Hot water crust pastry recipes
A bit of an oddball in pastry terms as the mixture has to be hot rather than cold. This is a heavy dough pastry made by heating water and fat (lard) together and mixing them into the flour. Because of the high quantity of water used, the pastry is quite hard and strong, making it suitable for encasing heavy mixtures such as pork, ham or raised game pies without collapsing.
A game pie always makes a spectacular centrepiece and this handsome example is amazingly straightforward to make – especially if you buy mixed game meat ready-prepared from a good butcher.
Equipment and preparation: you will need a 20cm/8in spring-form cake tin, about 7cm/2¾in deep.
More hot water crust pastry recipes
Preparation
Once made, the pastry has to be moulded while it’s still warm, before the fat sets and the pastry becomes flaky and dry.
