Flaky Pastry Recipe - Basic Recipes

How to make flaky pastry:

This pastry is slightly more difficult than other pastry recipes but does provide a delicious and rich pastry ideal for sweet and savory pies such as sausage rolls, special occasion pasties and cream slices.

Ingredients

2 cups (8oz) plain flour
pinch of salt
just under 1/2 cup (3oz) lard
just under 1/2 cup (3oz) butter
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
cold water
(see measure conversions for more information)

Method

- Put the butter and lard onto a plate.
- Mix them together until they are just soft.
- Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Using cool fingertips rub one quarter of the fat mix into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
- Mix this to a stiff dough with the lemon juice and cold water.
- Roll the pastry out to form an oblong three times greater in length than in width.
- Divide the remaining fat mix into three parts.
- Place evenly one third of the fat in dots on two thirds of the pastry.
- Fold the third of the pastry without any fat on it over the next third and then fold the remaining third over this.
- Gently press the rolling pin down on the sides of the folded pastry.
- Repeat the dotting with fat, folding and rolling twice more, turning the pastry over each time.
- Rap the pastry in greaseproof paper and leave in the fridge for 45 minutes before using.

Here are links to our other pastry recipes: