Shortcrust pastry - I can't seem to get mine rolled out big enough!

[maggiethecat]

I prefer mine to the ready made ones but always struggle to get it rolled out big enough to fit my tart dish (10 inch). Today I used twice the amount of ingredients required just to ensure that I would have enough. Took ball of dough out of fridge and started to roll carefully but only managed to get it to about 8 inches in diameter and it was only about 2-3 cm thick. I probably could have tried rolling some more but it looked like it would start to crack. Any suggestions?

hmm I usually roll mine pretty thin, but what amounts are you using?

Make more?

assume you mean 2-3mm not cm??? otherwise there's your problem lol

I used 200g flour to 100g of fat - Delia's recipe called for 110g flour for a 9 inch dish so I thought I would have more than enough for a 10 inch dish.
Make more but how much more if I am already using excess - does it speak to something that I am doing wrong?

doh!

I think I usually do 8oz flour, which works out at around 225g

that does me a top and bottom for an 8" pie

that ought to have been plenty for you. i would just roll it out thinner.

also, unless it's a sweet pastry where I've added extra fat and an egg yolk i nver put in fridge because then it does dry a bit and tend to crack.

Sorry, I was being facetious. I do 8oz of flour to 4 oz of fat and that's usually fine. Not sure what that is in metric.

top and bottom?! how do you handle your dough after you've formed it into a ball, ie resting in fridge, then rolling -esp the rolling. I've been beating the ball with the rolling pin to flatten it then start rolling out but just cannot get a nice even formation - by the time it is fairly thin it's quite ragged and torn at the edges and not big enough.

i just make it, shape it into a ball and roll it. do a few rolls and flip it over and rotate a bit to get it even.

as I say though, i do mine pretty thin. tis prob about 1.5mm thick?

I knead it a bit then roll and turn over a few times at teh beginning.

I can only say that perhaps my starting texture is not right (I did not add much water and so it was quite crumbly but still got it into a ball) and perhaps that's why I find rolling so difficult - I guess it's a balancing act bcos you still want to get it nice and flaky instead of doughy?

ahh yeh, it shouldn't be crumbly. should be quite smooth and like a dough

ok - probably been trying too hard for flaky. will add more water next time and see how i get on.

thank you all.