Baking school
Shortcrust pastry
Tender, buttery, crisp: shortcrust for biscuits, tarts and fruit flans. The secret is cold and quick.
Shortcrust relies on cold butter that stays in tiny flakes in the dough. The less you knead it, the more tender it gets.
How it works
The 1-2-3 rule: 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, 3 parts flour – for example 100 g sugar, 200 g butter, 300 g flour, plus one egg or egg yolk and a pinch of salt.
Cold butter: Rub the butter, cubed straight from the fridge, into the flour and sugar until it looks like crumbs (hands, dough scraper or food processor).
Bring together, don't knead: Add the egg and press everything together just until it forms a dough.
Chill: Flatten into a disc, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out: Roll between two sheets of baking paper or cling film – nothing sticks and you need no extra flour.
Bake: Usually at 175–180 °C (350 °F) conventional heat until the edges are pale golden.
Common mistakes
Kneaded too long or with warm hands: The butter melts, the dough turns tough and greasy and shrinks while baking.
Dough crumbles when rolling: It is too cold – leave it at room temperature for a few minutes. Simply press cracks back together.
Base puffs up: Prick it several times with a fork before baking.
Tips
Icing sugar instead of granulated sugar makes a particularly fine dough – ideal for cut-out biscuits.
Shortcrust freezes well or keeps in the fridge for two to three days.
Chill cut-out biscuits for 10 minutes before baking and they keep their shape.
