The remedy? Read on…. Time in the fridge helps gluten to relax you might be seeing a theme here: the cold is your friend. This also sets the butter, and helps the pastry to keep its shape in the oven. Though it sounds like that would be helpful, gluten-free pastry can go the other way and be too crumbly.
Try our foolproof recipe in this gluten-free Lemon Tart. Trying to work with pastry straight from the chiller will result in cracks, so make sure you give it 10min at room temperature before you attempt to roll it. Putting flour on the work surface and your rolling pin is helpful to stop pastry sticking, but too much will make it dry, leathery and prone to break. Palette knife to the rescue!
It allows you to slide neatly under the pastry and release any stuck patches. For a shapely tart shell, spend some time pressing the pastry right into the corners and then all the way up the sides of the tin without stretching it, then trim off the excess.
Your pie dish may also be too thick and not conduct the heat to the pastry efficiently. The oven may not be hot enough, or the pie may have been placed too high in the oven and cooked too quickly. Make sure the oven is at the right temperature and bake the pie on a preheated baking tray.
The filling needs to be fridge cold or it will begin to steam the pastry and make it go soggy before you bake it. Pastry Shrinks When Cooked Because pastry is tense after being rolled out, it needs to relax in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Sift the flour and salt into a dish or food processor. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the bowl or food processor. If using a food processor, pulse the butter and flour together until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. If using your hands, use a knife to lightly cut the butter into the pastry, then use your fingertips to 'rub in' the butter.
Lift it up from the mixing bowl and let the crumbs drop back into the bowl from a height to incorporate air and keep the pastry light. Add a tablespoon of ice cold water to the food processor and lightly pulse. Repeat this until a dough just starts to come together. If using your hands, add a tablespoon of cold water to the mix and slowly bring the dough together with your fingers. Once the dough has just started to form a ball, turn out onto a work surface and knead lightly to form a dough.
Do not add too much water during this process — extra liquid will make the pastry easier to work with, but will result in hard, tough pastry. Use your hands to squeeze the pastry together and roughly shape into a small, thick pancake-shape. Don't over-knead the pastry, as this encourages the development of gluten, giving the pastry a hard texture. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using to allow the pastry to rest — this causes the gluten to relax, which helps to stop shrinkage when cooking.
For smaller pies and tarts you can get away with quite a thin base as long as you bake it through, but for larger pies, the volume of filling can add a significant amount of weight, so reinforce your pie accordingly. Adding too much water in the initial stage when you mix it with the butter and flour can mean that as the water evaporates in the oven, the structure of the pastry tightens up and shrinks, so be patient in the early stages and add the water gradually.
The pastry will also shrink back if your oven is too cool during baking. Once again, this will happen if the water evaporates out of the pastry before the heat can set it in shape.
This will result in the all-too-common side collapses for blind baked tarts. So to recap — go easy on the water, chill until firm, and heat your oven to C to set your shape.
When adding the water to the butter and flour, use very cold water and add it a tablespoonful at a time. Try to avoid this by rolling out gently on a lightly-floured surface, regularly turning ideally every one to two rolls. A light touch is the key, and try to keep your hands cold! Usually, the reason for this is fairly simple — haste. If you look in the oven you can watch the pastry puffing up. That is because the water in the butter is turning to steam and forcing each layer apart.
Once forced apart, the fat in the butter or lard cooks each layer of pastry giving the flake.
0コメント