Hot water crust pastry: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:28, 16 January 2014

Pork pie with hot water crust pastry
Servings:	Enough pastry for 6 small pork pies
Ready in:	1 hour 15 minutes
Prep. time:	20 minutes
Cook time:	55 minutes
Difficulty:

Hot water crust is a type of pastry used for savoury pies, such as pork pies, game pies, etc. Hot water crust was traditionally used for making hand-raised pies.

As the name suggests, the pastry is made by heating water, melting the fat in this, bringing to the boil, and finally mixing with the flour. This can be done by either beating the flour into the mixture in the pan, or by kneading on a pastry board. Either way, the result is a hot and rather sticky paste that can be used for hand-raising - shaping by hand, sometimes using a dish or bowl as an inner mould. As the crust cools, its shape is largely retained, and it is filled and covered with a crust, ready for baking. Hand-raised hot water crust pastry does not produce a neat and uniform finish, as there will be sagging during the cooking of the filled pie. This is generally accepted as the mark of a hand-made pie. It is possible, however, to bake the pastry in a mould, as with other pies.

Raised pies are easier to make whilst the pastry is warm.

There is a recipe for Melton Mowbray style pork pies here.

Ingredients

Ingredients

Printable 🖨 shopping 🛒 list & 👩‍🍳 method for this recipe

• 225 g (8 oz) strong plain flour
• Pinch of crushed sea salt
• 25 ml (25 g) (1 fl oz) milk
• 25 ml (25 g) (1 fl oz) water
• 75 g (3 oz) lard or shortening
• 1 large egg yolk, whisked, for glazing and sealing

Mise en place

• Pre-heat the oven to 180° C (350° F - Gas 4)

Method

1. Sift the salt and flour into a bowl
2. Mix the water and milk into a medium-sided pan and heat gently
3. Cut the lard into small pieces and drop into the milk/water mix
4. Once the lard has completely melted, raise the heat and bring to the boil and then immediately remove from the heat
5. Pour into the flour and, using a wooden spoon, mix well
6. Dust a chopping board with a little extra flour and knead the dough for a minute or two
7. Use 2/3rds of the dough for the pies and 1/3 for the lids
8. Divide the larger piece into 6 and roll into balls and, using your hands, mould each ball into a pie shape (an upturned glass is useful for this)
9. Fill the pies with your desired filling
10. Using a pastry brush, paint a little of the egg yolk around the rim of each pie
11. Divide the remaining 1/3rd into six pieces, roll into balls and then roll each ball flat to make the pie lids
12. Crimp the lids to the pies with the tines of a fork and glaze the pies with any remaining egg yolk
13. Make a little slash or hole in the top of each pie to allow steam to escape and bake on a tray for about 50 to 55 minutes
14. Allow to cool on a wire rack

Serving suggestions

Serve warm or cold

Chef's notes

Having made these, I would suggest that this quantity is better suited to 4 slightly larger pies. Although unconventional, to prevent them collapsing, I would bake them in muffin trays.

Visitor's tip for making hot-water crust pastry

You want to make the pie crust with as cold water as possible. The dough should also be worked together as quickly as possible, not to generate to much heat.

Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 min before rolling it out. --Siri-Ann

See also

• Macaroni pie (Scottish)
• Melton Mowbray style pork pie