With so many choices available, I keep a wide selection of flours in my kitchen. Unbleached all-purpose white, whole wheat, cake flour, and even gluten-free. And then there’s pastry flour. But just what is pastry flour? And when should you use it instead of reaching for one of the other flours? Pastry flour has a …
Pastries
Whether you make puff pastry on your own or take advantage of the convenience of buying it packaged and frozen, this flaky pastry is wonderful to bake with. Sweet or savory, puff pastry can be used in a wide variety of recipes. Crisp and light, during baking puff pastry should rise to several times its …
No matter what time of year it is, it’s always time for pastry! Berry tarts, a delicate pastry with custard cream, or a lattice apple pie – all are favorites with my family. And to make a delicious pastry treat, you need the perfect dough. But this is where things can sometimes go wrong. For …
You want to make a perfect pie crust. You read the recipe, you measure and mix and everything is looking great. Then, you go to roll the dough out on your work surface, and it just falls apart. The dough is no longer a nicely blended mass but instead a pile of crumbly pieces. You dejectedly …
While it may seem strange to think about baking pastry without an oven, there are many reasons to do so. Maybe you don’t want to turn your entire oven on and heat up the whole house in the summertime. Maybe you want to bake as they did in the days before modern ovens. Or maybe …
You have probably noticed that the term “short” pops up a lot in baking contexts. Short dough, shortening, shortbread and short cake – it can be easy to confuse them, and not-so-easy to understand what each of them means. They are all related however, and here I will provide you with a brief explanation of …
Cakes and pastries. Whether home-made or bought from a store or bakery, forms of these sweet treats can be found in cultures across the globe – it seems that the soft spot we have for them is universal. You are not alone however if you have ever wondered what the difference is exactly between cakes …
Pastry can be used to make so many wonderful sweet and savory foods, and a few pastry recipes should be a part of every home baker’s repertoire. It is important to use the right type of pastry for the right product and filling however, and with so many different types of pastry coming from cuisines …