What is the difference between short crust and puff pastry

Shortcrust pastry has a crisp, crumbly texture and a buttery taste, which can either be kept as savoury or made sweet with the addition of sugar. Food processor You can make good shortcrust pastry in a food processor as long as you are fast on the pulse button.

Place the flour and diced cold butter in the bowl of the processor, combine with short bursts of power, then add the water and egg yolk, if using, and mix with just a few very short bursts, stopping as soon as the mixture starts to form a ball.

By hand All the ingredients — and the kitchen — should be cold, particularly the butter, egg and liquid. You can even chill the flour in the bowl. The butter has to be rubbed through the flour evenly, and the quickest and easiest way to do this is to coarsely grate the cold butter into the flour then, if your fingers are cool, quickly rub the butter into the flour. If your fingers are hot, use two knives to cut the butter through the flour in a criss-cross manner.

Now add the liquid and quickly pull the ingredients together with one hand. Wrap it in some plastic wrap, then let it rest in the fridge for the required time — at least 30 minutes. This deep dish apple pie is a definite crowd pleaser, perfect for cool Autumn evenings.

Puffs puff because steam is trapped inside of them, causing them to rise up and out. Each puff needs enough room on the oven tray to spread; there should be adequate space — about 3cm around each puff — for the heat to circulate and brown the puffs evenly. As soon as the puffs come out of the oven, quickly make a small slit in the side of each one with a small, sharp pointed knife, then put the puffs back onto the tray and return them to the oven to let them dry out completely.

As it has a much closer crumb structure, it can be used to construct robust cases and exteriors for pies and tarts, and can stand up to both wet and dry fillings. To create this sturdy base, shortcrust is normally blind baked in the required tin before a filling is added, ensuring the pastry has mostly cooked and dried out first. Easily recognisable in many classic recipes, shortcrust pastry forms the base of savoury quiches , comforting pies and a whole host of sweet desserts, from a traditional Bakewell tart to festive mince pies or an elegant tarte au citron.

Blind baking, or pre-baking as it's sometimes called, is the process of baking a pie crust or tart case before adding the filling. Baking blind is necessary to ensure the pastry is cooked-through and doesn't become soggy if the filling is too wet. Make sure you fill the pie or case before the pastry is fully baked to avoid over-cooking it. Filo pastry is notably different to both puff and shortcrust. Made with relatively little fat, the pastry comes in very thin sheets which usually need to be layered together to create a thin, flaky casing for fillings.

The nature of this pastry makes it a popular choice if looking for healthier options, or when time is short, as it cooks far quicker than puff or shortcrust. On the other hand, it is very fragile, and can rip or tear easily when used, and again, is better suited to slightly drier fillings.

While both puff and shortcrust can be manipulated and shaped quite easily, the layers of filo pastry are not quite as flexible. Tart tins can be lined by overlapping the sheets and this creates the distinctive crinkled layers associated with filo. The dough made in this fashion is kept in the fridge and used to make pastries by baking whenever there is a need.

People remain confused between Puff pastries and Shortcrust pastries because of their similarities. This article attempts to find out the differences between Shortcrust and Puff pastries.

Puff pastry is so called because of the fact that it puffs up or rises during baking. You can even see the butter bubbling between the many layers as it puffs and bakes. Because of how labor-intensive and time-consuming nature of puff pastry.

People often opt to buy it rather than make it from scratch. A large variety of store-bought puff pastry is available for sale at supermarkets. Pie Dough is much thicker and sturdier than a puff pastry. Pie crusts provide a more solid bite and thus foundation to hold pie fillings. Pie crusts tend to be more buttery and flaky but are a more stable vessel for holding pie filling. Puff pastry is fluffier and crispier than pie dough.

It is however, more delicate and has many flaky, tender layers as compared to pie dough.