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Lard shortcrust pastry
Makes 1.3kg Cakes, Bread and Pastries
Ingredients
- 700g plain flour
- 1tsp fine salt
- 175g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1 cm cubes
- 175g lard, chilled and cut into 1cm cubes
- 27g/ml chilled water
Method
Put the flour and salt in a mound on your kitchen worktop and scatter the chilled butter and lard cubes over the top. Use a rolling pin to roll the fats into the flour, gathering the flour back into the middle as you go with a spatula. Keep rolling until the mixture has a crumbly texture, with shards of butter the size of rolled oats still visible.
Make a well in the middle and add the chilled water. Continue using spatula to fold the flour over the water and gently work it in with your hands, working from the outside in, until the dough just comes together. The dough should be firm and not sticky to the touch.
Roll out or press the dough into a rectangle 2–3cm thick. Fold one-third of the dough into the middle, then the other third over the top of that, as if folding a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll it out again into a rectangle 2–3 cm thick, then repeat the letter fold.
Fold the dough over itself a few times to create rough layers. Shape it into a flat block, then wrap and put it in the fridge to rest for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight, before using. The pastry will keep for 3–4 days in the fridge, or up to 3 months in the freezer.
This recipe was taken from the October 2021 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
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