Today I made my first apple pie. I am very much a novice baker and had never made pastry from scratch. Yesterday, Mary Berry recipe at the ready, I made my short crust pastry, clinged it & put it in the fridge. Today I did the rolling & pie building.
I was chuffed that at least it looked like a pie but was concerned that the pastry seemed thinner than I had expected. (Need to improve my crimping too!)
Hubby & I have just scoffed some with custard and on the whole it was yummy but I was very disappointed with the pastry, it just seemed to have no texture, no crunch or crumbliness.
Do you think this might have been because I left the pastry over night in the fridge or is there another reason (other than it just being rolled too thin.). Thanks in advance to you master bakers!
No girls at the moment but look forward to getting more in the future. Proud mummy to Hector, a Bedlington Terrier x Jack Russell
It must have been good Jemma because according to my lappy you ate the picture as well . Shortcrust pastry I presume ? Mum always made great pastry rubbing in by hand and leaving for an hour in the fridge ( think the idea was that would stop it shrinking on the plate when being baked). To be honest , mine gets thrown into the mixer and that does the hard work, I don't add too much water as the machine has already started to get the fat/flour to bind a little. I can't be bothered leaving it in the fridge, just use it once its made, don't over roll it, keep flouring the rolling pin so the pastry doesn't stick, dont trim to tightly to the edge of the pie dish/plate. Mine aren't always the prettiest but they never get left either.
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end . Quote from the proprietor of the The best exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful
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(¸.✰´¨(¸.✰ Manda
Living our version of the Good Life with 1 dog (who feels like we're living with 4!), 1 cats, a few sheep and 11 chooks. Don't get your knickers in a knot..it solves nothing ~ just makes you walk funny
that looks good enough to eat. I am hopeless at pastry, my mum was a whizz at it, I don`t remember her putting pastry in fridge to chill,. and it was all ok. I do like Mary Berry recipes, her brownie recipe is yummy and its a chuck it all in the bowl recipe.
The picture worked this morning for me Jemma and it looks a grand apple pie to me. I think pastry making is a knack and one I didn't have until I used the food processor, I only make shortcrust the fancy stuff I buy in frozen and cheat. With ingredients I just stick to the basics old fashioned half fat to flour (and I use a vegetable fat) bit of caster sugar if for a sweet pie or a pinch of salt,mustard and pepper if savoury flan, just think the more you add the more can go wrong.
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end . Quote from the proprietor of the The best exotic Marigold Hotel for the elderly and beautiful
The recipe really was that simple Annie, that is why I can't understand where I went wrong! Next time I will just throw it all in, mix it, roll it and hope for the best
No girls at the moment but look forward to getting more in the future. Proud mummy to Hector, a Bedlington Terrier x Jack Russell
What a shame you were dissappointed with your pie as it looks so good. Pastry does always need to be kept as cold as possible, ie, makes sure that any water that is added is really cold. A short time in the fridge should have been OK but wrapping it in cling film for any length of time can cause a problem. The film seems to make it moister which takes away from a lovely short pastry. Also be very carefull that you don't add too much water when bringing the pastry together. Flours can differ, so I would suggest adding the water very slowly. Before rolling out it should just be holding together. Good luck next time
Thank you June, it does seem that my laziness caused the pastry problems then - should have made the pie on the same day as the pastry instead of leaving it in the fridge overnight!
No girls at the moment but look forward to getting more in the future. Proud mummy to Hector, a Bedlington Terrier x Jack Russell
I think it looks lovely, but if you were disappointed with it, it could be that you added a little too much liquid. There should be just enough to make it bind together, and it should be just on the sticky together side of crumbling apart again - if that makes sense - as dry as you can keep it whilst still being able to roll it out. You should try to handle and roll it as little as possible as well. To be honest I'm not 100% sure why, but it is something to do with 'overworking' the gluten (whatever that does to it). Anyhow, I'm not sure what you were expecting as it looks pretty good. Enjoy practising, and if you need any help with quality control, we're all willing to form an orderly queue!!
The pastry would have been fine in the fridge overnight - did you brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar before baking? That would make it lovely and crunchy.
Thanks for the lovely comments everyone I think then that maybe I just need to practice my rolling skills - the pastry was very thin, seemed far too thin but I stuck to the recipe and used the correct size pie tin so not sure why it was almost paper thin! Looking forward to trying again - the pie did taste delicious, it was just the pastry consistency that was off
No girls at the moment but look forward to getting more in the future. Proud mummy to Hector, a Bedlington Terrier x Jack Russell
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I think then that maybe I just need to practice my rolling skills - the pastry was very thin, seemed far too thin but I stuck to the recipe and used the correct size pie tin so not sure why it was almost paper thin! Looking forward to trying again - the pie did taste delicious, it was just the pastry consistency that was off 
