Info about Pastries
Different types of Pastries
Pastries are one of the most delicious sweets that we get today. They are made from dough and are loaded with fat which gives them the rich taste and the crumbling texture. Commonly the dishes that are considered pastries include pies, tarts and quinches. There are different kinds of pastries based on how they are prepared and what are the contents.
• Shortcrust Pastry
This is a special kind of pastry that is made from flat bread or unleavened bread. As a result the bread does not rise after baking though unleavened self rising dough is also used for shortcrust pastries. The dough for these pastries typically contains one measure of plain flour to half a measure of fat. Typically the fat is equal proportions of butter and lard. The Lard gives the pastry its texture and the butter gives it the richness in taste.
Typically shortcrust dough is used for pies. The top and bottom cover of the pie is made by rolling this dough.
• Puff Pastry
This is a pastry that has many layers of dough and fat in it. Hence when the pastry is baked the bough layers come out with a puffed look. To prepare this pastry, the dough is rolled flat and smeared with fat. Then the dough is folded and rolled again. This process is repeated many times to get alternate layers of fat and dough.
Typically puff pastries are made from unleavened dough, but sometimes baker’s yeast is used to help puff the bread further and such delicacies are called Danish pastries or croissants.
• Rough Puff Pastry
This is very similar to regular puff pastry. The only difference is that this uses shortening fats in lumps rather than flat smears in puffs. These shortening fats help hold the dough together, but when baked they cause the dough to break into flakes. This gives the final pastry a flaky look and hence the name. The rough puff pastries have random flakes all around as against regular puffs where they are more uniform.
• Choux Pastry
This is another pastry that uses a slightly different approach to cooking. The dough is made from plain flour, fat, eggs and water. When it comes to baking though they are baked un steam rather than plain oven. As a result the pastry rises even without leavening agent. In some places the Choux pastries are fried instead of baked.
• Phyllo Pastry
This is a typically Middle Eastern dish where unleavened dough is rolled into very thin sheets. The dough contains water, flour and small quantities of oil and sometimes white vinegar.
Phyllo pastry dough is very different from the puff pastry dough. The puff pastry dough is a single layer with fat and dough interleaved in it. The phyllo pastry dough is a bunch of very thin dough. So you would be creating the individual layers of dough and fat. While they can be used interchangeably for experimenting, the classic dishes taste best if the right dough is used for preparation.