Rich Flan Pastry

[Mikey]

Does anyone have a tried and tested recipe for this, as the one I have ends up mushy and I have to add more flour. The recipe I have is:

4oz plain flour, 3 oz of butter, 1tsp caster sugar, pinch of salt and 1 beaten egg. The egg quantity though is out of balance with this mixture and the mixture stays sticky.

I've made a batch of mince pies, but I need to make some more and a better recipe would be very useful.

[rustylady]

Found this one for you, there's loads on Google. Sweet shortcrust pastry recipe - All recipes UK The proportions in this recipe look about right to me.

[taff]

not tested, but this site is usually good with amounts.
BBC - Food - Recipes : Citrus tart with rich shortcrust pastry

[Thelma Sanders]

I was always taught (and yes - it was years ago ) to always use twice as much flour to fat, so adding more flour would correct the recipe IMO

[bearded bloke]

As thelma says,or if you want to retain the "butteryness" my mother used to .... use a bantam egg

[arpoet]

This is the way i make my short crust pastry... its adapted from a recipe i found on here.
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

8oz/225g plain flour
pinch salt
5oz/150g goats butter
1 egg
1 tbsp cold water
1 1/2oz/40g caster sugar.

Use the metal blade
Put the flour, salt and butter (cut into cubes) in the bowl.
Process until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.
In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and water and add sugar.
Pour into the processor and using pulse (short bursts) blend until mixture starts to form a ball
Tip out onto floured surface and gather it together into a block
Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 mins before rolling out.

Roger

[Mikey]

Cheers all, I thought the mixture was too difficult to make into breadcrumbs, I like to use my hands rather than a mixer, there are always some advantages to cold hands.

I 'll try that recipe arpoet on the next batch, using a little less sugar. Muchas gracias.

[Patchninja]

I don't really like egg in pastry as I think it makes it hard and much less melty in the mouth. Just half butter to flour and enough cold water to bind.