Simply Jamie
By Jamie Oliver
Reliable sweet shortcrust pastry
10 mins
Not Too Tricky
makes approx. 1kg
About the recipe
Mastering sweet shortcrust pastry will open up a whole delicious world of pudding possibilities.
Recipe From
Ingredients
500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
100g icing sugar
250g cold unsalted butter
2 large free-range eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Method
- Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Chop the butter into cubes, then, using your fingertips, gently work it into the flour and sugar until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (or use a food processor, if you prefer).
- Beat the eggs with the vanilla, then use a fork or your hands to gently mix it into the flour mixture until it forms a ball of dough – add a dusting of flour if it feels too wet. It’s important not to work the pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy; we want it to be crumbly and short.
- Cut the dough in half and either use straight away or wrap well and pop into the fridge or freezer for another day (up to 3 days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer). At this stage, you can turn the pastry into anything you wish. You can cook it free form (see Strawberry & balsamic tart), roll it out to line pastry cases, blind bake it and freeze, or use the cases to create something delicious.
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