On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1063

Pastry structures (uncooked doughs shown at
bottom; cooked pastries at top). The key to
pastry structure is the distribution of the fat,
here shown as a light layer surrounding
darker masses of dough. Left:In crumbly
pastries, fat coats and separates small
particles of dough. Center:In flaky pastries,
fat coats and separates flattened pieces of
dough. Right:Inlaminatedpastries,fatcoats
andseparatesextended,thinsheetsofdough.
The sheets in laminated pastries are so light
that cooking steams them apart into a light,
airystructure.
Fats Much of the flavor of pastry — and
much of the pleasure — comes from its fat,
which may be a third or more of its weight.
Butpastrymakersoftenchooseafatthathas


littleornoflavor.Thisisbecausethefatmust
have the necessary consistency for producing
thedesiredtexture.Broadlyspeaking,anyfat
oroilcanbeworkedfinelyintoflourtomake
crumbly pastry, while flaky and laminated
pastries require fats that are solid but
malleable at cool room temperature: namely
butter,lard,orvegetableshortening.Ofthese,
shortenings are the easiest to work with, and
producethebesttextures.
Fat Consistency: Butter and Lard Are
Demanding At any given temperature, solid

fats have different consistencies that depend
onwhatfractionoftheirmoleculesisinsolid
crystals, and what fraction is liquid. Above
about25%solids,fatistoohardandbrittleto
roll into an even layer. Below about 15%
solids, fat is too soft to work; it sticks to the
dough,doesn’tholditsshape,andleaksliquid
oil. The ideal fat for flaky and laminated
pastries is therefore one that has between 15