How long does shortcrust pastry last in the refrigerator? Many people are surprised to learn that it can last for several months! Here are a few tips on how to store leftover shortcrust pastry. First, flatten the pastry to make it easier to wrap and protect from freezer burn. If you can, double-wrap the pastry. You can also freeze shortcrust pastry for later use. However, it is not recommended to thaw it out in the fridge.
Shortcrust pastry is a great choice for baking sweet or savory pies, tarts, and galettes. There are many benefits of preparing shortcrust pastry in advance. Once chilled, it becomes firm and crumbly soft at room temperature. To prepare a shortcrust pastry in advance, you can make a basic butter pastry or a more elaborate recipe incorporating sugar or flour.
What is Shortcrust Pastry?
French-style shortcrust pastry is a crumbly, biscuit-like dough. This type of dough is “short” because the proportion of flour to fat is often two to one, making it easier to break apart than American-style pie crust (a closer ratio of flour to fat). Pies, tarts, and quiches with sweet and savory fillings are typically made with shortcrust pastry.
Typically, shortcrust pastry recipes ask for twice as much flour as lard. The top or bottom of a pie is made by rubbing fat (such as lard, shortening, butter, or full-fat margarine) into plain flour to make a loose mixture that is then bonded with a tiny quantity of ice water, rolled out, and then shaped and put.
The pastry is frequently made with an equal amount of butter and lard, ensuring that the combined weight of the two fat ingredients is still below that of the flour. Lard provides the best texture, while butter adds a rich flavor to the pastry.
How Long does Shortcrust Pastry Last in the Refrigerator?
Shortcrust pastry that hasn’t been baked should be stored in the refrigerator and wrapped in plastic. This allows for two to three days of storage. Don’t worry about the color; the dough will still work. It will only turn a small shade of grey.
Pastry, whether shortcrust or puff, freezes extremely well. They can be kept in the fridge for 1-2 days (if they are well covered in clingfilm), but if you won’t be using them within that time, wrap the pastry securely in cling film and store it in the freezer.
How to Freeze Shortcrust Pastry?
It’s okay to freeze any leftover pastry dough after you’ve rolled it and allowed it to stand. Alternatively, if you made too much shortcrust pastry on purpose, you can freeze the extra and set the rest aside.
How to do it is as follows:
Form into a Disc
You can now wrap your pastry after it has been flattened. Your leftover pastry should be formed into a flat disc. This makes wrapping and putting it in a bag much simpler.
Wrapped Twice in Cling Film
It would be best to guard against freezer burn on your shortcrust pastry since it might alter its texture when frozen. Your pastry disc should be double-wrapped in cling film before being placed aside; this is the best way to do it.
Put it inside a Freezer-Safe Bag
Your shortcrust pastry should be placed in a freezer-safe bag after double-wrapping. To hold the pastry, the bag must be large enough, and it must not be bent.
Identify and Freeze
Remove as much extra air as you can before closing the bag. Before putting the pastry in the freezer, please mark the date you made it and the use-by date.
How can Shortcrust Pastry be Defrosted?
Every home baker knows that pastry needs to be handled carefully and given time to rest before being shaped. You must be careful when defrosting your shortcrust pastry.
Take it out of the freezer the night before you use it. It may take up to 12 hours to completely defrost, so place it on a level surface in the refrigerator and leave it there overnight to thaw.
After the shortcrust pastry has defrosted, take it out of the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for up to an hour. You can start rolling out the pastry once it’s soft to the right size for your recipe.
What is the Taste of Shortcrust Pastry?
In terms of flavor and texture, puff pastry and other pastries are very dissimilar from the shortcrust pastry.
Shortcrust pastry has a taste that is significantly more buttery and a texture that is best described as crumbly rather than flaky because of the high amount of fats in its preparation.
One of the shortcrust pastry’s distinguishing qualities and a major factor in why fans of quiche, pie, and tarts can’t get enough of it is its “crumbliness.”
What are the Different Varieties of Shortcrust Pastry?
Pâte à for
It’s a French shortcrust, and an egg and a little sugar are added to the flour to make the dough more flavorful.
Pâte Brisée
It’s like pâte à for. Even so, this dough contains more butter and less sugar, creating a light, delicate shortcrust that is perfect for savory pies.
Pâte Sucrée (Sweet Shortcrust Pastry)
Sugar and egg yolks give it a rich, sweet flavor. Additionally, the sugar prevents the development of gluten that melts on the tongue.
Pâté Sablé
To integrate the dough, creamed sugar and butter are added to the flour. The outcome is a less crumbly pastry that can be used as a base for tea biscuits and sweet tarts. It is less crumbly and crispier.
Does Blind Baking for Shortcrust Pastry?
Yes, shortcrust pastry must be blind-baked. It will lessen shrinkage and prevent the pie’s bottom from getting soggy. The pie crust can be baked entirely or partially, depending on the pie you create.
Blind baking partially cooked pie crusts, often referred to as prebaked pie crusts, typically take 15 minutes with pie beads and an additional 5 minutes without them. Use prebaked pie crusts for quiches, meat pies, and other pies that require baking.
Blind baking fully prepared pie crusts typically takes 10 to 15 minutes longer with pie beads than without or until the bottom is golden brown.
Fully baked pie shells are utilized for dessert-style pies that don’t need to be cooked, such as cream pies, gelatin-set pies, or pies filled with fresh fruit.
How to Detect Bad Shortcrust Pastry?
Sincerity dictates that you should believe your instincts. Even if there is no visual alteration, you should toss your shortcrust pastry if you sense a change in how it smells. If your shortcrust pastry smells strange or sour, it needs to be stored properly; otherwise, it will stink.
The shortcrust pastry will lose its flavor and look if it is not properly maintained. First, you should check for areas on the pastry surface where mold has developed externally. Unbaked shortcrust pastry dough can be frozen for up to a month or kept in the refrigerator for two or three days when it is tightly wrapped in plastic.
Keep the pastry at room temperature while spreading it out to make it more malleable, but bake it outside. The dough will remain edible for 24 hours if stored in the refrigerator. The dough can be frozen for up to three months if it is used.
Fifteen minutes should be spent baking the shortcrust pastry until it turns golden brown. Before serving, give them three to five minutes to cool. However, the egg yolk can also give the completed product a golden color when baking pastry. Pastry chefs typically use egg wash to add shine. When eating raw flour or egg dough, you risk getting sick. Salmonella and E. coli are two bacteria that could be present in raw dough.
Is it Okay to Use Bad Shortcrust Pastry?
The expiration date is not necessarily a reliable indicator of whether food has gone bad. One example grocery shops must use is the “sell by” date label.
It’s common to see labels on puff pastry that read “Best if used by” or “Guaranteed fresh.” Eating something that has passed this date doesn’t necessarily mean you will become sick.
As soon as feasible consumption of puff pastry is recommended, these labels indicate when the quality has peaked.
It is acceptable if the puff pastry has gone past its best-before the date.
There is still a chance that you could get sick, so this does not necessarily mean it is a good decision. I would continue to the expiration dates, don’t go too far over them.
Conclusion
When preparing shortcrust pastry, it’s important to keep your ingredients cold while mixing them. Mixing the dough too much can cause the pastry to become sticky and difficult to handle. When working with the dough, you should always run your hands under cold water while you work.
If you don’t have cold water, you can put the butter in the fridge while mixing the ingredients. Alternatively, you can use your hands as a pastry cutter or a whisk. The hand-shaped pastry shape limits the surface area with which the butter and dough have contact.
To freeze shortcrust pastry, prepare it for at least an hour before baking. Once it’s defrosted, you can roll it out to the desired size. Be sure not to refreeze it immediately after defrosting because crystals in the pastry may affect its texture and quality. To avoid this, portion it beforehand, and refrigerate it after thawing. It will keep in the freezer for about 3-4 months.
