Pastry

Pastries

Research

Before we could make our actual pastry, we had to research on the different types of pastries there are. We researched on shortcrust, sweet enriched shortcrust, puff pastry, flaky pastry, choux, hot water/pie crust pastry, suet pastry and filo pastry. My research sheet is linked here.

Planning: Shortcrust Pastry
We will be making the simplest pastry called the shortcrust pastry. 

For the filling I have these ideas:

- Mincemeat

- Raspberries and strawberries

- Chocolate

- Chocolate and strawberries

- Fruit jam

I think I will be doing a mincemeat filling for half of my pastries and chocolate and strawberries for the other half of my pastries. This is because I think mincemeat fits with the festivity. I think I will be using half a dark chocolate bar and half a milk chocolate bar for my second set of pastries so that it won't be too sweet.

For the mincemeat pastry, I just need to put in a tablespoon of the sauce before I bake which is pretty simple.

For the chocolate and strawberries pastry, I will need to bake blind which is basically putting in a handful of rice lined with a piece of greaseproof paper inside the pastry to make sure the pastry doesn't rise as the rice will weigh it down. After 15 minutes of baking, take the greaseproof paper off and continue baking for around 5 minutes until it turns golden brown. Then I will scoop in some melted chocolate for the filling and top it off with some chopped strawberries.

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients: 

- 2:1 ratio of flour to butter: 100g of flour

- 50g butter

- Pinch of salt

- Cold water

1. Rub butter and flour into each other with cold fingertips to resemble breadcrumbs, use a round-edged knife to cut the butter into small cubes so that it will be easier to rub in

2. Add a pinch of salt

3. Create a hole in the centre of your mixture and pour 2-3 tablespoons of ice cold water

4. Continue to work the dough with cold fingertips until it all sticks together

5. Sprinkle some flour onto your work surface and your rolling pin. Roll the dough thinly and cut out the pastry with a cookie cutter. Place them into a baking tin lined with pastry cases

6. With the remaining dough, create some covers for the mincemeat pastries using a star shaped cookie cutter

7. (For chocolate and strawberries pastry only) Bake blind by lining the pastry with a piece of greaseproof paper and putting a handful of baking beans or rice into it

8. Bake for 15 minutes (For chocolate and strawberries pastry only) Remove the paper and the beans

9. Bake for a further 5 minutes until golden brown

10. (For chocolate and strawberries pastry only) Fill in pastry with melted chocolate (half a bar of dark chocolate, half a bar of milk chocolate) and top off with chopped strawberries

Festive mincemeat pastry from the internet

Evaluation

Today in Food Technology I made a shortcrust pastry with mincemeat filling and strawberry and chocolate filling. 

This involved using "working the dough" skills when combining the different ingredients with my hands, blind baking skills and cutting fruit. I also learnt how to melt chocolate without using a microwave. Even though using the melting over hot water method takes far longer than using a microwave, I think that the texture of the chocolate is a bit different compared to melting in a microwave.

I think that I worked in a safe and hygienic manner because I washed my hands before making my pastries and also while I was making my food because my hands were dirty with other food. I wore an apron, tied up my hair, removed all my jewellery to prevent dirt and germs getting into my food. In addition, I used the correct chopping board and placed a wet tea towel underneath to prevent it from slipping when cutting up my strawberries.

I wasn't as organized as I could be because I accidentally put in water without creating a hole in the middle. Moreover, I think I really need to manage my time better as I nearly ran out of time because I spent a lot of time getting my dough together. Also, the chocolate melting took way longer than expected; the chocolate wouldn't melt properly until I added a bit of water to it. 

The appearance of my dish wasn't as nice as it was before (I squished it in my container). The main colours were the red of strawberries and the brown of chocolate and mincemeat. I liked the taste of my pastry, especially the chocolate filled one because it was sweet and very flavorful. The strawberries were also very sweet and the smell of strawberries was very aromatic. I was happy with the flavours as it wasn't too sweet as I worried it might be. The texture of the dish was crumbly and flaky which is the correct texture for a pastry. The aroma of these pastries was basically whatever the smell the filling was- mincemeat or chocolate. The smell was quite tempting, especially the chocolate!

(Bad picture)