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40 Hacks to Help You Become an Expert Baker

By,
Gourmandize
When Making Flaky Pastries or Crusts, Grate Your Butter 7/40

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When Making Flaky Pastries or Crusts, Grate Your Butter

If you're baking up something that's meant to have a flaky texture like biscuits, pie crust or scones, try grating your butter into the dough. This is much easier than cutting it in with a pastry blender or knife, and you can hold the butter in its wrapping to avoid making it melt from the heat of your hands. Use the large-holed side of a cheese grater, and simply grate it like you would any type of hard or semi-hard cheese. This will help you get a more even distribution of butter throughout the dough and give it that wonderfully flaky finish upon baking.


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Ingredients

  • 2 large water or soda bottles (empty)
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 4 tbsp cocoa powder

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Ready 2 large plastic bottles, cleaned and dried.
  3. Add 1 cup of flour to each bottle.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to each.
  5. Melt butter, then add equal halves to each bottle.
  6. Add 6 eggs, 3 in each.
  7. Add 1/2 tbsp of baking powder to each.
  8. Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream to each.
  9. Shake the bottles thoroughly until the contents are well mixed.
  10. In one of the bottles only, add the cocoa powder.
  11. Beginning with the cocoa powder mixture, add a dolop of batter to the center of a circular
  12. baking tin. Do the same with the other mixture, placing the dolop directly in the center of the previous one.
  13. Continue with alternating additions of each mixture until all batter is used and the tin is full.
  14. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
  15. Serve and enjoy!