortening) into the dry ingredients until it is starting to coat the flour and the pieces of fat are very small and so the fat is evenly distributed throughout the dry ingredients before the liquid is added to the recipe.

What does it mean to cut lard into flour?

Whether you're making pie crusts, biscuits, or shortcakes, one of the first steps is to cut the fat into the flour—a shorthand way of telling you to break the fat into small pieces and coat them with flour.