Shortcrust pastry fantasy

Shortcrust pastry is a very ancient recipe, it seems in fact it was already present at the time of Marco Polo in Venice.

It is crumbly and fragile: made with flour, butter, sugar and eggs mixed in variable proportions and then cooked in the oven, it is the butter that gives it its typical softness, given that the preparation is yeast-free. The eggs, on the other hand, are responsible for the consistency: only with the yolks will it be more crumbly, adding the egg whites will make the pasta more fragrant.

Shortcrust pastry is a basic preparation that can never be missing in the kitchen, but especially at Christmas: it is in fact perfect for biscuits to prepare with your children.I

What do you need

300 g of flour

120 g of butter

150 g of sugar

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

1 grated lemon zest

1 pinch of salt

How to proceed

There are several ways to prepare the dough:

1) Classic method

The butter is worked with the sugar without whipping it. Then add the eggs one at a time and then the flour and the flavourings, and then mix everything with the mixer with the hook whisk.

2) Sandblasted method

Using this method you will obtain a shortcrust pastry that is not compact but, in fact, sandy, which will be characterized by a much greater friability than the classic method. Make the classic fountain on a pastry board, add the butter and mix it with the flour with your fingertips, then add the sugar and then the eggs and then mix until you obtain a homogeneous and non-sticky dough.

Regardless of the method you used, wrap the pastry in cling film and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for an hour. After the rest time, work the shortcrust pastry for a few minutes with your hands or in a planetary mixer and roll it out with a rolling pin on the work surface. The shortcrust pastry is ready to be used for your favorite sweet recipe.

Remember that for every recipe there is a detail that makes the result perfect: in some cases only the yolks are used, in others whole eggs, in some cases the granulated sugar is replaced with icing sugar! discover the secrets of our favorite desserts, such as apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge tarte and strawberry tartelettes!