Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Ingredients:

This Sweet Shortcrust Pastry is the one my mother always swore by, and used to make all of the wonderful tarts and flans that I sampled as a young child. She has passed it on to me, and this is my pastry base of choice for desserts.

1 cup plain flour

1 cup self-raising flour

1 x 20 ml spoon salt

6 x 20 ml spoon shortening

2 x 20 ml spoon caster sugar

1 egg yolk

70 ml cold water or milk

Method:

Sift flours and salt into a bowl.

Rub butter (shortening) through the flour with the tips of fingers.

Add sugar and mix well.

Mix into a dry dough.

Mix the egg yolk and milk together, and add to the dough.

Mix together, kneading on a floured board.

Dough should be smooth and all ingredients totally blended together.

For a video demonstration, see below: