All pastry doughs contain flour, water, and fat. There are five basic types of pastry, and these are choux pastry, shortcrust pastry, flaky pastry, puff pastry, and filo pastry.
Choux pastry is in a world of its own. Also called pâte à choux, it is made of flour, water, butter, and eggs. This thick, sticky batter is stirred over a stovetop, which traps in steam and produces a hollow interior when baked. Choux pastry is used to make éclairs and profiteroles.
Shortcrust is a sturdy base for tarts, quiches, or pies. It has a finer crumb and is better able to retain liquids than flaky pastry. Pâte brisée contains only flour, butter, salt, and cold water, and can contain up to 60% butter. Pâte à foncer requires the addition of egg. Pâte sucrée, or sweet shortcrust, requires both egg and sugar. Pâte sablée is the most difficult shortcrust of all. Butter is creamed with sugar and eggs before flour is added, and the resulting dough is minimally puffy, crumbly, and very rich. Almond flour is sometimes added, making this dough even harder to roll out. Pâte sablée, therefore, is often pressed into molds.
Hot water crust pastry is not considered a shortcrust, but it certainly doesn't belong in any of the other four. This pastry is made by melting animal fat (lard) into hot water and incorporating flour. This sturdy dough is the only pastry capable of producing hand-raised pies.
Flaky pastry, quick pastry, blitz pastry, or rough puff pastry requires pea-sized chunks of butter to be left in the dough. It must be minimally handled, and can be used for pies, quiches, sausage rolls, and turnovers. American pie crust is a flaky pastry.
Puff pastry, or pâte feuilletée, is made from a sheet of butter encased in a dough that is then repeatedly folded or laminated. Both fat and air are trapped between layers of dough, creating a puff of delicate crispy layers when baked. Because the butter cannot melt, laminated dough must be refrigerated between turns, and the process is more time consuming than rough puff. Puff pastry is used for croissants, cream horns, mille-feuille, and wrapping meats.
Filo or phyllo dough is unleavened dough made of flour, water, and a small amount of oil rolled and stretched into impossibly thin sheets. These sheets are then brushed with oil or butter and layered before baking. Phyllo dough is used to make baklava, börek, or spanakopita.
I think we're finally ready to watch the Great British Bake Off.
Chocolate Croissants
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