Light Butter Pastry Dough

For most people pastry dough is one of the most fearsome tasks in cooking. All the talk of cutting in the butter just so, adding the exact amount of water, of needing just the right touch has fueled this fear.

As it turned out in the process of manipulating pie dough recipes to reduce the fat, we suddenly created a recipe that is hard to mess up.

This is an easy to make crust that is flaky and tender and tastes like butter. The butter is pared down to what we consider to be the minimum amount possible. The flavor-butter mixture is chilled midway through the process so that when the dough is rolled, the hard butter forms flat sheets, increasing the flakiness of the dough. Some of the usual butter is replaced with sour cream, which has less fat and calories but adds to the tenderness and richness of the crust. A pinch of baking powder adds a degree of lightening.

This crust has many possible permutations as the variations that follow illustrate. You can use it in both sweet and savory dishes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 4 tbsp cold butter
• 3 tbsp sour cream

To make the dough in food processor:

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Process to mix. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Put the work bowl into the refrugerator to chill for 15 minutes.

Add the sour cream to the flour mixture and process until the dough come together in the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it several times on a lightly floured serface. Form it into a 3 cm thick disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

To make the dough by hand:

In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the butter and cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter or 2 knives until it resembles a very coarse meal. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Add the sour cream and blend it with the pastry cutter or a fork. Knead and sqeeze the dough 7-8 tomes to incorporate any loose bits. Gather the dough together into a rough ball (it will be a coarse mass), flatten it into a 3 cm thick disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

The dough can be refrigerated well wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 3 days in the fridge or frozen for up to a month. Defrost on the refrigerator for several hours before using.

Sweet pastry:

This variation produces a pastry that is sweeter and crisp like a sugar cookie. Increase the sugar to 3 tablespoons and add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated lemon zest.

Cornmeal pastry:

Replacing some of the flour with cornmeal adds a pleasing slight grittiness and corn flavour. Cornmeal crusts are especially good in pear and blueberry or blackberry desserts. A mixture of fine and course cornmeals, like those used for polenta, produces the most interesting texture.

Replace 1/3 cup of the flour with cornmeal and substitute 1 tablespoon light brown sugar for the granulated sugar.

Rich nut pastry:

Rasted almonds and lemon zest turn classic Fulproof Pastry into a rich, crumby pastry, for an additional 30 calories per serving.

Replace the flour to ¾ cup and add 1/3 cup roasted blanched almonds. Grind the nuts into a fine meal in a food processor with a few tablespoons of the flour. Process with the remainig flour before blending in the butter. Increase the salt by 1/8 teaspoon and add ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest.

To make cookies with rich nut pastry:

Increase the sugar to 1 tablespoon. Roll out the dough and cut into decorative shapes. Bake and cool. Sift 2 tablesspoons sugar over before baking.

Rolling Pastry Dough

This is the basic method for handling, rolling and cutting pastry dough. You can use pastry dough for tarts shells or cut it into shapes to bake and use as lids or platforms for free form tarts (powl and spoon dessserts).

You can roll and cut the dough into shapes up to 1 week ahead of baking, arrange on a baking sheet, wrap well and freeze. There is no need to defrost before baking.

2. To roll the dough: Let the dough sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling. Sprinkle the work surface lighly with flour. Rub the rolling pin with flour as well. Place the dough in the middle of the work surface.
3. Beginning at one edge, press the rolling pin down onto the dough to flatten it, moving it across the dough in increments. Then moving from the center of the dough outward, begin to roll, adding more flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Roll the dough gradually in all directions, flattering as you go to form large circle, about 35 cm in diameter. Do not roll it thinner than 3 mm. If the dough cracks or pulls apart, moisten the the torn edges with a little water, using your finger or brush, and press together to seal. Dist lightly with flour if the surface of the dough is sticky.
4. The dough is ready to use in a tart or cut it out. To transfer the dough to 23-25 cm tart tin or baking sheet, place the rolling pin gently on one edge of the dough up over the pin, then you can move it wherever you want.
5. Baking: 1-2 cup dries beans make excellent pie weights to keep an unfilled crust from losing its shape when you bake it. After using them cool and store in a plastic bag for the next time you need them. After setting the dough in the tin, prick the pastry with fork all over. set over a 25 cm baking paper and fill the pie with bean weights. Bake in the preheated to 190 C oven for 15 minutes. (for half baked pastry). Then carefully remove out the weights and bake the dough for further 5-10 minutes until pastry is lightly browned. (for fully baked pastry). Cool the tart shell on a rack then remove and set on a serving platter.

light pastry dough