Friends. Today we will discuss one of the very interesting topics - how to make shortcrust pastry for pies. Usually, for such baking, a variety of doughs are used: yeast and yeast-free, puff pastry, jellied dough is very convenient to prepare. But the highlight of shortbread is its friability, delicate structure, creamy taste and ease of preparation.
If you are just starting to master the culinary arts, then you may think that you need to tinker with shortcrust pastry. This may be true for the first time, but in the future you can prepare a double portion, using half for baking, and hide the second in the refrigerator for several days, or in the freezer for a month. It is very comfortable. Save time by preparing your favorite pies from homemade dough.
As for the filling, it's not for everyone. If you want a sweet and tender cheesecake with cottage cheese or delicious cookies, please. This dough goes well with cottage cheese, fruit, jam and nuts. You can adjust the amount of sweetness in such baked goods to your taste.
And if you respect meat and potatoes filling more, then shortcrust pastry will help out here too. Simply, salt will be added to the pie base recipe and there will be virtually no sugar. It will turn out very tasty. So, stop beating around the bush, let's get creative!
Recipe for shortcrust pastry for cottage cheese pie
The very first recipe for shortcrust pastry is for a pie with cottage cheese. Why with cottage cheese? Because it is loved by many, it is healthy and low in calories. You can write a lot about such pies, but we will limit ourselves to just the recipe?
Ingredients:
- Flour – 335g.
- Almond flour – 55g.
- Butter – 285g.
- Powdered sugar – 80g.
- Baking powder – 7g.
- Egg yolk – 2 pcs.
- Salt – 2g.
Curd filling:
- Cottage cheese – 300g.
- Sour cream – 50g.
- Sugar – 50-70g.
For a better taste, we will add a little almond flour to the wheat flour. This is of course not a necessary product, but it will turn out tastier and more aromatic. But there is one prerequisite: all ingredients must be cold, even very cold.
The fact is that shortbread dough primarily has a crumbly structure. And such a structure can be obtained if you use certain techniques: cooling the products, yolks without whites, a minimum of moisture, and if it is added, then in parts, and other techniques. But first things first.
In the first recipe I will tell you how to do it correctly, and in subsequent ones we will make acceptable adjustments. So, we either freeze the butter in the freezer or cool it very much on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. We put the eggs in the refrigerator, and it is advisable to cool the flour as well.
After cooling the products, we proceed to preparing the dough. Place all dry ingredients in a mixer bowl: flour, baking powder, powdered sugar and salt. Stir until smooth.
Then prick the frozen butter or cut it into pieces and place it in a mixer bowl. Turn on low speed and mix well. If lumps of butter remain in the flour, this is not at all scary; it will give additional layering to the dough.
Do not turn the mixer on high speed. Otherwise, the oil may heat up and release whey, which binds with the gluten from the flour, reducing the crumbliness of the dough.
Then place the egg yolks into the mixer bowl, turn on the mixer and mix until smooth. This takes approximately 2-3 minutes. There is no need to stir vigorously or for a long time. The dough turns out crumbly and dry.
Remove the dough from the mixer and divide into two halves. Then we place one half between two sheets of parchment and roll it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of 4-5mm. And put the layer rolled out between two sheets of parchment in the refrigerator for about 4 hours to mature. We put the second half in a bag and put it in the freezer.
Well, then everything is simple. Prepare the curd filling. To do this, mix cottage cheese with sour cream and sugar.
Place a layer of dough from the refrigerator into a suitable baking dish, then spread the cottage cheese filling. And on top we grate the crumbs from the frozen piece of dough.
Next, place the pan in an oven preheated to 180-200 degrees and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
Bon appetit!
Shortcrust pastry for meat and potato pie
The following recipe can be considered universal for many dishes. This is a simple recipe that anyone can do, even a novice cook.
Ingredients:
- Flour – 300g.
- Butter – 200g.
- Sugar – 100g.
- Chicken egg – 2 pcs.
- Salt - a small pinch
Filling:
- Minced meat – 500g.
- Potatoes – 500g.
- Onions – 1 pc.
Before cooking, cool all products, and then proceed to cooking. Place pieces of butter and sugar into a bowl. Mix with a mixer for about 30 seconds.
In unsweetened pies, butter can be replaced with creamy margarine with virtually no loss of taste, but with great budget savings.
Add chicken eggs and mix with a mixer until smooth. Make the mixer speed slow. There is no need to achieve an absolutely homogeneous structure.
Unlike the first recipe, we put chicken eggs together with whites. Proteins make the shortbread dough less crumbly, as if holding the flour together. But in this case, this may turn out to be important, since the meat releases juice and we need to keep it inside the pie.
The next step is to add the sifted flour into the bowl and also mix with a mixer. Then we remove the mixer and knead the dough with our hands, collecting unmixed remaining flour. Then we put it in a bag and put it in the refrigerator for 40-60 minutes.
The dough should be dry and elastic.
After the time has passed, divide the dough into parts in proportions of 2/3 and 1/3. Roll out into layers approximately 5mm thick. We place a large layer on a baking sheet, put the filling on it and cover it with a small layer of dough. We connect the edges to each other.
Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and bake for about 1 hour. We check readiness by the dark brown crust on the surface of the pie.
Bon appetit!
Pie with meat filling, champignons and cheese
You can make shortcrust pastry for pies with meat and mushrooms according to any recipe described above. You can also use the option that we will describe below.
Test components:
- frozen butter – 100 g;
- wheat flour, sifted – 200 g + a little for adding;
- chicken egg – 1 pc.;
- salt – 1 pinch.
To prepare the filling, you will need the following ingredients:
- minced meat – 200 g;
- fresh mushrooms (for example, champignons) – 300 g;
- onion – 1 pc.;
- chicken egg – 1 pc.;
- hard cheese – 100 g;
- spices, salt, pepper - to taste.
How to make shortcrust pastry for berry pie
Pie with berries does not have any special requirements for the dough, so it can be prepared as per the first recipe, or it can be prepared according to the one below. Then evaluate the taste, ease of preparation and leave comments?
Ingredients:
- Flour – 300g.
- Butter – 200g.
- Sugar – 100g.
- Egg yolks – 3 pcs.
- Salt - a pinch
Filling:
- Berries + filling
- Fill:
- Starch – 22g
- Sugar – 120g.
- Sour cream 20% – 300g.
- Eggs – 2 pcs.
- Vanilla, vanillin, vanilla sugar - to taste
We fulfill the mandatory requirement for shortcrust pastry - cool the butter and eggs. We usually put them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator and use them the next day.
Cut the butter into pieces and place in a bowl, add sugar and a pinch of salt. Using a mixer, mix the ingredients until the mixture turns white and becomes homogeneous. Typically this takes 30 seconds.
Then add the eggs to the bowl, but not all at once, but one at a time, without ceasing to mix with the mixer.
After this, add the sifted flour to the whipped mass and mix with a mixer.
Keep the mixer at the lowest speed all the time.
When the dough is mixed a little, remove the mixer and knead with your hands. There is no need to knead well, a couple of minutes is enough. After this, wrap the dough in film and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
After the time has passed, we move on to preparing the pie. Roll out the shortbread dough into a sheet and place it in a mold with a diameter of 22-24cm. We make small beads. Pour in the filling and lay out the berries. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
Bon appetit!
How to make shortcrust pastry for jam pie
One of my favorite pies is with jam. By the way, did you know that Viennese cookies are nothing more than a pie with berries, cut into pieces?
Ingredients:
- Flour – 455g.
- Butter – 200g.
- Sugar – 150g.
- Chicken egg – 2 pcs.
- Vanilla sugar – 1 sachet
- Baking powder – 1 tsp.
- Jam – 300-400g.
- Salt - a pinch
Beat the chilled eggs into a bowl, add regular and vanilla sugar. Mix with a mixer until smooth.
Throw in a pinch of salt and cold butter cut into pieces. Mix everything with a mixer, but absolute homogeneity is not required.
Sift the flour into another bowl and add baking powder to it. Mix and begin adding to the egg mixture in portions. In this case, first mix with a mixer, and then just with your hands.
You don’t need to knead the shortbread dough for a long time, just watch whether all the flour has been mixed into the dough or not. If everything is mixed in, then simply roll it into a ball. Then we divide this ball into two parts in the proportion of 1/3 and 2/3.
We wrap the pieces in film, then put most of them in the refrigerator, and the smaller part in the freezer for about 1 hour.
After the time has passed, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the larger piece into a layer 3-4mm thick. Then carefully transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Lubricate with your favorite jam, making a layer of jam about 2-3mm thick.
Take a frozen piece of dough out of the freezer and grate it on top of the jam on a coarse grater.
Place the baking sheet in a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
Bon appetit!
Choux pastry
This is one of the most unusual types of such a product. This shortbread dough is used for pies with meat, fish or pies with different fillings. Many housewives, having once tried the recipe, prepare the dough this way only. To make 12-14 small pies or a medium-sized covered pie, you will need:
- flour – 350 g;
- butter margarine or butter – 200 g;
- granulated sugar – 3 tbsp. l.;
- water – 5 tbsp. l.;
- vegetable oil – 5 tbsp. l.;
- salt – 1 pinch.
Interestingly, this dough does not need to be put in the refrigerator, but must be kneaded in a container that can be put on fire. You need to do this:
- Boil water and then dissolve salt and sugar in it.
- Carefully pour vegetable oil into the resulting solution and gradually add grated margarine.
- Melt all ingredients and mix them carefully.
- Without removing the bowl from the heat, add sifted flour to the resulting mass in parts and mix gently.
- Stir until the spoon cannot be turned in the dough.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and cool slightly until you can touch it with your hands.
- Add the rest of the flour and quickly knead into a homogeneous dough.
- Place the mixture on the table and knead it a little more, without adding flour. Cover the lump with a dry, clean towel and cool.
- Roll out into a layer and form the product into the desired shape.
- Such products should be baked immediately and should not be placed in the refrigerator.
Shortcrust pastry recipe for cabbage pie
In this recipe I will give a universal method for preparing shortcrust pastry for all savory pies, be it with cabbage or with meat. I think this recipe is the most correct and the best.
Ingredients:
- Flour – 300g.
- Butter – 150g.
- Water – 85g.
- Salt – 1/2 tsp.
- Vinegar 9% - 2 tsp.
Refrigerate all foods before cooking. If possible, cool the flour too. After cooling, place the flour in a deep bowl.
Cut the butter into fairly large pieces and add to the flour. Using your hands, combine the butter and flour in a bowl.
When combining, you do not need to strive to make an absolutely homogeneous mass; on the contrary, if pieces of butter remain, they will give the dough a layered appearance, which will have a beneficial effect on its quality.
Pour cold water into a glass, preferably from the refrigerator. Add a couple of teaspoons of vinegar, salt and stir until the salt dissolves.
Vinegar improves the quality of gluten in the dough and makes it more loose and airy.
Then pour the flour from the bowl onto the work surface and begin kneading the dough.
To do this, pour some of the water and vinegar over the flour, no more than a tablespoon. And mix the flour. Then add water again and mix the flour again.
The main goal is to introduce all the liquid into the flour, but not allow it to contact the gluten. Therefore, we add water in small portions in several doses.
When all the water is in the dough, form a ball out of it, wrap it in film and put it in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Moreover, it has a very crumbly structure, which will improve after ripening in the refrigerator.
It is very good to use cabbage mixed with boiled eggs as a pie filling. To do this, cut the cabbage into strips and fry in a frying pan with butter. Then add chopped boiled eggs to the cabbage in a bowl and mix.
For the pie, place the shortbread dough on the bottom of the mold, about 1cm thick, and make small beads. Then we spread the cabbage filling and decorate with strips cut from the same dough. Place the mold in the oven and bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
Bon appetit!
Cooking process
Making shortcrust pastry for meat pies is not at all difficult; any housewife, even a less experienced one, can handle it.
The process looks like this:
- Sift flour onto the table surface and add salt.
- Grate the frozen piece of butter on top.
- Chop the mass with the blunt side of a knife, and then rub it with your hands until you get butter crumbs.
- Mound the flour again and make a well in the center.
- Beat in a chicken egg and knead into a soft dough. Try not to knead the mixture for too long so as not to “clog” the product.
- Gather the mixture into a ball, wrap in several layers of cling film and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
While the dough is resting, you should prepare the filling. It's very simple:
- wash the mushrooms and chop finely;
- Peel the onion and cut into small pieces (cubes or thin half rings);
- beat the egg;
- Coarsely grate the cheese.
Now let's proceed directly to preparing the meat pie from shortcrust pastry:
- remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a layer 8–10 mm thick;
- take a springform pan and place the layer there, level it with your hands and form the sides;
- Preheat the oven to 180°C;
- Place a piece of parchment on the dough and add a layer of beans or peas, this will prevent the formation of bubbles;
- place the pan in the oven and bake the crust for 10–12 minutes;
- Make sure the dough doesn't dry out.
Take out the pan with the dough and place the filling. You can lay the meat, onions and mushrooms in layers, or you can simply mix the ingredients. Top the pie with the egg-cheese mixture and place back in the oven. Bake for 20–25 minutes, depending on the readiness of the minced meat. Before serving, the pie can be sprinkled with herbs.
Apple pie dough in the oven
Apple pie is always a welcome pastry on the table for both children and adults. Therefore, the following recipe is dedicated to this particular pie. But we will make the dough a little differently from the classic recipe, and it would be more correct to call it half-sandwich.
Ingredients:
- Flour – 450g.
- Sugar – 150g.
- Butter – 120g.
- Chicken egg – 2 pcs.
- Baking powder – 1 tsp.
- Vanillin - to taste
Filling:
- Apples – 2 pcs. (average)
- Lemon juice – 15-25ml. (taste)
- Sugar – 2 tbsp.
Cool the food. Beat the eggs into a bowl, add baking powder, add sugar and butter cut into pieces and begin to knead the dough. At the same time, add flour in portions.
Kneading goes very quickly, in about 2-3 minutes. This makes the dough soft and elastic. We wrap it in film and put it away to rest.
In the meantime, let's prepare the filling. Peel the apples, remove the middle and cut into small cubes. Then we put them in a saucepan, add sugar and lemon juice. Stir and turn on low heat.
Stirring, simmer the apples until the liquid evaporates, about 2-3 minutes.
Now let's form the cake. Place baking paper on the bottom of a round pan.
Divide the dough into two unequal parts, approximately 2/3 and 1/3. We put most of it in the mold and distribute it along the bottom with our hands, making a small side.
Add the apple filling and distribute evenly. Cover the top with small pieces of dough, which we tear off with our hands from a small piece.
Place the mold in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until beautifully golden brown. Then let it cool and serve.
Bon appetit!
