Is it possible to be incapable of making SC pastry?

[Yarboosucks]

I want to make really short, melt in the mouth pastry for DS (mince pies). My pastry is, um, hard.

Can anyone advise me on a guaranteed recipe / method that will enable me to look like a competent baker?

Following with interest as my pastry NEVER sticks together and cracks whenever I roll it out, no matter how much liquid I put in!

You need really cold hands for food pastry and handle it as little as possible.

Oh lorks I wish I could give you exact quantities but I do it all by touch and feel.

Sieve about 8 tbs of plain flour.
Add 2.5 oz butter, if salted a pinch of salt if unsalted 2 pinches
2 oz cookeen or plain white lard
Tsp caster sugar
Rub until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
1 tbs fizzy water followed by 1/2tbs at a time until it becomes nicely bindable.

I don't find resting in fridge makes a difference. Better if rolled at room temp imo.

Cold everything, cut the fat into the flour, add chilled water and tip it out between parchment or clingfilm just as it starts looking 'craggy' and use that to bring it together without touching it, chill it well whilst wrapped and pressed together and then roll out between two sheets again.

Minimal touching is the key.

2 oz marg, 2 oz lard, 8 oz flour. Cut it all together with a dinner knife in each hand, then crumble it with your hands. Form into a ball, no liquid required. Allow to rest before rolling out.

This is a link to the best (and easiest) SC mince pie pastry ever. Delicious. I get asked for the recipe all the time. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2174/unbelievably-easy-mince-pies

Make it in the food processor if you have one. Everything as cold as possible including the liquid. Pulse very briefly once the liquid’s in, then squidge it together as briefly as possible and wrap in cling film. Only put a little liquid at a time, you need less than you’d think, just until it starts to clump together. Chill for at least 1/2 an hour before rolling out. Again, handle as little as possible.
I usually make Nigella frangipane mince pies, I’ll see if I can find the recipe online anywhere.

Yes, cold butter, cold water, cold fingers, cold kitchen, cold pastry and a marble slab to roll it on.

Lard! This could be it - I am trying to emulate by DGM and she would have used lard.... Fizzy water - had not heard of that one!

I have a batch in the oven now with my previous recipe and they don't look any better than my first attempt.

Tomorrow I will invest in lard and fizzy water!

Even Mary Berry says to use a good shop bought pastry!

These as really good- richer but somehow also lighter than usual mince pies with excellent pastry.
gillianskitchen.com/frangipane-mince-pies/

Don't overwork it - light movements - your pastry sounds over-worked. The gluten strands get stretchy when activated which is great for bread but not for pastry...work with it as little as possible.

I made these today. V short and melty. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2768694/orange-pastry-mince-pies

I second @MonaChopsis suggestion. I make these every year. Everyone loves them and I get asked year after year to make them. I’m even cooking some fresh to serve as this year’s Christmas lunch dessert with either custard or ice cream!

Lard is the key, as much as it may not be as appetising an idea. My mum made the best pastry and it was always half and half salted REAL butter not marg, and lard.

I used to be rubbish at pastry. It always came out like bricks, inedible. Then I was watching a cooking programme on telly and had a lightbulb moment.

DO NOT KNEAD YOUR PASTRY.

That's it. Stir the water in with a fork and press it together into a lump with your hands just once before you roll it out. All this stuff about cold hands, cold fat, cold water, fingertips, letting it rest is fine, but I was doing all those.

I was also spending about 15 secs squidging it together. This makes the gluten break down so it goes tough. Don't do it.

I am almost scared to touch the stuff, so I don't think I can be over working it. But latest batch is now out of the oven and I think that I have succeeded in inventing a whole new building material!

My only success is that they smell right and it is now very Christmassy here!

I chuck everything in the food processor as my hands seem to be too warm.
225g flour, 110g butter, 25 sugar, 1 egg and a splash of milk works for me. I leave it in the fridge for at least one hour before use. Mince pies generally take 20 mins to cook at 180c if this helps.

I swear by Delia Smith. I make these every year.

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/books/delias-happy-christmas/traditional-mince-pies

NO KNEADING, just bring it together with a knife, then the tips of your fingers.
I use rough puff for mince pies, quicker and easier than puff pastry but it does need to rest.

These are excellent.

Tons and tons of flour on the baking tray and don’t press the discs down hard, don’t overfill. If you overfill you will weld your pies to the dish.

I don’t use lard I use just butter, flour, ground almonds, an egg yolk and icy water. Never splits or cracks or is hard to work with. You can roll it very very thin and it doesn’t split. You can re-work the scrags and it doesn’t split. The secret for me is the tons of flour on everything (surface, pin, baking tin).

I make Mary Berry’s mince pie pastry and it always works, and I’m not much of a baker!

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mincemeat_and_orange_21941