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First, ensure frozen pastry is well thawed before use. Follow pack instructions for timings as room temperatures vary.
Knocking up is the name given to the method of hitting the edge of the pastry with a knife to add to the rise of the pastry.
"Knock up" the edges of pastry dishes, particularly those made with puff pastry, by holding a sharp knife at right angles to the edge and gently tapping the edges together. This will help to seal the join and give extra depth and added rise to the rim. It is traditionally done for pie edges
When lining a tart or flan case, roll out the pastry to a good 5cm/2" larger than the tin. Carefully lift up the Jus-Rol™ pastry over the rolling pin and gently unroll over the tin. Using fingertips, ease the pastry down against the sides of the tin, pressing well into the base all round. To remove excess pastry, roll the pin across the top of the tin to cut off dough. Finally ease pastry up the sides of the tin, to stand slightly proud of the top, this helps compensate for any shrinkage during cooking.
This means baking without any filling. After filling the flan tin or dish with pastry, trim the top allowing a little to peek above the rim. Prick the base and fill with a large round of non-stick baking parchment or foil and ceramic or dried baking beans. Chill for 20 minutes whilst you heat the oven to the recommended temperature, generally 200°C, Gas 6.
Place the flan case on a metal baking sheet and bake blind for about 15 minutes then remove the paper and beans and return the flan to the oven for another 5 minutes until the base no longer looks raw. Remove and cool.
Ceramic baking beans are available from many cook and hardware shops. They are re-usable and last forever.
Glazing pastry prior to cooking gives it a golden sheen, which adds to the appetite appeal of the finished dish.
For best results beat a whole egg thoroughly. For a professional chef’s glaze, beat an egg yolk with 1-2 teaspoons of cold water. Milk can be used for a more economical glaze. This is ideal for puff pastry dishes and for savoury shortcrust pastry recipes.
Sweet dishes made with shortcrust or sweet dessert pastry can be brushed lightly with cold water and dredged with caster sugar just before the end of the cooking time.
For sweet puff recipes a good finish can be achieved by brushing with beaten egg white and then sprinkling with caster sugar. For a frosted effect follow this method but brush with the egg white prior to baking, then when almost ready, remove from oven, brush again and sprinkle immediately with caster sugar then return to oven for a further 3-5 minutes to set the glaze.
Some traditional patisserie recipes are glazed by sprinkling liberally with icing sugar once fully cooked, then returning to the oven for 8-10 minutes to caramelise the sugar.
Add an extra touch to pastry recipes by sprinkling tops of pies, jalousies etc. with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, chopped or flaked nuts, grated cheese or finely chopped herbs. These go particularly well with savoury dishes made from short, puff or filo pastry. Traditionally filo pastry is glazed with melted butter, ghee or oil. Introduce a flavour into the brushing medium to complement the filling such as chopped herbs, or lightly sauteed leek, a pinch of spice, or a little sugar and spice.
Add a touch of flair to pies, jalousies and other pastry dishes by being imaginative with the decoration on top.
One of the simplest ways of adding a touch of difference to a pie top is to cut out shapes from the pastry trim. Traditionally pies were decorated with leaf shapes - easily made by cutting 2.5cm/1" wide strips of pastry, then make diagonal cuts down the strip to give diamond shapes, and mark "veins" on the diamonds to give a leaf effect. Otherwise use pastry cutters to make moons, circles, rings etc.
Attach the decorations by lightly glazing the top first then pressing the shapes firmly onto the pastry and glaze the shapes.
Jalousies may be sweet or savoury and comprise two rectangular sheets of pastry with a filling in between. The top has cuts made in it at regular intervals with a border all round. The word is from the French word for shutter or blind, which is what the baked dish resembles.
For a very simple decoration, make two cuts in the middle of the pie top to give a cross effect, then open out the points and fold back to reveal the filling underneath. If you wish to be more fancy, make four cuts so that there are eight 'points' in the centre and fold back every other point.
Mince pies or similar individual pies may be decorated by cutting out a leaf, star or other suitable shape from the centre of the lid and then sticking the shape back on to the lid but on one side. Holly leaf and other seasonal cutters are readily available in most cookware shops.
Alternatively, cut out suitable shapes and use these as the lid, so that a little of the mincemeat shows all round the edges. This method of decoration is also great with a larger tart. Make the top from lots of shapes cut from the pastry and laid, slightly overlapping, in circles or rows across the top of the filling.
Edges of pies may be decorated to add interest and style to the dish. The simplest is a flute made by pressing your thumb down onto the pastry edge at regular intervals. Then use the back of a knife to pull up the pastry edge in between the indentations. Or pinch the pastry edge between your thumb and forefinger of one hand and gently push the pastry outer edge into the fingers with the forefinger of the other hand.
NB Short nails are best for pastry work!!
Making cuts at regular intervals all round the pastry rim creates another edging or crimping design. Then fold up every other corner diagonally back onto the pastry. This gives a pointed effect to the rim or edge.
Pastry trim can be gently rolled into long strips or thin 'sausages' then plaited or lightly arranged in a wavy line pattern on the pie top. It will stick to the surface with the glaze.
Filo pastry is very malleable and may be draped over fillings in long or short 'ribbons' to create a gentle folds effect. Alternatively cut strips from the pastry and roll up to give long but thin 'sausage' shapes, then arrange these in concentric circles over the filling. Brush the pastry first with melted butter.
Always make sure that all fillings are cooled totally before topping them or using them in unbaked pastry, otherwise the pastry will start to go soggy before you have put it into the oven and end up tough and with an uneven rise. This applies to all pastry types.
Filo is an incredibly versatile pastry, quite different in texture (both cooked and uncooked) and preparation to our more traditional pastries. Filo pastry comes in very thin sheets which may be folded, wrapped, rolled or scrunched around fillings, all without any rolling out. It is easy to use in a variety of sweet and savoury dishes, baked or fried, all with a multi layered ‘crunch’ factor.
The secret of successful Filo is to keep it covered as much as possible during preparation to prevent the lovely thin sheets from drying out. This is easily accomplished by following the simple hints and tips below.
Filo pastry contains virtually no fat but a light brushing of melted butter or oil, imparts sheen to the finished result and adds to the mouth feel.
Any of the following may be used, make your choice according to personal taste/diet and the recipe you are preparing. Whatever brushing medium you choose only brush the pastry lightly, too much will prevent browning.
Flavouring such as a pinch of spice or chopped herbs or garlic may be added
to the brushing medium to complement the filling of the final dish.
When preparing filo shapes for frying, brush lightly with water to seal the
parcels.
This means perfectly light, crisp pastry with a little ‘give’ in it to make it melt-in-the-mouth. Jus-Rol™ Shortcrust and Sweet dessert Pastries deliver this quality to perfection.
This is the term given to the fats used in pastry making, in other words the ingredient that imparts the ‘short’ qualities. Jus-Rol™ pastry contains vegetable fat only with the exception of Sweet Dessert, which also contains butter.
This was particularly important for pastry made from scratch and means leaving the pastry in a cool place for approx. 15 minutes to remove elasticity from the dough, which could result in shrinkage during cooking. The pastry is then rolled out and used as required and as Jus-Rol™ pastry is ready-made and comes to you frozen, it has already had this initial resting period.
However traditionally, once the pastry has been rolled and formed, it is recommended that the pastry is rested again before cooking and whilst this is not imperative, if time allows, a short resting period in a cool place before baking is a good idea. As the pack instructions suggest, a rich pastry like Jus-Rol™ Sweet Dessert is best rolled then left to rest on the work surface for 5 minutes before lining tins or proceeding with the recipe.
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