Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry – Gemma’s Greater Bolder Baking

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Hello Daring Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: Dreamy Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry is an exquisitely tender pie crust that can elevate any pie or tart recipe. This pastry has a melt-in-your-mouth texture and an indulgent taste dominated by the richness of butter. The convenience of creating this recipe is equally outstanding—you don’t have to fret about maintaining your butter ice-cold, and there’s no fuss about how a lot liquid to make use of as a result of the elements are merely flour, sugar, egg, and butter.

To today, I really feel very lucky to have attended one of many world’s greatest cookery colleges, Ballymaloe in West Cork, Eire, run by legendary chef Darina Allen. Once I was a toddler, Darina was an enormous inspiration to me. My mum had all her cookbooks, and again within the eighties, Mum and I watched her present, Merely Scrumptious, each Monday night time. Mum promised me that I might do the three-month intensive certificates course at Ballymaloe once I grew up. In 2005, I did simply that, and completely thrived within the surroundings. I received my greatest grades ever (it was the primary time I did effectively in class), and I used to be so impressed. I simply knew I used to be meant to be there. I’ve returned to Ballymaloe actually because my time spent on the faculty is one I cherish, and it cemented my ardour for meals.

My most up-to-date journey again was in 2021 on a baking retreat with my associates at Bake from Scratch journal. It was on that journey I noticed Darina make Creamed Butter Pastry. This pastry blew my thoughts—I had by no means seen anybody make a pie crust like this earlier than. The outcomes have been wonderful, too—buttery, crumbly, nearly cakey pastry which was so great I simply needed to ask if I might share the recipe with all my Daring Bakers! I hope you take pleasure in this recipe straight from Eire. It’s great for Mile-Excessive Raspberry Meringue Pie  or utilized in citrus tarts like Gemma’s “The Complete Lemon” Tart Recipe and custard pies resembling Irresistible Buttermilk Pie, and I particularly love utilizing this crust for my Traditional Irish Apple Tart.

Desk of Contents

What’s Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry?

• Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry is a candy shortcrust pastry. It’s irresistibly tender and delicate, and each pastry chef and residential chef wants a go-to shortcrust recipe like this for tarts and pies.
• “Quick” right here means the crust falls aside simply into small items as a result of it has a better fats content material than commonplace pie crust. Moreover, shortcrust recipes don’t embody water. Due to this fact, gluten strands will not be fashioned, which provides the crust a crumbly texture.
• The primary data of shortcrust pastry date again to 14th-century England. At the moment, “quick” meant simply crumbled, particularly in comparison with “lengthy” crusts of the time, which have been sturdy, more durable pastries.

Key Substances and Why

• Butter

  • Butter accommodates roughly 80% milk fats. This high-fat proportion helps coat the flour, inhibits gluten formation, and kinds a crumbly, not chewy, texture.
  • Butter additionally deeply enriches the flavour of the pastry.
  • You understand your butter is on the proper temperature whenever you push the butter and it makes an indent, however your finger doesn’t simply squish proper by way of.
  • Make Home made Butter teaches you the way straightforward it’s to make your individual.

• Granulated sugar

  • Granulated sugar frivolously sweetens the pastry.
  • The sugar contributes to the feel by aerating the pastry by incorporating air and retaining air. When sugar is creamed with the butter, it dissolves within the movie on the floor of the air bubbles. This sugary syrup movie prevents the bubbles from drying out and tightening up too quick.

• Egg

  • The egg is a binder, holding the pastry collectively. The proteins within the egg white present construction, and the fats within the egg yolk contributes to the pastry’s tenderness.
  • As well as, the egg provides wealthy taste and contributes to the golden-brown colour.
  • An entire egg on this recipe yields a firmer crust, and this helps make it simpler to work with. In distinction, Pâte Sucrée (French Candy Shortcrust Pastry), one other shortcrust, accommodates solely egg yolk and is subsequently extra delicate.

• Flour

  • All-purpose flour has a protein content material of round Sep 11%, which is ideal for forming the wanted quantity of gluten to provide the pastry sufficient construction whereas nonetheless maintaining it tender.

Make Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry

• Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer (or in a bowl with a wood spoon) till mild and fluffy.
• Add the opposite elements. Beat within the egg, scraping down the perimeters of the bowl twice to totally mix the combination. Combine within the flour till simply mixed.
• Form the dough right into a disc and chill within the fridge for at the least two hours.

Can I Make Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry in Advance?

Sure, you may make Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry upfront.

• The pastry will preserve within the fridge for as much as two days.
• You may also freeze the pastry after you form it right into a disc (or discs in the event you double the recipe!) and wrap effectively—it would preserve within the freezer for 2 months. Defrost the pastry within the fridge earlier than utilizing.

Retailer Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry

• Refrigerate this Creamed Butter Pastry for at the least 2 hours (as much as 2 days) earlier than utilizing.
• For longer storage, freeze it well-packed with cling wrap or aluminum foil for as much as 2 months. Defrost within the fridge in a single day then use it in your most well-liked pie or tart recipe.

FAQs

• Can I make Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry gluten-free?

• Is that this pie crust appropriate for blind baking?

  • Sure, this Ballymaloe Creamed Butter Pastry is superb for blind baking, which is absolutely or partially baking a pie crust earlier than filling in order that it doesn’t get soggy.
  • Discover ways to do it at Blind Bake a Pie Crust.

• Why is that this softened butter used as a substitute of chilly butter on this recipe?

(This additionally explains the distinction between “creamed-butter pastry” and “cold-butter pie crusts”.)

The first distinction between a “creamed butter pie crust” and a “chilly butter pie crust” is within the technique of incorporating the butter into the pie dough, which may have an effect on the feel and traits of the crust.

1. 1. Creamed-Butter Pastry:

      • A creamed-butter pastry depends on the air included from whipping butter and sugar till fluffy to create air pockets to make the pastry rise. The butter is first combined with sugar till it turns into creamy and clean, very like the method of creaming butter and sugar in cookie dough.
      • This technique leads to a extra tender and barely sweeter crust as a result of sugar content material.
      • The feel is mostly extra delicate and crumbly, with a young, melt-in-your-mouth high quality.
      • Creamed butter pastries are sometimes used for sweeter pies, resembling fruit pies, the place the sweetness and tenderness complement the filling.

   2. Chilly-Butter Pie Crust:

      • A chilly-butter pie crust depends on water content material in chilly butter evaporating to make the crust rise. The bottom line is to maintain the butter as chilly as potential to create distinct buttery layers within the crust when baked.
      • In a chilly butter pie crust, chilly or frozen butter is minimize into the dry elements (normally flour and typically a bit salt) utilizing a pastry blender or by pulsing in a meals processor till the combination resembles coarse crumbs.
      • Chilly butter pie crusts have a extra pronounced butter taste and a flakier, flakier, and rustic texture.
      • They’re versatile and can be utilized for each candy and savory pies, as the dearth of sugar within the crust makes them appropriate for a variety of fillings.

In abstract, the selection between a creamed butter pie crust and a chilly butter pie crust depends upon the specified texture, taste, and the kind of pie you’re making.

• • If you need a young, barely candy crust, a creamed butter pie crust is an effective selection for candy pies.
  • If you happen to choose a flaky, buttery, and versatile crust that works effectively with each candy and savory fillings, a chilly butter pie crust is the best way to go.

Gemma’s Professional Chef Ideas

• For the very best outcomes, the butter needs to be at a cool room temperature, and never too tender or melty.
• This pastry is extra tender or cake-like and fewer flaky than a chilly butter pie crust.
• You should use this for both a pie or tart.
• Make sure to totally chill the dough earlier than rolling it out and placing it within the oven, or will probably be too tender and tough to deal with.
• If you wish to blind bake, observe these directions on Blind Bake a Pie Crust.
• Use this Ballymaloe Home recipe for holiday-ready desserts like Mince Pies or tartlets (and remember to try my recipe for Home made Mincemeat) or Cranberry Orange Crumb Tart with softly whipped cream.

Extra Pie Crust Recipes