The expert's guide to pastry - Delia Smith

In her final piece looking at the best chefs and their books, Laura Rowe gets to grips with perfect pastry.

Whether for a tart, flan or good old-fashioned pie, homemade pastry is hard to beat. Simple once you know how, but who should you trust to show you the basics? 

The professional: Delia Smith's How to Cook (parts one and two)

Delia Smith is undoubtedly one of the most popular cookery book authors of the last 50 years, and for good reason. She started out cooking in a Paddington restaurant, before she began writing the cookery sections for magazines in 1969. This led to Delia launching Sainsbury’s Magazine and a highly successful TV career, which has spanned no less than four decades. So, if there is one lady who knows about pastry, it’s Delia.

Her ‘How to Cook’ books and accompanying BBC series in the late 90s sold more than a million copies and in ‘parts one and two’ Delia has a whole chapter dedicated to ‘First Steps in Pastry’. Delia keeps it simple by detailing only two types of pastry – a basic shortcrust pastry (which Delia calls one of the best pastries of all) and a quick and easy flaky pastry. She says, “if you master these, you can have a lifetime of happy pastry cooking without having to worry”. According to Delia, pastry should be crisp, short (meaning meltingly light), well baked and “offer a character and flavour in its own right so that is complements whatever it is partnering”.

“Air is the most important ingredient in pastry” apparently, so be sure to sieve as if your life depended on it. She says to check the sell-by date of the flour you have lurking at the back of the cupboard, as fresh is best. Delia also says to use room-temperature fat, which contradicts many books, as if it is too cold, she says, it will take twice as much rubbing in. If you forget to get the fat out of the fridge in time, Delia says to blitz in the food processor with the flour, until you have a crumbly mixture – this is the only time Delia says to use a processor, as with pastry she says you need to feel it to gauge the right amount of water required. Delia also recommends making pastry by an open window, so that you get a draught to keep things cool. With shortcrust, she says just use water, no milk or egg, and it should be rested for 30 mins in the fridge.

There are the obligatory Delia tips on practical things like storage (it will keep in the fridge uncooked for three days, and frozen for three months) and she says not to bother with baking beans; instead prick the base, then brush with beaten egg. There are step-by-step pictures of each stage of pastry making, but without any glamorous shots of Delia - just practical shots of the food. (Although in my edition there is a missing step image!).

When it comes to Delia’s quick and easy flaky pastry, all you need to do is grate frozen butter into flour, stir with a knife, add water and use a knife to combine. Delia keeps it simple but as a result you’ll quickly become a master of these top pastries and the delicious range of recipes to go alongside them.

Next: The Hairy Bikers’ Perfect Pies

Previous experts series:
The expert's guide to Victoria sponge
The expert's guide to bread making