What is best pastry/dough for mince tarts?

I want to make my own but most I have tried have awful pastry.Tried one at a 'do' recently that had the most delicious pastry but don't know what it was.It was a light, almost crumbly texture, a bit melt-in-the-mouth, and a very light colour, not brown as most are.It was probably home made, but could it have been a short pastry?Any ideas?Thanks.

Try a hamemade sweet short pastry. Easy as.

Swwet short or pate' sucree which is the one i use, it is very short,but makes for a lovely buttery pastry for the tarts.

made my mince pie pastry yesterday ... cream together 225g butter with 1 cup sugar, add pinch of salt, one egg, beat again. Add 2 cups plain flour and 1 tsp baking powder. You will have to put mixture into the fridge for a little while to firm up before lining and filling your tins. Bake at 170*fan bake for 20 mins.

Depending on whether you are good at pastry making and handling or not, I'd make two recommendations.

The first is to check out the Sweet Short Pastry in your Edmonds cookbook. That is a good pastry to start off with until you have confidence in your touch. It is not the really light, crumbly pastry of your recent experience but good.

If you have more skill and can handle something that is much harder to work with then a recipe where butter and icing sugar is creamed first then egg yolks and flour is added in is the one for you. That sweet short pastry is light and crumbly and totally delicious if you don't over work it.

You may wish to use bought pastry. In which case if you can find short or sweet short then that is what you buy. Personally, those pastry's made with hydrogenated palm oil are not very nice if your palate is educated. I can always taste the leaden, lumpen flavour of palm oil. Blerk. It is impossible to disguise even with all the chemicals they put in to try and make the pastry look and taste like real pastry. The same goes for bought choux (eclair cases).

If you live in Auckland (and probably Wellington and Chch) there are 'Foodie' shops where you could probably find a really good pastry already made up in the fridge.

Beware of "Paneton" all-butter puff pastry, it is hopeless and doesn't even taste of butter.It would be better to make your own rough puff, which isn't that hard.

I didn't know that. They certainly look good in the fridge. And yes, I personally prefer homemade. Don't really like puff pastry for sweet 'pies'. I often see it done and this month's Cuisine has a blackberry pie made with puff pastry and to me it looks nice but in my mind I can taste it and it just doesn't 'taste' right. Cold puff is even worse.

Try a sweet short pastry recipe, and use a lightly beaten egg as the liquid to bind.It's the best I've tried.

Thank you everyone for your ideas and thoughts. I will try making a pastry, but if I run out of time (I still have lots of Christmas cakes to make first), then I will go for the sweet short pastry.Hope I don't disappoint myself though; that one I ate recently was perfect!
Thanks again.

This one is primo, doesn't need skill or the fabled 'good hand with pastry'.Neither of which I have.It cheats by using ground almonds to give a good texture:

Pastry – makes 12-14 mincemeat pies
227g flour
113g cold chopped butter, (Mainland, not the cheaper watery stuff).Rub butter into flour - see methods below

Stir in:
40g caster sugar (2.5 tbsp) + 1 tbsp icing sugar or whatever
70g ground almonds (1 pkt)

Beat until mixed and fairly fluid:
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp orange or lemon juice or water
1/2 tsp vanilla

Usually needs 2 tbsp or so xtra milk to form a soft dough. Depends on yolk size possibly.

Methods for rubbing butter into flour:

Food processor:put flower and butter into bowl and process till butter is in 3-4mm grains, say.Add sugar and almonds (pulse a little only) then fluid (pulse a little only).

Work the mix with your hands until it binds into a fairly smooth ball, adding a very little more water if necessary.

By hand:

Rub butter into the flour, with hands well into the mix to warm the butter slightly and facilitate mixing.

Stir in almonds and sugar, mix in fluid.
Work the mix with your hands until it binds into a fairly smooth ball, adding a little more water if necessary.

Rest dough in fridge 15 mins at least.Work by pressing with marble rolling pin to get it moving, work around the edges with hands to get it moving and stop it cracking.Roll quite thinly – say 4mm, until can see colour of bench.If too thick pastry dominates. Cut.Press half almond into moistened spot on each top bit, brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with a bit of caster sugar.

Cooking:the original instructions were 190 deg C 35 minutes, but this is too long.I generally use 175 deg for about 20 minutes, with fan for the second 10 minutes only, although my cooking times are a bit hit-and-miss.Cool 1-2 mins in tin then on a rack.

Sour Cream Pastry: !85g Butter rubbed into 2 1/2 cups plain flour. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 1 beaten egg and 4 tablespoons Sour cream to make a soft dough. Chill before rolling. makes between 20 and 24 covered mini muffin pan mince pies. I use a recipe called Cheats Mincemeat. 400g jar of mincemeat, 440 can drained crushed pineapple, 50g finely chopped Otago dried apricots, grated rind 1 lemon (or Orange) 2 tbs brandy or rum.

I use Jo Seagar's sweet short pastry recipe- no rolling needed, just press into tins.A very short yummy pastry.I copied this from my posting on the great christmas recipe thread - hence the wording in the recipe.

125g butter
1 cup flour
1/2 c icing sugar

Process until mixed. Press into tins and refrigerate 30 mins before cooking. Pop in fruit mince. Lay out remainder between 2 sheets gladwrap and roll till desired thickness and using small star shape, cut out tops for the pies.

Try suet pastry, is what is traditionally used for mince tarts, and is so delicate, and melt in the mouth.Most stand alone butchers should be able to supply you with suet.

Gardie if you're about or anyone else who may know what temperature is Jo Seagars pastry cooked at please?

I break all the rules and use puff pastry..just make 2 tiny slashes on the top piece...much lighter and yummier..dust with icing sugar.

Gardie if you're about or anyone else who may know what temperature is Jo Seagars pastry cooked at & for how long using mini & ordinary size tins
Thank you

120C for about 20 - 25 mins

BTW.....I cook mine in mini muffin tins

I want to make my own but most I have tried have awful pastry.Tried one at a 'do' recently that had the most delicious pastry but don't know what it was.It was a light, almost crumbly texture, a bit melt-in-the-mouth, and a very light colour, not brown as most are.It was probably home made, but could it have been a short pastry!Any ideas!Thanks.

Swwet short or pate' sucree which is the one i use, it is very short,but makes for a lovely buttery pastry for the tarts.

made my mince pie pastry yesterday . cream together 225g butter with 1 cup sugar, add pinch of salt, one egg, beat again. Add 2 cups plain flour and 1 tsp baking powder. You will have to put mixture into the fridge for a little while to firm up before lining and filling your tins. Bake at 170*fan bake for 20 mins.
Edited to add that this recipe is my 77 yr old mother in law's, mothers recipe! It's lovely :)

Depending on whether you are good at pastry making and handling or not, I'd make two recommendations.

The first is to check out the Sweet Short Pastry in your Edmonds cookbook. That is a good pastry to start off with until you have confidence in your touch. It is not the really light, crumbly pastry of your recent experience but good.

If you have more skill and can handle something that is much harder to work with then a recipe where butter and icing sugar is creamed first then egg yolks and flour is added in is the one for you. That sweet short pastry is light and crumbly and totally delicious if you don't over work it.

You may wish to use bought pastry. In which case if you can find short or sweet short then that is what you buy. Personally, those pastry's made with hydrogenated palm oil are not very nice if your palate is educated. I can always taste the leaden, lumpen flavour of palm oil. Blerk. It is impossible to disguise even with all the chemicals they put in to try and make the pastry look and taste like real pastry. The same goes for bought choux (eclair cases).

If you live in Auckland (and probably Wellington and Chch) there are 'Foodie' shops where you could probably find a really good pastry already made up in the fridge.

Beware of "Paneton" all-butter puff pastry, it is hopeless and doesn't even taste of butter.It would be better to make your own rough puff, which isn't that hard.

What is best pastry/dough for mince tarts?

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