Types of Pastry Dough

Pastries were first created by the ancient Egyptians. The classical period of ancient Greece and Rome had pastries made with almonds, flour, honey, and seeds. The introduction of sugar into European cookery resulted in a large variety of new pastry recipes in France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. The greatest innovator was Marie-Antoine Carême who perfected puff pastry and developed elaborate designs of pâtisserie.

A pastry, by definition, is essentially flour and fat. Unlike bread, the high fat content (e.g., butter, shortening or lard) in a pastry creates a flaky and crumbly texture that is peculiar to pastry itself. There are five basic types of pastry dough (a food that combines flour and fat): shortcrust pastry, filo pastry, choux pastry, flaky pastry and puff pastry. Doughs are either nonlaminated, when fat is cut or rubbed into the flour, or else laminated, when fat is repeatedly folded into the dough using a technique called lamination. An example of a nonlaminated pastry would be a pie or tart crust, and brioche. An example of a laminated pastry would be a croissant, danish, or puff pastry.

There are five main types of pastries and they are identified according to the amount of shortening used, types of additional ingredients, and method of mixing, blending, and baking.

1. Short Crust Pastry: Often referred to as medium-flake pastry in the United States, shortcrust is made from flour, fat (lard or butter), water, and salt. After the fat has been chilled, it is cut into tiny cubes, spread and rubbed into the flour; the result looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Iced water is gradually added while constantly stirring until the dough thickens, and can be formed into a ball. The butter prevents the water from soaking the flour and making a goopy mess.
   
   The ball is then chilled for a brief period; and then rolled out and baked. Chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes is vital to allow the gluten to slack and the fat to firm up. The resulting texture of the dough is soft, crumbly, and full of tiny pockets of fat resulting in a super flavorful crust. The goal of a shortcrust pastry is to keep the dough soft and crumbly while avoiding gluten development. The 'short' in the name refers to the length of the gluten strands in the dough. Thanks to the denser structure, shortcrust is well suited for pies with wet fillings, like saucy meats and fruit mince.
   
   

   Traditional Pie & Tart Crusts Perfect Pie Crusts Making a Pie Crust, Step by Step Making a Lattice-Top Pie Crust *Basic Flaky Pie Crust

   Crumb-type Crusts (not short crust pastry) Easy Flour Crust (for cream pies, especially coconut cream) *Graham Cracker Crust Fat Free Crumb Crust (made with Grape-nuts cereal) Pecan Crust (contains flour) Macadamia Coconut Pie Pastry

   
   French Flan & Tart Pastry: By increasing the level of fat in relation to flour, and by adding egg and sugar, the result is a soft, crumbly, and tender pastry which calls attention to itself. The French pâté brisée [paht bree-ZAY] ("broken-textured pastry"), for instance, is the classic choice in the preparation of flans; it contains a small amount of sugar, even when used for savory dishes, though it lacks egg. On the other hand, the pâté sèche ("dry pastry") and pâté sucrée [paht soo-KRAY] ("sweet pastry") include a high egg proportion, and even more sugar used for desserts such as pies, tarts and filled cookies. Pâté Sablée [paht sah bleh] uses the same basic ingredients, but uses confectioner’s sugar and egg. It’s a shortbread cookie-like crust. Like pâté sucrée, pâté sablée is typically used for desserts. Sablée is a richer dough with more butter and is crumblier, a pasty you have to blind bake then fill with a mousse, cooked custard for a flan, or non baked cheesecake filling; whereas pâté sucrée can be used with a filling and then baked, like a fruit based or custard. Sablée would not bake right with a wet filling.
   
   In Austria, the supremely rich mürbe Teig ("tender pastry") adds sour cream or cream cheese to the egg shortcrust. The Linzertorte of the same country includes ground almond as an ingredient. The Russian coulibiac, made with yeast is light and fluffy; it borders on being a rough-puff.
   
   Tart: This is an open pastry base often filled with fruit, custard, or various fillings.
   
   French Shortcrust Pastry: Brisée, Sucrée, Sablée
   *Pastry-type Pie Crust (made with vinegar to prevent gluten development)
   Pâte Brisée ("broken-textured pastry") - butter crust for sweet and savory pies, flans and tarts, lacks egg)
   Pâté Sucrée ("sweet pastry") - sweet tart crust, contains egg, can be filled and then baked
   Pâté Sablée - ("sandy pastry") - typically filled with pastry cream and topped with fresh fruit, contains egg, shortbread cookie-like crust, must blind-bake
   
   
2. Flaky Pastry (Rough Puff): Rough puff pastry is a light and flaky pastry that's similar to puff pastry but easier to make. Identical to the shortcrust in terms of ingredients and a shortcut cousin to puff pastry, the rough puff pastry differs in the technique with which it is prepared. For the rough puff, the shortcrust pastry is folded and rolled three or four times making layers of butter. The layers of the dough will partly separate and rise during cooking, while not nearly as elaborately as the puff pastry. The proportion of butter to flour is high, and a small amount of water is added. One-quarter of the butter is added to the flour during the first stage which forms the shortcrust. The pastry is then rolled, dotted with more butter, folded, re-rolled, and put to rest in a cool place. The procedure is repeated once or twice again until all of the butter has been used. Requiring a delicate touch, this flaky pastry is easy to overwork, so make sure to pay close attention to the recipe directions. The rough puff is finely layered with irregular inclusions of butter; the light texture rests midway between shortcrust and puff pastry.
   
   Handmade Puff Pastry (Rough Puff Method)
   *Pastry Shell for Pies (flaky, baked shell for cream pies, etc.)
   Processor Danish Pastry (Nigella Lawson) - not really a danish pastry dough, more of a rough puff dough, but with yeast
   Cheese Straws (or make from Puff Pastry below)
   
   
3. Puff Pastry (no yeast, leavened by steam): The third type is called the puff pastry. This type originated in France and contains many layers. It is called puff pastry because it tends to rise in a puff like shape. It is made by repeatedly rolling butter into dough and making hundreds of thin layers. Popular puff pastries include Napoleons, Palmiers and Allumettes. Since Puff Pastry doesn't contain sugar, it makes a perfect wrapping for various savory and sweet foods such as meats, cheese and fruit. Puff Pastry was invented in about 1645 by a French pastrycook's apprentice named Claudius Gele. At the end of his apprenticeship, Claudius wanted to bake a delicious loaf of bread for his sick father, who was prescribed a diet consisting of water, flour and butter. Claudius prepared a dough, packing the butter into it, kneading the dough out on the table, folding it, and repeating the procedure ten times, after which he molded the dough into a loaf.
   
   Try using Rough Puff pastry (see above) instead of puff pastry. It does not form layers as elaborately as the puff pastry, but gives similar results and quicker and easier to make.
   
   Handmade Puff Pastry (Rough Puff Method) - shortcut for making puff pastry
   Apple Turnovers
   Napoleons (Mille-Feuille)
   Nussstangen (German hazelnut twists)
   
   Danish Pastry (leavened with yeast): The Danish pastry was an invention by Austrian bakers during their time of employment in Denmark when Danish bakers went on strike in 1850. There is a subtle yet distinct line between a puff pastry and Danish pastry. Oftentimes people have a tendency to regard both as the same thing, but in fact a Danish is a variant of the puff pastry. Danish and puff pastry are made from similar techniques - they are both layered with butter. But, a Danish is leavened with yeast, as opposed to puff pastry that contains no rising agent and is raised by steam. Danish pastry also contains sugar, hence with a composition of sugar and yeast, the high sugar content in the dough makes a Danish better catered to sweet creations
   
   The use of yeast in the puff pastry originates in Vienna, Austria, though the tradition has become important to the preparation of Croissants and such foods. The dough is similar to the normal puff pastry: milk, eggs, flour, and a mixture of butter and lard. The dough is rolled at least four times. The effect of the yeast rising combined with the rolling and turning produces a pastry of similar lightness, though the texture is softer and richer, the flavor delicious.
   
   Franzbrötchen (German cinnamon pastry)
   Kringles (Wisconsin Danish Pastry) - 24 layers of butter
   Danish Pastries
   
   
4. Choux (Pâte a choux): Choux is the fourth main type of pastry. Flour is added to melting butter in nearly boiling water; the mixture cooks until smooth and not sticky. One by one, eggs are beaten in. It is important for the baker to cook the dough for long enough to evaporate most of the moisture from the dough; this allows eggs to be more easily incorporated. The mixture is then baked until it is smooth and forms a puff pastry shell which can be filled with a variety of fillings. Choux works via the same mechanics as puff pastry — with steam. Popular types of choux pasties include éclairs, cream puffs, and fancy cakes.
   
   Profiteroles: These are made from small domes of choux pastry filled with cream, and often topped with a sweet icing or sauce.
   Cream puffs: This can be another name for profiteroles and can be made in various sizes and variations.
   French Crullers: A French cruller is a doughnut made with choux pastry, also known as pâte à choux.
   Churros: Churros are a Spanish dessert pastry from deep-frying choux pastry dough.
   Susan's Crab Puffs: Crabmeat mixture mixed into cream puff dough and baked.
   Gougères: Cheese Puffs made with cheese mixed in a choux dough and baked.
   
   
5. Phyllo (Filo): A Greek pastry (though Turkish in origin) in which paper-thin sheets of dough are buttered and stacked separately (as in baklava, borek, and spanakopitta); or by rolling up one paper-thin sheet around a filling to create multiple layers (strudel, retes, and zavin). The dough is kneaded and stretched until it becomes as thin as tissue paper. The result, with almost ethereally crisp layers, is a pastry of extraordinary lightness and complexity.
   
   Phyllo dough is very fragile, so once it is formed into sheets, the dough is frozen until it is ready to be used. If you mistakenly use phyllo before it is thawed, however, the dough will crack, split, and become useless. The dough also tends to dry very quickly because it is thin, so if you work with filo dough, you should complete all other preparation steps before removing the dough from your refrigerator.
   
   Baklava: This is a dessert made from layered filo and chopped nuts, then soaked in syrup or honey.
   Spanakopita: This is a savory dish filled with cheese and spinach. It is baked in a square pan and cut into servings, or as smaller appetizers made in a triangular shape.
   Bourekakia: A cheese filling rolled up in Phyllo dough and baked.
   
   Strudel Dough: Phyllo and strudel pastry are both very very thin doughs, so thin that they’re almost translucent. Several layers are stacked on top of each other, after being coated in a thin layer of fat to make a sturdy enough crust. Both pastry doughs are made from mostly wheat flour, water and maybe some salt. Some recipes, especially those for strudel, contain a little fat and or egg. The difference is homemade strudel pastry is soft and elastic while the phyllo is brittle and papery. Adding an egg in the strudel makes it an "enriched dough" that has the ability to hold onto moisture.
   
   The fact that these rolled out layers are so thin makes phyllo and strudel pastry different from other pastry types such as puff pastry. In puff pastry or a croissant dough the dough itself is rolled out, but not as thin, a slab of butter is added and rolled, and this is repeated multiple times to create layers of dough with butter in between. It is finally rolled out as one final sheet of dough. The layers of pastry really only become visible once you start baking, when the fat melts away. Phyllo & strudel doughs though are rolled out first as one sheet thin of dough, get brushed with butter and rolled or folded when making the pastry to create the layers.
   
   Strudel Dough
   Apple Strudel
   
   
6. Sweet Dough: Pastries, which are made wirh a high proportion of butter, are often flaky or crumbly and have a rich buttery flavor. In constast, sweet dough is basically a rich bread dough, made with yeast, containing more sugar, milk, and shortening than regular bread, so this dough is not considered a pastry dough. Yet, sweet dough is combined with a variety of fillings, toppings, icings, glazes, fruit, and nuts to make pastry-type breakfast breads and is included here. Sweet doughs include cinnamon buns, coffee cake, yeast doughnuts, sweet rolls, and hot cross buns as well as many holiday breads.