Pastries can be enjoyed at any hour, as an everyday treat or at parties and celebrations, Served with a cup of coffee or tea or a glass of wine they are anticipated with delight.
Pastries are made, mainly, with flour and butter or oil and cooks for centuries have been inspired to change these humble ingredients into something celebratory and prestigious, filled with nostalgic memories and traditions.
The art of baking pastry can be found in early antiquity at the edge of recorded history. The ancient Greeks baked confections with almonds, poppy seeds, honey and black pepper enclosed in a pastry prepared with flour honey and sesame seeds.
During 127 BC, the army of Alexander the Great found sugarcane plantations in the Indus valley in northern India and carried a few sugarcanes back to their Mediterranean homes, so sugar began to supplement honey as a sweetening agent. However, it was not introduced to northern Europe until the 11th-century Crusaders' conquest of the Mediterranean lands. The Crusaders also brought spices and nuts from the Orient: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and walnuts and hazelnuts and cashew nuts. As a result, the cooking of medieval Europe was greatly enriched. The Italians learned to make marzipan, France and Germany became famous for their gingerbreads and Greece learned to prepare phyllo pastry, making the most fabulous sweet and savoury pies.
I am giving you below several recipes for basic pastries.
WINE PASTRY
210 g (7 oz) butter, cubed
10 cl (0.4 cup) of warm white wine
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
300 g (10 oz) flour
Add the butter, piece by piece and beat the mixture with a whip until it becomes creamy. Beat in the salt, the sugar and flour by the spoonful until a soft but pliable dough is obtained. Cover with clingfilm and let it rest in a cool place for 2 hours. Then roll out the dough add the filling snd bake accordingly.
CREAM DOUGH
500 g (1 lb) flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
10 cl (0.4 cup) milk
Sift flour on a surface, make a well in the centre. Pour all the other ingredients and mix well with your fingers and knead for a moment or two to make a smooth dough, adding a little more milk, if necessary. Allow to rest for 30 minutes at least, then roll out and use.
ORANGE FLOWER DOUGH
250 g (8 oz) flour
1 egg
1 pinch salt
1 tsp cognac
2 tsp orange-flower water
150 g (5 oz) butter, cubed
Sift flour on a surface, make a well in the centre. Pour all the other ingredients and mix well with your fingers and knead for a moment or two to make a smooth dough, adding a little more orange flower water, if necessary. Allow to rest for 30 minutes at least, before rolling out and using.
SWEET PASTRY DOUGH
500 g (1 lb) flour
250 g (8 oz) sugar
250 g (8 oz) butter
1 pinch salt
3 eggs, beaten
Place the flour of a working surface and scatter the sugar evenly over, make a well in the centre and in the remaining ingredients. Mix with your fingers until you have a smooth pliable dough. Roll out thinly and prick with a fork before baking.
SHORT CRUST PASTRY
500 g (1 lb) flour
Salt to taste
250 g (8 oz) butter, cubed
8-12 cl iced water
Sift flour and salt in a large bowl, add the butter and rub flour and butter together until the mixture crumbles. Pour in the water and mix until it just begins to cohere. Gather the dough into a ball, cover with cling film and allow to rest for 15 minutes at least before using.
RICH SHORTCRUST PASTRY
500 g (1 lb) flour
2 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
300 g (10 oz) butter, softened
2 whole eggs of 4 yolks
a little water
Sieve dry ingredients together on a pastry board. Make a well in the centre and put in the butter and eggs/egg yolks, mix with your fingers tips and then cut the butter into the flour with a spatula until the dough becomes crumbly. If necessary add a little water, drop by drop to make the dough clings together. Shape into a ball, cover with cling film, chill for 30 minutes at least before rolling out.
FLAKY DOUGH
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| Puff Pastry Tart |
500 g (1lb) flour
Salt to taste
300 butter
About 20 cl water
Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips for about a minute or until the mixture is crumbly. Add just enough cold water to make the mixture cohere. Continue to work the dough until it comes, clearly, away from the sides of the bowl, Shape the dough into a ball and roll out thinly and refrigerate for 15 minutes until folding and rolling out four times again, before baking.
STRUDEL DOUGH INSTEAD OF PHYLLO DOUGH
300 g (10 oz) flour
1 tsp salt
180 cl (6 fl oz) water
1 egg
60 g (2 oz) butter melted
a little lemon juice
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Lightly beat together half the melted butter, water and egg and add to the well adding a little lemon juice if necessary. Stir until all the flour is incorporated until you have a smooth, pliable dough adding a little flour or water if necessary. Knead the dough for 10 minutes.
Cover the top of the table with a floured cloth, place the dough in the centre roll it out thinly and spread it with little of the remaining butter. Stretch it with your hands on all directions, and roll out the dough as thin as possible, spread with a little more butter and stretch it with your hands once more, around the table, very carefully to avoid tearing the dough until it is very thin and almost transparent. As you stretch brush each time with extra butter as necessary. Cut off and discard any thick edges before filling, rolling and baking.
CHOUX DOUGH
To prepare choux, place teaspoons of dough on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, Bake in an oven preheated to 190 C (375 F) until puffed, then lower the heat to 180 C (350 F and bake for 10 minutes more until lightly browned. Cool on a rack.
125 cl ( 4 fl oz)) water
60 g (2 oz) butter
75 g (2 1/2 oz) flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
Place water and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Sift the flour and salt on a sheet of baking parchment. When the butter has melted, increase the heat and bring the water to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour into the water and stir the mixture until thoroughly combined, then stir over medium heat until the dough forms a solid mass that comes away from the sides of the saucepan. Remove from the heat and cool the mixture for a few minutes. Break one egg and beat it
thoroughly into the dough until it is well incorporated, Repeat the same procedure with the second egg and continue beating until you have a smooth and pliable dough.
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| For You Dear Reader |
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