Tender short pastry

VINEGAR – the secret ingredient for successful pastry!

Many of us hesitate when it comes to making our own pastry. We have the memory of a spoilt pie thanks to tough pastry.

Regain your pastry making confidence with this handy tip for making perfect pastry every time.

Adding a little DYC Apple Cider or White Vinegar to the liquid when you make pastry inhibits the development of the gluten in the flour. The result is a tender pastry that is easier to work with and has no taste of vinegar.

Gluten gives baked goods structure and its development in pastry making is aided by over-working the pastry or adding too much water. That’s what makes the pastry tough.

Adding vinegar is like your pastry-making security blanket, giving the pastry a little more tolerance to over-mixing.

For the recipe for rustic apple pie click here.

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Ingredients

2 cups flour
¼ cup icing sugar
125g cold butter
1 tablespoon DYC Apple Cider Vinegar (or White Vinegar)
¼ cup iced water

Directions

Sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Rub the butter in until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. The food processor can be used to make the pastry if wished.

Mix the vinegar with the iced water. Add to the flour mixture and mix until the dough just starts to come together, adding a little more iced water if necessary.

Gather the dough together and shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. Use as wished. Makes about 425g