Technology of preparing shortcake: a step-by-step description and the best recipes

A beginner cook often faces such a problem: he wants to make a cake or cookies, opens a book of recipes, and writes: "From two eggs, one hundred grams of butter, two tablespoons of sugar and 150 g of flour, mix the short dough." Take a beginner chef to follow the recipe, pour everything into one bowl, and it turns out some nonsense. The dough is not kneaded, but becomes baked when baking. And all because writers of cooking books for some reason believe that a person is born with full knowledge of what technology is to make a short-dough. But this is a kind of skill that should be understood. And this article will help all beginners to knead properly shortbread dough. It can be of two kinds. And we will tell you in detail how they differ and how to prepare them. And we will also uncover some of the subtleties and secrets of making this base for cakes, cookies and cakes.

A bit of history

Products from the dough appeared at the very dawn of the Neolithic revolution, when mankind only mastered the cultivation and use of cereals. The grains were ground with a hand millstone, a little water was added to the powder ... It is believed that the first flour products were similar to dumplings. But the technology of preparing shortcake is not so ancient. It is assumed that the first products from it were baked in the Persian Gulf region. Crusaders, who fought in Palestine for the Holy Sepulcher, brought to Europe a recipe for preparing a short-dough, as well as a fork and other blessings of civilization. The cookies from this base very quickly gained popularity. And the name of the test - sand - gave the French culinary specialists. After all, according to the consistency, the finished product turns out to be crumbly, brittle. You take a bite of a piece, and it crumbles into your mouth into small "grains of sand." It is shortbread cookies that are served to the traditional English tea-drinking at five o'clock in the afternoon. And now we will learn how to cook it.

Ingredients

The technology of making short-dough products is quite simple. This is under the power of everyone, even a beginner culinary. But there are some secrets that you need to know to make the dough really loose, sandy. We have already said that it is divided into two types. The first is a sand-dough. For its preparation, only so-called base products are used. This flour, fat (butter, margarine), sugar and a little salt. To achieve the splendor of products added baking powder (soda, ammonium). Sand-cake has a more liquid consistency. For its preparation use, in addition to basic products, more eggs and (sometimes) sour cream. Of course, in shortbread dough of both kinds you can and even need to add different seasonings. It can be chocolate pieces, cocoa powder, ginger, raisins, nuts, cinnamon, vanilla, grated lemon peel and the like.

Secrets of preparation of ingredients

As we have already said, the technology of preparing shortcakes is quite simple. But she also has her secrets. The first concerns the temperature regime. If you mix a short dough in a hotly-heated kitchen, you will not get a quality product. After all, it is based on fats. From the heat they melt. And we just do not need it. Therefore, it is important to prepare the dough in a room where the temperature does not exceed eighteen degrees. Next - flour. For a good yeast dough, it should be with a lot of gluten, and for sand, on the contrary, with a small. But since in our conditions we do not have to particularly choose, we will limit ourselves to buying the highest quality white wheat flour. The oil must be very cold, but not from the freezer. For the best result, you should also use margarine. The ratio of fats should be one to one. To bake literally melted in the mouth, you must first turn the granulated sugar into powder. Eggs and sour cream, if we use them, should also be cold.

Shortbread: preparation of products and technology

The main focus of kneading is as fast as possible mixing of fats with flour. That is why we first of all prepare bulk products. We need the particles of flour to become fat. Then the gluten, which is contained in it, can not come out, and the dough will not come out as elastic as yeast. Therefore, the flour must first be sifted into a deep bowl through a fine sieve. Then add other free-flowing ingredients: sugar powder, salt, baking powder ( cookie powder or soda with ammonium). If the prescription is based on cocoa powder, vanillin, cinnamon, grated ginger and other similar ingredients, they will also be put in at this stage. Let's mix all the loose ingredients. Take cold and solid butter with margarine (or cooking oil) and quickly-quickly rub them on a large grater. This shaving is mixed with fingers with flour. We work until the whole cup is filled with so-called bread crumbs.

Shortbread: recipe and cooking technology

Of course, each product is prescribed its own set of products and their quantity. You really need to rely on a prescription. But nevertheless there is a certain formula of the ideal shortcake. It is in the proportions of the basic products. In general, flour should go twice as much as fat. But do not immediately pour it all into a bowl. Let's leave some of it for later mixing. In the bowl at the first stage we put the basic products in such proportions: three hundred grams of flour - two hundred oils with margarine and one hundred sugar powder. Even in sweet products do not forget to add a pinch of salt. To dough did not come out "hammered", put a little soda and ammonium - literally at the tip of the knife, otherwise the products will get an unpleasant smell. Now it is important for us to achieve a batch of moderately elastic test. Fat starts to melt, and "bread crumbs" are easily glued together. We skate on a bowl of buns and we change it by hands. All "bread crumbs" should be included in the test.

What is important to know when mixing

The temperature regime is very important at this stage. If the temperature in the room is below fifteen degrees, we will stop at the "bread crumbs" stage, because the fats will remain firm. And if the thermometer in the kitchen is above twenty-five, the oil will melt and separate from the total mass of products. At the same time, it is important for us to quickly and thoroughly prepare a short dough. The testimonials of experienced culinary experts are advised to put the cutting board in the refrigerator in advance and prepare a container with ice water, where you should lower your hands from time to time. We take out the bun from the bowl. We transfer it to a flour-stripped cutting wooden board. Mesim hands quickly and vigorously, rolling the edges into the kolobok. The dough should look smooth, elastic, but matte. If the bun is glistening, then the oil has melted too much. To do this, put the dough in the refrigerator.

Roll-out

At this stage, the same requirements as for mixing are met. That is cool temperature and quickness. Drained from the refrigerator bollocks should be lightly dented. But the longer you knead the short pastry, the harder it will be to make a product out of it. We sprinkle the board with flour. Put the dough in its center, giving it the shape of a brick. We take out a rolling pin from the refrigerator. We roll from the center to the edges. At the same time we move the rolling pin from and to ourselves at a right angle, turning the board in a circle. The technology of preparing dishes from a short dough is such that we need to roll out a fairly thin layer. It's not biscuits, not cakes. The layer of the rolled short pastry should not exceed eight millimeters in height.

How to prepare a sand-cake

As we remember, in this second kind of basis for cakes, pastries and cookies add liquid products - eggs and sour cream. Sometimes, if the dough turns out to be too steep and poorly rolled out, crackles, pour a little water. But it spoils the taste of baking. The technology of preparation of a sand test of a junk type differs little from the one described above. When we achieve "bread crumbs", we enter the number of eggs and sour cream specified in the recipe. We knead to obtain an elastic ball. If it shines a little, it's not a problem. We transfer the dough to the flour-covered board, continue to knead there. With eggs it is important not to overdo it. Proteins can give rigidity to products. Therefore, it is better to restrict oneself to yolks. Sour cream, as an extra fat, gives the test extra tenderness and friability. This ingredient should be quality, very thick.

Baking products

The oven must be preheated to the temperature specified in the recipe. If we make cookies, we cut the dough layer with figured notches. We shift the workpieces to a baking tray covered with cooking paper. Even thinner the dough layer, the higher the temperature and the shorter the cooking time. Accordingly, the higher the cakes, the colder the oven should be. We check the readiness of such products with a match: if the luster comes out dry, it's ready. The technology of making pastries from short pastry allows the use of metal or silicone baskets. The surface of such products should be pricked in several places with a fork so that it does not swell. Bake cakes and cookies to a golden rosy color.

Sand cakes

For such products, liquid ingredients are required. The technology of making cupcakes from a short dough involves the use of milk. A full glass of this product will require three hundred grams of flour, 180 g of butter, 100 g of powdered sugar, two eggs, 10 g of baking powder and a pinch of salt. If desired, you can pour into the dough two handfuls of raisins, vanilla, grated lemon zest, dried apricots, chopped prunes. Work begins with the mixing of loose products. Then add crushed cold oil. We are getting bread crumbs. We introduce into the bowl eggs and milk. Whisk the mass. We add raisins or other groceries. Once again, beat to saturate the dough with oxygen. Pour into the cake mold. We put the oven in a preheated to one hundred and ninety degrees. We bake for about forty minutes.