Quick and Easy Flaky Pastry

You’ll Need:

4 oz Butter
6 oz Plain flour
1 pch salt
Little cold water

Procedures : 1 Remove a pack of butter from the fridge, weigh out 4oz/110g, wrap in a piece of foil and return to the freezer or freezing compartment of the fridge for 30-45 minutes.
2 When ready to make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a large, roomy bowl. Take the butter out of the freezer, fold back the foil and hold it in the foil, to keep it cool.
3 With the coarse side of a grater put in the bowl over the flour, grate the butter, dipping the edge into the flour several times to make it easier to grate.
4 You’ll end up with a large pile of grated butter in the middle of the flour. Don’t use your hands yet, keep trying to coat the fat pieces in flour.
5 Sprinkle 2 tbsp cold water all over, use the palette knife to bring it all together and finish off using your hands. Add more moisture if necessary – the dough should come together, leaving the bowl fairly clean, with no bits of loose butter or flour anywhere.
6 Put into a polythene bag and chill for 30 minutes before using. Remember, this, like other pastries freezes extremely well, in which case you will need to defrost it thoroughly and let it come back to room temperature before rolling it out on a lightly floured surface.