Help me make sense of this school recipe.

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

DD is doing food tech tomorrow and it's apple pie. The ingredients list margarine and lard for the pastry but in the method it mentions butter. Not a hint of margarine or lard (apart from to grease the tin)

What do I send her in with?!

If doesn't really matter, 100g of butter/margarine/lard will do. I wouldn't buy anything special for it just whatever you have (I never buy lard so would not be buying it for 50g for a school recipe). If you go with margarine make sure it's the type you can bake with like stork not the type you would spread on sandwiches

I think it would basically be interchangeable between using 50g of marg or 50g of butter.

It's just not a very well-written recipe, "then add and optional extras" - it's not been proofread.

I would send in butter just because that’s what nose at home. I wouldn’t want to buy a block of lard to just use 50g.

It also mentions icing sugar in the method, rather than caster sugar. All very odd. Just go with what you’d be happy to eat. I’d prefer butter.

I always use butter and icing sugar in sweet shortcrust pastry so I would send that rather than buy something that you won't use up

Oh, I'd assumed icing sugar was a mistake in the method section (as it is caster in the ingredients list). It wouldn't have occurred to me that icing sugar would work properly. Does it give a different texture?

Icing sugar makes it a bit more biscuity
Perhaps in your recipe they mean for it to be sprinkled on top?

This recipe is shit. I keep noticing more mistakes. Margarine/lard/butter, caster/icing sugar, it mentions 'the egg' in the method but not the ingredients. I'm curious to know what the students will actually turn up with tomorrow

Do I give her 50g of butter or 100g? I'm so confused.

Phone the school office?

Have just read the recipe, it is a bit of a shambles 😜
100g butter and 25g + 3tablespoons of caster sugar would keep it simple

Perhaps it's a test of their ingenuity

The milk in step 6 has come out of nowhere too....

It's an incredibly badly written recipe!

Even if you send in butter instead of lard/marge you also need to send in extra to grease the tin. We used to use the wrapping paper for greasing (40yrs ago) but if you've sent it in a tupperware box that might be difficult.

You need to send in extra flour to dust the work surface for rolling out the pastry. You can't save some from the pastry quota.

Where did the egg and milk come from?

At least they are providing the water 🙄

EDIT - the cooking time is mentioned but not GM or °C/F. Unless it's an airfryer recipe? Sounds like it's going to be a "fun" lesson 😬

That has got to be one of the worse recipes I've seen! All over the place...

OP - shortcrust pastry is normally about half fat to flour ratio - so 225g (8oz flour) to 100g (4oz fat) I would personally use all butter, but use whatever you have in the house - it can be a mixture of butter & marg, as long as it adds to 100g.

Plus a little extra butter/marg to prepare the tins.

My Mum always made shortcrust pastry with half butter or marge and half lard. It makes it much shorter and just lovely so I do the same myself,

My mum did too, it was the standard recipe in the old Be-Ro cooking book.

OP 100g of 'fat' is what's needed, use what you have or can get easily just butter, just marg or a combo of butter/marg and lard.

I'd buy a block of butter and send that in whole, as someone said above you usually need a bit extra to grease the pan and solid butter is better than marg for getting the crumb texture you want when making pastry.

Oh and it should be caster sugar in the pastry not icing sugar, so the ingredients list is correct for that even if the method is wrong.

Badly written. However I would encourage your child to get their own ingredients ready obviously you supervise. I don’t think my Mum ever got my stuff ready for what were DS lessons.

I use 50/50 butter or marg and lard for pastry, but 100g marg will be fine plus a little extra fir grease, use caster sugar for the pastry, some 25g plus the extra for the apple and a little to sprinkle on the top so all in all about 100g. I would think the little milk and egg will be provided by the school, but perhaps a little milk in a bottle which could be used if you have one.

Maybe I should ask Jamie Oliver 🙄

It says preheat oven to 180, GM5.

You are correct, It does on line no 2. I'm used to seeing it in a more prominent place on recipes. I think i got sidetracked by the (unlisted) egg.