Of all the gluten free baking techniques pastry making is definitely the most daunting. Do not fear, this gluten free shortcrust pastry is easy to prepare and far superior to store bought gluten free pastry which tends to be gluggy and full of artificial additives and thickeners.
I have chosen cornflour and sweet rice flour as my two main gluten free flours because they are both soft flours which produce a beautiful crumbly texture as opposed to a tough crust. The addition of sorghum adds a protein, fibre and antioxidant boost as well as smoothness to the pastry texture.
It is very important to rest the pastry in the fridge prior to baking to avoid shrinkage. Cool and relaxed pastry is easier to work with and holds it’s shape so don’t skip this step! If your pastry is too wet dust with extra flour and if it is too dry add a little cold water.
My trick to achieving a light delicate texture is to roll out the dough between two sheets of waxed baking paper. This also allows you to easily transfer the delicate pastry into your pie tin by inverting the sheet and peeling away the baking paper. If breakage occurs simply pinch pastry back together.
The gluten free shortcrust recipe below contains icing sugar for a sweet pie crust but you can easily convert to a savoury pastry by simply omitting the icing sugar and adding sea salt.
Let the baking begin!
Authors note: In the first print run of my cookbook some copies had a misprint in the ingredients list for this recipe. The correct quantity of sorghum flour is 1/3 cup or 50g as stated below not 2 3/4 cups as stated in some printed copies.
- ¾ cup or 100g cornflour
- ¾ cup or 100g sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
- ⅓ cup or 50g sorghum flour
- ½ cup or 90g icing sugar*
- ⅓ cup or 30g almond meal
- 125g cold butter, chopped
- 1 egg
- *For a savoury shortcrust pastry omit the icing sugar and add 1 tbs sea salt. At the final stage add 2-3 tbs of cold water and mix to form a dough.
- Put all flours and icing sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Add the butter and egg and pulse until dough roughly comes together. If required, add 1 - 2 tablespoons of water to help form the dough but only if necessary.
- Transfer dough to a surface and shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and rest in fridge for 1 hour before using.
- Put all flours and icing sugar in Thermomix bowl and combine 3 sec/speed 6.
- Add the butter and egg and mix 15 sec/speed 5 until dough roughly comes together. If required, add 1 - 2 tablespoons of water to help form the dough but only if necessary.
- Transfer dough to a surface and shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and rest in fridge for 1 hour before using.
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