Flaky Pastry

Most pastry recipes are the same ingredients. There are small variations of course, by generally they are the same.

For some reason this very simple recipe used to seem unattainable to me. I never made my own pastry. I would creature wonderful pies and use store bought pastry.

I wish I knew why I did this!

Making fresh pastry is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

The key is not adding too much water or whatever liquid the recipe calls for. You want the pastry to hold together, but not be too moist.

I have learned some tricks for rolling pastry as well. Wax paper is your friend. Rolling the pastry on a sheet of wax paper makes transferring it to the pie plate very easy.

There is also a fine line with how much flour you use to roll the pastry. You don’t want it to stick, but you also don’t want to infuse too much extra flour.

This pastry was pretty easy to work with. It even transferred well.

The end result was a lovely flaky pastry. It worked perfectly for the pumpkin pie I was making.

Now that I have mastered the art of making the pastry, I think I need to start mastering the art of making the pastry look pretty!

PASTRY

2 Cups Sifted Flour

3/4 Teaspoon Salt

2/3 Cup Shortening

6 Tablespoons Cold Water

Sift flour and salt together and cut in shortening until the consistency of coarse meal. Add water, using a small portion at a time until the mixture will hold together. Roll on a floured board to desired size. Cook according to recipe directions.