Lesson 7: Prepare and Produce Pastry Products

Learning Objectives:

1. Define pastries.
2. Know the different kinds of pastries.
3. Identify the ingredients of making pastries.
4. Familiarize the method of mixing pastry crust.
5. Know the different fillings of pies and pastry product.
6. Enhance knowledge and skills in making pie crust.
7. Know some pastry defects and causes.

Pastries are baked products made of crust and usually with filling inside or on top of the
crust.

Kinds of Pastries:

1. Puff Pastry: Made by layering dough and butter, resulting in a light, flaky texture.
Used in dishes like croissants and palmiers.

2. Shortcrust Pastry: A simple pastry made with flour, butter, and water, used for pies,
tarts, and quiches.

3. Choux Pastry: A light pastry made with butter, water, flour, and eggs. It puffs up
during baking, creating hollow centers that can be filled with cream or other fillings.
Used in eclairs, cream puff, profiteroles, and beignets.

4. Filo (Phyllo) Pastry: A very thin pastry made with flour, water, and a small amount of
oil or butter. Used in dishes like baklava and spanakopita.

5. Danish Pastry: A laminated pastry similar to puff pastry, but sweeter and often filled
or topped with fruits, nuts, or custard.

Examples of pies:

a. Mincemeat pie- contains chopped apples, currants, raisins, spices, suet and mutton
or poultry.
b. Mince pie- a modern take of mincemeat pie.
c. Cobller- deep-dish pie with biscuit dough toppings.
d. Pizza- Italian pie with thin spread of tomato sauce with ham, cheese, etc.
e. Shepherds pie- meat pie covered with mash potatoes and baked until golden brown.

1
 f. Turnovers- a type of pastry made by placing a filling on a piece of dough, folding the
dough over to enclose the filling, and sealing the edges. They are similar to hand
pies and empanadas, and are typically eaten as a snack or dessert.
g. Hopia- a popular Filipino pastry that is filled with sweet fillings such as mung bean
paste or purple yam. It is typically round or rectangular in shape, with a flaky outer
crust.

Basic Ingredients in Making Pastry Crust

a. Flour- the best flour for pastry is all purpose flour. A special pastry flour may be used
if specialized in the recipe. As in all other bakery products, flour gives pastry crust the
best structure.
b. Shortening- It coats the particles of flour so water cannot penetrate them. In this way
gluten strands are shorter, thus producing a tender, flaky, crumbly crust. Shortening
must be chilled before it is used. Shortening may be in a form of:
 Lard or pork fat, which gives the shortest crust.
 Butter which is best in flavor and flakiness and is used in puff pastry.
 Margarine, which gives a rich flavor.
 Vegetable shortening, which has no characteristic color or taste of its own; or
 Vegetable oil, which is seldom used, because it does not produce a flaky
crust.
c. Salt- it accentuates the taste of other ingredients.
d. Liquid - water is the most commonly used liquid in pastry dough. Milk, cream, fruit
juice or eggs are also used in special recipe. Cold water must be used (except in
strudel or choux pastry). Warm or lukewarm liquid soften the shortening and results
in a hard or brittle pastry. The amount of these ingredients and the methods of
combining them result in the different type of pastry crust.

Types of Pastry Crust

1. Short Crust- made from all-purpose flour and chilled shortening with water and little
salt. This is also the most frequently used pastry dough for pies and tarts.
Short crust is made by quickly mixing and kneading the flour with the
shortening and water. Little handling as possible is needed to avoid the development
of gluten. The dough is rolled in then filled into the pastry mold. It may or may not be
baked before being filled with a custard or fruit filling.
2. Rich Short Crust- This is made from all-purpose flour, chilled shortening usually
butter or margarine, a pinch of salt plus sugar and eggs. This type of crust is

2
 prepared in the same way as shut crust. Sugar adds flavor and gives the golden
brown of the baked crust. The egg makes the crust highly firmer than plain short
crust. Different kinds of felling are also suitable just like for short crust. This may also
be baked and unbaked before being filled.
3. Puff Pastry- This is made of many thin layers of dough or leaves of dough. The
dough consists of pastry flour, chilled butter, and cold water. To make the layers, the
dough is folded, rolled, and then chilled, over and over again which make the pastry
puff. This pastry is always baked before being filled; puff pastry is used for pies and
tart but most especially for fancy French pastry. This is difficult to prepare
successfully and needs a lot of practice.

Special Pastry

1. Strudel- The making of strudel dough is entirely different from that of short crust.
Ingredients are bread flour, melted butter, eggs and warm water. The butter and
water should be warm not cold, as in short crust. Dough is thoroughly kneaded,
handled slowly and gently until gluten has fully developed to produce very elastic
dough. Dough then is rolled very thinly; the filling is arranged in a row and rolled over
and over the filling until multiple layers is achieved. An example of this is the apple
strudel.
2. Choux Pastry - This is made up of flour, butter, water, salt and generous number of
eggs. As in strudel pastry, choux pastry is made by heating the butter and water to a
boil, the flour and salt are added to the boiling mixture and beaten well to give a hot
paste.
Eggs are beaten into the paste to produce a light dough and then pipe or
spoon on a tray and baked. For filling, cream or custard are usually used to fill into
the shell. Example of choux pastry are Cream Puff and Éclairs.
3. Graham Cracker Crust - This is made of crust graham crackers, melted butter and
sugar. These are mixed thoroughly and pressed on the sides and bottom of a pie
pan. This crust may or may not be baked first before filling, depending on the kind of
filling used.

Proper Techniques in Making Pie Crust

For a single pie crust:

a. Measure two (2) cups of flour

b. Cut 100 grams of shortening into small pieces and add into the flour.

3
 c. Cut in the shortening into the flour by using the pastry blender or two knives using a
crisscross movement. The mixture should be lumpy, about the size of peas.
d. Sprinkle cup cold water with 1 teaspoon salt. A little at a 4 time over the mixture.
Blend lightly with the fork.
e. Lightly press the dough together and form into a ball. Place the dough in the plastic
bag and chill for about 15 mins.
f. Sprinkle the table and rolling pin with flour, Flatten the dough to a semi flat round,
and then roll it from center out all around.
g. Transfer the dough to a pie pan Press gently on the side and trim the excess on the
side of the pan. Baking time for a single pie crust is 10 mins. for unbaked pie crust.

For double pie crust:

a. Double the measurements of the ingredients.

b. Divide the dough into two (2) parts. Roll out the dough and fit snugly on the pie pan.
Prick the side. Apply filling and cover by another half mixture. Trim the sides of the
pie pan prick the center.
c. Brush with beaten egg and bake at 350°F for 45 mins to one (1) hour or until golden
brown.

Methods of Finishing Pie Crust

1. Fluting - pinch the edges of the dough together along the rim of the pan. Making little
fold or pleats at regular intervals or with the dull edges or a knife, make several
indentations around the rim to make a scallop edge.
2. Crimping- make an edge around the crust by pressing with the tines of a fork.
3. Making a Lattice - Roll out reserve dough. Cut into 1 inch wide 2 strips. Put strips
across the filling in a simple lattice pattern or wave strips for a basket effect. Trim off
excess strips and moisten ends with a water to stick them together. Brush lattice with
beaten egg yolk water mixture for a golden brown in color.
4. Designing the Top Crust Gather the scrap dough and form flowers, leaves, and etc.
to decorate top crust. With the aid of a small knife, other designs can be etched on
the crust. Be sure you do not slice through the crust as the moisture in the filling
might all escape.

Filling

Although the crust of pie is the secret to a successful pie, the filling is also important
for it gives the pie flavor. The filling must be complementary to the crust. It should not be

4
stiff, watery and gummy. The flavor of fruit should be dominant, without being overpowering.
The filling must be free from foreign flavor and off-taste.

Kinds of Filling
1. Fruit Filling - consists of fruit, fruit juice, water sugar, spices and starch thickener.
a. Fresh fruits - give top quality products but it requires a lot of flavors and is
dependent on the season.
b. Frozen Fruit- consists in quality and are always available. This kind should be
defrosted in the refrigerator before used. The juice is drained.
c. Canned Fruit- Make sure that you do not mistake the net weight with the weight
(which is the fruit + syrup weight) with the weight of the fruit itself. Drained the
fruit completely then weigh to get the exact weight of the fruit.
d. Dried fruit- this kind of a fruit has to be dehydrated by allowing it to soak in
simmering water for a few minutes, before using as a filling.
2. Custard or Soft Filling - contains eggs and starch. This filling with uncooked liquid
is poured into an unbaked pie shell. The eggs in the mixture bind the ingredients
together during baking, and this sets the filling.
3. Cream Pie Filling - This is the same as the pudding and pastry cream, the only
difference is the cream fillings are made with cornstarch while the pastry cream can
be made with flour or any other starch.
4. Chiffon Pie Filling- This has a light and fluffy texture. This is made of beaten egg
whites and sometimes whipped cream. Egg whites and cream are folded together,
then folded with a fruit or cream-based or stabilized gelatin. The gelatin stabilizes the
filling when the pie is sliced.

Guidelines to be Considered in Pastry Making

Important Guidelines in Pastry Making

1. Keep the ingredients in the condition instructed in the recipe. Some dough required
chilled shortening in iced water; some required warm in melted butter and lukewarm
water.
2. The addition of liquids is the most critical step in making pie crust. Sprinkle cold water
a little at a time over the flour-shortening mixture. Too much liquid will make the
dough sticky and gluten will easily develop.
3. Avoid using too much flour on the table. It will harden the dough. A rolling cover is
best as it maximizes the use of flour.

5
 4. Chill the dough before rolling relaxes gluten to make the dough elastic, softer and
easier to work with.
5. Preparation of the crust requires minimal handling, while that of strudel crust requires
extensive kneading and stretching.
6. To prevent a soggy bottom crust, as in egg pie, first prick the crust all over, brush
crust with one egg lightly beaten with one teaspoon cold water. Chill for 30 minutes
then bake at 450°F for five (5) minutes. Let cool then pour the filling and bake
according to recipe procedure.
7. For baked pie crust to be filled follow step (No. 6) and chilled crust longer before
baking Cool before adding the filling.
8. Never pour hot filling into a hot or cold pie crust. Both must be cool first.
9. For double pie crust. Slit the top crust to allow steam to escape
10. Finish edges of double pie crust and turn over. Edging does not only make the pie
look neat and attractive, but it also seals together the top and bottom of crust. This
prevents the filling from oozing out.

Pastry Defects and their Causes

1. Tough Pastry Used of too much water, insufficient shortening, insufficient cutting off
fat into the flour, overmixing used of too much flour in rolling and too long standing
before baking.
2. Crumbly and Mealy Pastry - Used of oil or soft melted fat; used of too much fat,
under mixing and used of too little water.
3. Deformed Shrunken Crust - Wrong proportion of ingredients, over handling of pastry
as it was being fitted into the pan. stretching of dough in pan, used of old dough,
uneven thickness when rolled and too low oven temperature.
4. Blisters on Crust - Pastry fitted too tightly in pan, inadequate pricking and too low
oven temperature.
5. Pale Crust - Underbaking; overmixing, used of too little fat; used of too much water;
used of too much flour on board and too low oven temperature.
6. Soggy Lower Crust - Over handling of pastry; used of too much filling, too much
moisture in filling, pie placed in too high and too low oven temperature.
7. Poor Flavor Used of wrong ingredients and poor-quality ingredients.