A shot at pastries

Mad or completely bonkers, well, that's what I thought when deciding to make my Lemon Meringue Pie from scratch. But when you have guests in a few hours and packing up your child to then unpack him to go to the grocers, the idea of 1) getting an extra recipe for my blog and 2) not moving a sleeping baby, won out.

Firstly- a technique called "cutting in" is something you need to know about when making pastry. To "Cut in" use a knife or food processor to combine butter with flour to get a crumb-like consistency.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

1 cup standard plain flour
75g butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp water


METHOD

1. Sift flour, cut in butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
2. Stir in sugar. 
3. Add egg yolk and water. Mix to a stiff dough. 
4. Roll out into sheets and chill for 30 minutes before using.

You can also add 2 tsps of mixed spice to the flour for a Spice Pastry or 1/2 cup of chopped walnut or nuts of your choice before mixing to a stiff dough to make a Nut Pastry.