Matters of crust
Crust climate

Mixing Butter-rich doughs like it cold, so start

with butter at 5°C (41°F), or frozen for the Yoghurt
rough puff pastry (page 74). Hot kitchens mean
your flour will be warmer, so chill your flour before
mixing too. If the dough feels warm while mixing,
stop and pop it in the fridge.

Rolling An evenly pliable 12–15°C (54–59°F)

is the ideal temperature to roll. Too cold and the
sides (and your patience) will crack. Too warm and
the dough will stick to the bench. If this happens,
loosen it with a thin knife shimmy and chill it on
a baking paper–lined tray for 15 minutes.

Pre-bake Blind bake frozen doughs – the freezing

sets the butter and reduces shrinkage. If baking
filled raw dough, like the Fig, brown butter +
almond frangipane tartlets (page 109), you only
need bake from chilled, as the filling will keep
the crust sides high.

Flour facts
Choose an in-between plain (all-purpose) flour –
around 10 per cent gluten – for a tender yet
strong enough crust structure. Gluten is listed
on the nutritional panel as protein. If protein
is 10 g per 100 g (¼ oz per 3½ oz), the gluten is
10 per cent.

Disc-no ball
Any dough that needs to be rolled, like the Brisee
butter crust (page 71) or Crème fraîche shortbread
crust (page 68) is best shaped into a fat, flat disc.

This puts you a quarter of the way to your end roll
goal, and it’s easier than starting with a sphere.

Dough balls crack, making the edges fracture and
rendering a tidy-edged dough circle unattainable.
If you need to roll a square or rectangle, best to
form the dough into that starting shape.

On a roll
Start on a medium-floured surface (use about
a tablespoon). Test that the dough is pliable by
pushing it with your rolling pin. If it starts cracking,
leave it another 5–10 minutes before trying
again. Lift and move the disc 90 degrees. Make
the rolls longer as the circle widens. Maintain an
even thickness, but if the shape is more square or
amorphous, don’t worry – a pre-tin trim will make it
tidy. Get some flour underneath to keep the dough
moving by hovering your forearm over the dough
and using your other hand to gently flop the dough
over your forearm while you dust underneath.

Cracked sides Push/smoosh any small edge cracks

as you roll to stop them becoming larger ones.

Keep it movin’ If it sticks, shimmy a metal

offset spatula or thin knife underneath. Dust with extra
flour or move it onto a baking paper–lined tray
to chill.

Rest the roll More elastic doughs can spring back

as you roll, so let it rest on the work surface for
5 minutes, then keep on rolling.

Pushover Smooth the edges with your rolling pin

by pushing the pin against any wonky edges.

Thick about it Dough portions rolled to the

prescribed width will yield the target thickness.

But if you need to double check, slice a tiny strip
off the edge and hold the cut side against a ruler.