Perfect pastry

I like cooking with pastry so was interested to attend the Masterclass session with William Wood, creator of Careme pastry. William shared many pastry secrets and I've already tried some of them with great success.




William's tips were:

• Always rest your pastry for 15 minutes to avoid shrinkage.
• Add a bed of breadcrumbs to take up excess moisture - works especially well with tomatoes.
• Always cool your filling before adding to the pastry as pastry reacts better when cold.
• Use egg yolk with a touch of water if necessary to glaze but avoid touching the cut pastry sides.
• When you blind bake a flan, chic peas are better than rice to distribute the heat.
• You can also avoid shrinkage by making your pastry a day ahead and putting it in the freezer.
• Use wax paper under a flan when baking to ensure no stick.

Pictured is Bitter Chocolate Tart with Hazelnut Chocolate Ganache which uses Careme Dark Chocolate Pastry. And yes, it was delicious! http://www.caremepastry.com/