Define The Basic Types Of Pastry Recipes | Make Shortcrust

Definition of pastry

The pastry is the name given to different kinds of food and desserts made from flour, sugar, milk, butter or margarine, bread yeast, and eggs. Pastry can also refer to the dough from which baked goods are made, such as bread, pies, dessert, quiches, and others. This means that all of these types of sweets are called pastries.

 

Pastry has a special place in all parts of the world; there are many types of pastry that women like to serve at the dining table, especially on some occasions, as they add a unique charm to the table, in this topic, we will discuss the basic types of pastry, going through definitions and historical and educational information on how to work Pastry and get a good result.

What is the most common type of pastry

Types of pastries differ in different countries, and they are called homemade pastry, for example, there are a variation of classic danish pastry, French pastries, puff pastry, so let's get acquainted with the basic types of pastries:

shortcrust pastry

Shortcrust pastry is often used to make the base of pie and quiche recipes. It's a simple recipe to make that even buying it at the store would be expensive, unlike puff pastry, which requires a specific skill and mastery in folding it, so preparing the perfect shortcrust pastry does not require anything other than merging the ingredients and kneading them, start using it. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 300 grams of flour
• 150 grams soft butter, cut into cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Three tablespoons of sugar (if you want the sweet dough to make flan, for example)
• 8 cl of water or lukewarm milk

Instructions

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt on a plate.

Add the butter and mix it with the flour, kneading quickly and gently with your fingertips.

 You should get a coarse type of semolina with two or three minutes of kneading.

Add milk or water a little at a time, very little to allow the dough to mix. (Milk or water.)

Knead the dough for a minute or two, until you have a firm dough.

Well, the dough is now ready, spread the dough on the flan mould, and age it with the filling you want, with buttercream and fruit for example.

puff pastry

Puff pastry is a primary type of pastry that, when baked, is crunchy and puffy and has many leafy layers (called puff), and is famous for being difficult and takes a long time to prepare. Sweet and savoury dishes can be made with it, whether with delicious cheese, fruit, bacon or chocolate croissant, and the famous Mille-Feuille!

To prepare homemade puff pastry recipes we only need farina, butter, water, and salt, then we fold the dough five times with butter, the difficulty is in rotating the folds, knowing that it must be left to rest in a cool place between each fold and cover it with plastic wrap, whenever you repeat The process, the more crispness, and is the most important stage for getting the best puff pastry.

Flaky pastry

The Flaky pastry may look the same as Puff pastry, and in fact, it is, they are made with the same ingredients except that the Flaky pastry is less folded and faster to prepare, and it is most commonly used to make pie crust pastry and pot pie.

Choux pastry (Eclairs)

The eclair is one of the most famous French sweets, which is served in all restaurants that provide coffee and sweets to their customers. 

The eclair is prepared from the crispy dough, which is a basic type of dough, the ingredients of which are butter, water, eggs, and farina that are mixed until the dough are formed and becomes a smooth mixture, then placed in the oven until it becomes puffy and golden brown, comes out until it cools and is filled. And stuffing with patisserie cream, cream cheese, or ice cream, and is often decorated with dark chocolate.

 The method of preparing choux dough at home is somewhat tricky because it includes several steps that must be followed carefully to obtain the ideal and correct result, among the mistakes that homemakers make are opening the oven as soon as the chou dough swells, so it descends quickly, so it must be left until maturity and the oven does not open Never, except after the choux pieces become golden brown, here is this simple way to prepare them and enjoy their delicious taste.

Ingredients:

• 280 g of flour.
•  Half a teaspoon of salt.
•  Six eggs of medium size.
•  200g unsalted butter.
•  500 milliliters of water.

Instruction:

In a saucepan, put the water, butter, and salt, stir well and leave it until the butter is thoroughly heated and melted.

Remove the pot from the stove, then add the flour and stir again at high speed.

 Put the saucepan again on medium heat and quickly stir for three minutes, until the dough becomes sticky and the trace of flour is gone.

 Remove the saucepan from the stove and put the ingredients in another bowl until they are completely cooled.

 Add the eggs gradually and stir well until we get the choux dough.

 In a tray, put baking paper, then put the dough in a pastry bag and shape it on the tray as desired.

We put the tray in the oven at room temperature 200 for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the type of oven, until it becomes a distinctive golden colour, take it out of the oven and let it cool slightly.

Then we put a filling according to your taste, and it can be decorated with chocolate, and thus it is ready to be served

Phyllo dough (Filo)

 Phyllo dough is considered one of the famous leafy doughs of Ottoman origin according to what it promotes, and it is a light and fragile flakes of dough, some women find it difficult to use because of its delicacy as it is subject to breakage during use.

It is used in making all kinds of baklava and in some sweets, it is made From farina and water, in addition to butter, salt and cinnamon, but without fermentation materials, what distinguishes phyllo dough is that we can also make food recipes with it.

The pastries may differ into many types; there are made from sweet pastry and salty:

Sweet pastry

Doughnut dough

Doughnut making is widespread throughout the Arab and Western world and dates back to the United States of America. It is considered to be a cake made from sweet pastry fried with vegetable oil and then decorated with jam, cream, or chocolate sauce, and it is one of the types of sweets that have a high percentage of calories and fats.

Salty pastry

Pizza dough

Pizza is also considered a pastry, as it is almost made with the same ingredients that we have mentioned in other types, but what sets pizza dough apart is that it contains a large number of spices. That helps change the nutritional composition and calories of each of them.

For all lovers of pastries and pies... here are 12 essential tips on the secrets of successful pastries and pies and for obtaining the best results and the best flavours.

Expert advice for a prosperous pastry

The step of kneading the dough

The farina should be of acceptable quality and in an airtight bag.

To get a paste of white colour, you need to add baking soda or baking powder.

To get a smooth paste, add two tablespoons of powdered milk with the flour.

First mix the dry ingredients with the dough, then add the liquid.

The dough should be soft and not hard or firm due to the liquid used in the kneading.

Kneading well for a long time should make the dough crispy, elastic, and easy to shape.

Cover the dough after kneading is complete so that it does not dry out when exposed to air.

Leave the dough for about an hour before filling or shaping it until it rests and ferments.

The table should be sprinkled with a little flour so that the dough does not stick and can be easily removed from the table when preparing the best pastry cutter.

Cooking step in the oven

Turn on the oven for a long time before inserting pastries or pies, and the pies should be well covered after baking to keep them soft.

The oven should not be opened during cooking, mainly before 15 minutes have elapsed from the start of cooking.

Do not leave the pastries in the oven too long, so as not to become dry and tough.

History

 Pastries were known in the Mediterranean cuisine and were often thin, paper pastries such as baklava dough and phyllo dough, then entered Europe through the Crusaders. The French and Italians created many new and innovative pastry cooking recipes during the Renaissance, so the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were the era Golden for creating pastry recipes.

It is said that pastries began to develop decades ago in the palaces of sultans and kings, and went beyond the walls of their castles to the homes of the simple people in celebrations and feasts. The kings may have distributed pastries to the simple people as a gift to their happiness or to celebrate their victories in battles. Perhaps peoples invented them from the simplest ingredients to taste the pleasure and luxury that they enjoy. Gentlemen, until it reflects their culture and occasions.

Pastry chef

A pastry chef is widely famous and is highly respected if he is an artist who specializes in making sweets and brilliantly, and is considered among the professions required in the modern world. Still, to become a true professional in the production of sweets, you first need to undergo training in a private school to learn cooking and sweets.

If you want to learn about the latest trends in the confectionery industry and become a world-class professional, then it makes sense to pay attention to the various culinary schools abroad, and to obtain the certification of a master pastry chef when choosing a future career, it is worth carefully evaluating all its inherent advantages and costs. Pastry chefs will always be in demand, as the need for their services remains consistently high.