PASTRY PRODUCTS/Types and Production 4407
PASTRY PRODUCTS
Contents
Types and Production
Ingredient Functionality and Dough Characteristics
Types and Production
J B Harte, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI,
USA
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Background
0001 There are many types of pastry dough. Shortcrust or
standard plain pastry contains four ingredients –
flour, fat, water, and salt – that are mixed, rolled,
and cut into shapes. Alterations in the proportions
of these ingredients, the addition of other ingredients,
and the employment of various mixing and manipu-
lation techniques produce popular pastry doughs,
such as puff, choux, and strudel pastries. It is the
purpose of this article to outline popular pastry var-
ieties and present some common small- and large-
scale production methods.
Plain Pastry
Pie Crusts
0002 Shortcrust pastry or piecrusts are prepared by cutting
solid fat into the flour and salt, and gradually adding
water to obtain the consistency for rolling the dough
into the desired shape. A low-protein, pastry flour is
used to prevent the development of gluten in the pie
dough. Limiting the mixing step after the addition of
water and limiting reworking of dough will also help
to prevent gluten development that would result in a
tough crust.
0003 Medium-flaky crust is obtained by cutting the fat
into lumps the size of rice or coarse cracked corn.
Flakier crusts are obtained by chilling the water and
sometimes the flour to 1.7–4.5
C prior to mixing,
cutting fat into larger pieces and/or keeping the
mixing step as short as possible. Chilling the dough
before rolling also helps to keep the fat firmer. A
mealy crust forms when the flour and shortening are
mixed thoroughly. The dough should be at about
18
C after mixing and may be held there for 3–4 h
in order to distribute the moisture more evenly. The
type of fat used also affects the flakiness or mealiness
of the crust. Rolling of the dough should start from
the center and continue in the direction that will
produce the desired shape and thickness.
Many varieties of pie crust dough, with fat contents 0004
ranging from less than 50 to 75%, are used. Pie crusts
can also be prepared with a combination of shortcrust
dough and short pastry (pâte de sucre or flan pastry)
or with short pastry alone. Pie crust dough can be
used for two-crust, fruit-filled pies, single-crust, and
soft-filled pies. The typical one- and two-crust pies
are approximately 23 cm in diameter and serve six to
eight people. Crusts are also used for baked meat or
fish pies, quiches, tarts, and turnovers. Fruit-filled
turnovers can be made from dough scraps.
In two-crust fruit pies, the bottom crust should 0005
be slightly thicker than the top in order to support
the fruit filling. Placement of cooled fruit filling in the
prepared pie crust allows it to bake adequately before
the filling begins to boil. Two to four cuts should
be made in the upper crust to vent the steam during
baking. Crusts are baked at 281–232
C, reducing the
moisture content to a low level.
Two types of machines are used to form pies. Pie 0006
crusts can be produced commercially on a small-scale
basis using a pie press that shapes dough balls into
pastry sheets. Alternatively, pies can be formed by
automatic sheeting and cutting. The rotary pie ma-
chine mixes the dough, reduces its thickness and cuts
it into 7.5 12.5-cm sections. These pieces are auto-
matically cross-rolled into thin, round pie pastry
sheets that are manually placed into the pie plates.
The top crust is placed on top after the filling is added
to the bottom crust. The rotary pie machine then
finishes the pie by crimping, scaling, and trimming.
The straight-lined pie type is another example of a 0007
sheeting and cutting machine that is more completely
automated than the rotary pie machine. Pie dough is
divided in two and separately reduced, cut into
7.5 11.5-cm pieces and cross-rolled into the top and
bottom round pastry sheets. The pastry is automatic-
ally placed into the pie plate, filled, topped with an-
other cut pastry sheet, sealed, crimped, and trimmed.
Short Pastry
Short, pâte de sucre or flan pastry is a rich dough 0008
containing a large amount of fat and, unlike standard
 4408 PASTRY PRODUCTS/Types and Production
pastry, eggs and sugar. This pastry is used for biscuits,
tarts, some pies, and the bottom and sides of fruit
flans and cheesecakes. If a nonsweet pastry is desired
for meat, vegetable, or seafood dishes, other ingredi-
ents, such as Parmesan cheese, may be substituted for
the sugar. Smooth blends of shortcrust and pâte de
sucre doughs are often used for pie shells and cream
rolls. Chocolate or cocoa may also be added to these
blends.
Puff Pastry
0009 Puff pastry is lighter, flakier, and more delicate than
standard shortcrust or flan pastry. It contains a higher
fat level and has a unique preparation method that is
critical for preparation of a successful product. This
pastry can be used for a wide variety of products,
including turnovers, shells filled with whipped
cream, custards or fruit, vol-au-vents, and sausage
rolls, and is considered a staple in commerical
bakeries.
0010 The pastry is prepared with a high-protein flour
(bread), water, salt and shortening. A firm, plastic
shortening, equal to 50% of the dough weight and
containing some moisture, is optimum. Other ingre-
dients, such as eggs and acids (cream of tartar, vin-
egar, or lemon juice) can be used. There are three
commonly used methods for mixing and handling
the puff pastry dough – the French (roll-in), English
(roll-in), and the Scottish (all-in) method.
0011 The French method involves rubbing a portion of
pastry fat into the flour to lubricate the gluten. A
portion of the water, acid, and eggs is placed into
the center of a ring made from the mixed flour and
shortening. The dough is mixed well, and the proced-
ure is repeated until all the ingredients, with the ex-
ception of the remaining fat, have been added. The
dough is rolled into a rectangle, 1.25 cm thick with a
thinner outside border, and the fat is rolled to the size
of the thicker dough. After the fat is placed on
the thicker dough, the thinner dough is folded over
on the thicker dough, and the thinner dough is folded
(a) (b)
fig0001 Figure 1 Three-fold pastry preparation: (a) the dough is rolled into a rectangle; (b) one end of the dough is folded two-thirds of the
way down the rectangle: (c) the opposite end is folded to cover the first fold.
over, making a type of pocket. The fat and dough is
then rolled into a rectangle. One half-turn of the
dough is formed by folding one end of the dough
two-thirds of the way down the rectangle and folding
the opposite end to cover the first fold (see Figure 1b).
The new rectangle is three layers of pastry fat separ-
ated by dough layers. The dough is relaxed, and the
rolling procedure is repeated after turning the dough
through 90
for a total of six half-turns. The French
method of puff pastry preparation is the most popular
but is not used by some, because it is complicated and
difficult to produce under high-speed commerical
manufacturing processes.
The English method is the most popular in the 0012
USA. The dough is sheeted into a rectangular shape,
and the roll-in fat is spread uniformly over two-thirds
of the area. Three-fold pastry preparation (Figure 1)
is used to form three dough layers separated by two
layers of fat.
The Scottish method is similar to pie-crust prepar- 0013
ation, simple, and widely used commercially. All the
pastry fat is broken into lumps (5 cm) and mixed
loosely in the flour. The remaining ingredients are
then added to form a lumpy dough. The rolling pro-
cedure is the same as the French method with the
addition of one extra half-turn. After the final rolling,
the dough is shaped and relaxed before baking. For
maximum volume, puffed pastries should be baked at
high temperatures (204–212
C). The Blitz method is
a modification of the Scottish method that partially
develops the gluten prior to adding the firm
shortening.
Two mechanical mixers are commonly used in 0014
batch commercial pastry production. The low-speed,
double-arm mixing machine with a large dough bowl
and slow mixing produces a good-quality commerical
puffed pastry. The Scotch pastry method must
be followed when the high-speed mixer is used in
large-scale, high-product-capacity operations. Care-
ful timing is critical with these mixers to prevent
overmixing that results in an intimate mixing of fat
with the dough and formation of a short rather than a
(c)

puffed pastry. After mixing the dough, any of the
methods described in the commerical pastry prepar-
ation section can be applied. Continuous puff pastry
dough-production equipment extrudes the dough and
shortening into a double-layer continuous tube with
the shortening in the center layer. This is flattened and
reduced by a dough stretcher. The sheet is folded,
stretched, and thinned. Pieces are cut into their final
shape for pastry shells, cheese or savory sticks, napo-
leons (mile feuilles), turnovers, sugar crisps, etc. Prod-
ucts prepared with this continuous process are usually
intended for wholesale distribution. Thus, their size
and flakiness are limited to prevent breakage during
shipping.
Choux Pastry (pâte é chou)
0015 A wide variety of pastry products are made using
choux paste: cream puffs, éclairs, French crullers,
soup nuts, and decorative shapes used for pastry gar-
nishing. Choux pastry differs from other pastries
in that it is cooked before it is piped or spooned. It
is composed of 150–200 parts eggs, 100 parts flour,
100 parts shortening (butter) and approximately 200
parts water. Flour is quickly stirred into a mixture of
liquid, seasoning and fat, which is heated to boiling.
The fat must be completely dispersed in the hot liquid
to form a proper emulsion. Stirring continues until
the smooth, gelatinized paste no longer sticks to the
pan. The mixture is cooled, and the eggs are beaten
into the choux mix one or two at a time, mixing well
after each addition. Liquid may be gradually added to
make the final paste the desired soft consistency. A
small amount of chemical, fast-acting leavening can
be added to this liquid to obtain the smooth consist-
ency and maximum pastry volume. The paste is
spooned or piped on to parchment-paper-lined pans
and baked at 215–226
C until crisp. (See Leavening
Agents.)
0016 Choux pastry can be prepared using a continuous
extrusion process. The extruder has groups of pro-
cessing zones provided by varying the pitch of the
screw. Throughout these zones, ingredient mixing,
kneading, starch gelatinization, and comminuted/
homogenization are accomplished. The final step in-
volves extrusion of the dough through a die, forming
the desired choux pastry shape. (See Extrusion
Cooking: Principles and Practice.)
Strudel Pastry
0017 The dough used to prepared strudel can be of the puff
pastry type or can be made from water, seasoning,
eggs, shortening or oil, and high-protein flour. Op-
tional ingredients include sugar and lemon juice. The
PASTRY PRODUCTS/Types and Production 4409
fat is mixed or cut into the flour mixture, and the
liquid ingredients are added gradually. The dough is
made into a ball, kneaded, and shaped into a rect-
angular form, relaxed, then rolled and gently
stretched to obtain very thin, transparent dough. Oil
is brushed on the thin layers. Home preparation by
hand stretching is difficult. Commercial methods
have been developed to prepare thin sheets. Strudel
pastry and Fillo (phyllo) dough, which is similar to
strudel, are frozen. These are sold in wholesale and
retail markets and have wide applications for the
home baker. Strudel filling is placed at one end of
the pastry, and the dough is rolled over the filling as
in the preparation of a Swiss roll. Relaxed strudel is
baked at 218–233
C.
Yeast-leavened Pastry
Danish Pastry
Danish pastry is a rich pastry that combines the prin- 0018
ciples of puff pastry and fermented, sweetened dough.
The dough contains high-protein flour (11.5–12%)
that is often combined with up to 30% pastry flour
for easier handling during lamination. Other ingredi-
ents include butter or margarine, yeast, sugar,
shortening, milk solids, eggs (optional), salt, and
flavoring. Fat containing moisture will help produce
steam for leavening and flakiness. The total amount
of fat can range up to 50% of the pastry dough.
Sheeting and folding fat between layers of dough
forms thick films of fat separating dough layers.
Two types of Danish pastries are made in the USA.
The European style is made from lean sweet dough
that has a short shelf-life. The American style is more
common and is made from a richer dough with a
longer shelf-life.
There are two commonly accepted mixing proced- 0019
ures for the preparation of Danish pastry: conven-
tional (three- or four-fold) or the short mixing time
method, and the lamination or the long-mixing-time
method, which is used for automated, high-speed
sheeting systems. In the conventional three-fold
method (Figure 1a–c), all the ingredients are com-
bined with the exception of the rolled-in fat. A rect-
angle is formed by rolling the dough to a thickness of
1.25 cm. A large portion of roll-in pastry fat is evenly
distributed over two-thirds of the dough, and the
rectangle is folded in thirds, starting with the portion
without fat. The dough is then rolled into a rectangle
of 1.25-cm thickness and folded into four equal parts.
After retarding, the dough is rerolled, and the proced-
ure is repeated two more times. The four-fold or
book-fold technique (Figure 2a–c) involves distribut-
ing fat over the center 50% of the dough and folding
 4410 PASTRY PRODUCTS/Types and Production
(a) (b)
fig0002 Figure 2 Four-fold pastry preparation: (a) the dough is rolled into a rectangle: (b) both ends of the dough are folded halfway down the
rectangle; (c) one folded end is turned to cover the opposite fold.
the two ends of the original rectangle to the dough
center. One end is folded over the other fold to line up
with the far edge. The retarding and refolding steps
are then repeated, similar to the procedure described
for the three-fold method.
0020 The gluten structure is developed during the lamin-
ating rather than during mixing. The commercial
lamination method involves layering the shortening
between two pieces of dough. This can be accom-
plished by extruding dough around the shortening,
or high-speed pumping of the shortening between two
continuous dough sheets. Automatic or overlapping
of 45–60-cm dough pieces is followed by sheeting.
This process is repeated two more times before
cutting.
0021 The retarded dough may be shaped into a wide
variety of pastries, including crescents, sticks, rings,
filled pockets, and rolls. Individual pastries are baked
at 193–204
C. Larger Danish products, such as coffee
cakes, are baked at lower temperatures, 176–190
C,
to prevent over-browning before the pastry structure
is set.
Croissants
0022 The croissant is a popular, sweetened, yeast-raised
product that is delicate and flaky. It has a medium-
grain texture and the shape of a crescent. Dough
composition and preparation techniques are similar
to those of Danish pastries, with total fat contents
ranging from 25 to 50%. The rolled in fat is a critical
component for laminated yeast doughs that should
have the same consistency as the dough. It provides
the two-dimensional gluten framework that results
in the characteristically flaky croissant. Additional
ingredients are sugar, salt, whole eggs, yeast, and
water. Dough (19
C) is mixed completely, without
over-developing the gluten, for 1 min in a vertical
high-speed mixer. The dough is extruded, and fat is
extruded on top. It is then flattened, rolled and
rerolled, and laminated for a total of 36 layers.
Most of the gluten development occurs during the
lamination step. Retarded dough is rolled and cut
into triangles with slightly longer sides than the
(c)
base. Filling is added, and the dough is rolled with
four rotations, leaving the peak touching the baking
sheet. The ‘rolled’ pastries are proofed and then
baked at 163–204
C.
Toaster Pastry
Toaster pastries are convenience pastry products that 0023
are popular in the USA. These breakfast or snack
pastries are made from a filled dough, formed into a
shape and size that can fit into a toaster. The pastry
dough is prepared from soft wheat flour, sugar,
shortening, chemical leavening, salt, flavorings, and
colors. It is baked just enough to set the dough and
reduce the moisture content, thus extending the prod-
uct shelf-life. Although many are shelf-stable, many
new varieties are frozen. Browning is completed in
the toaster.
Commercial Preparation of Pastry
Most pastry products evolved after long periods of 0024
small-scale, manual preparation followed by high-
speed, automated production in this century. High-
capacity production of pastry is made possible by
elimination of manual dough manipulation and auto-
mation of the pastry production process. Processing
time is shortened by elimination of roll-in steps, and
reducing resting times between fold-in steps. Vari-
ations exist in the continuous production methods
for the different pastry types such as pie, Danish,
and puff pastries. However, common to all are the
sheeting, depositing, lamination, and cutting steps.
An example of an automated pastry production 0025
system is presented in Figure 3. The dough is mixed
and carried to the sheeter head, or three-roll laminat-
ing head, by the dough feeder and conveyer belt. The
sheeter head unit consists of three rollers with adjust-
able speeds for producing perfect sheeted pastry. Two
are feed rollers, one with deep grooves and the other
with fine triangular grooves. The third roller has a
smooth surface and is located underneath the feed
rollers. Fat layers can be added to the first dough to

2 1 3 4 5 6
fig0003 Figure 3 Automated pastry production system. (1) Supply table; (2) flour duster; (3) three-roll laminating head; (4) fat pump; (5) three-
roll laminating head; (6) flour duster; (7) cross-roller; (8) guiding rollers; (9) two-roll sheeter; (10) retracting belt; (11) guillotine. From
Rijkaart C (1984) Producing the Perfect Pastry. Food Manufacture 59: 29 with permission.
produce the flaky texture of pastries. A second sheeter
head adds another dough layer over the fat. If the
Scottish system is used, all the fat is incorporated
into the dough, a fat extruder is not needed, and
only one sheeter head unit is required.
0026 Dusting flour boxes distribute small amounts of
flour on the conveyor belt, to prevent sticking, and
to the top of the dough sheets prior to cross-rolling.
Conical cross-rollers travel across the belt width,
thinning and spreading the dough sheet to the desired
thickness. Further sheeting occurs at the two-roll
sheeter, reducing dough thickness. Several systems
can be utilized to obtain the desired flakiness by
controlling the number of times the pastry is folded.
0027 The book-fold method (Figure 2a–c) involves
folding the dough sheet and then turning it through
90
C and sheeting the dough, repeating the proced-
ure to obtain the optimal flakiness. Another method
involves continuous folding and sheeting of the
dough. A third method uses a guillotine to cut the
dough sheet into pieces (50 60 cm) and then stacks
then with a retracting conveyor. The dough pieces are
placed on another conveyor belt operating at a 90

angle to the first belt. The pieces are stacked five
layers high by this process, after which the dough
sheets are reduced in thickness. Another method util-
izes a curling arm, or roll winder, which coils the
dough sheet covered with extruded fat into five
layers. A final technique uses a ring extruder that
produces a very uniform, hollow dough cylinder,
lined with fat. This method is particularly suited for
long-shelf-life pastries. For all methods, the dough
sheets can be reduced in size by pressing, cross-
rolling, and running between a multiroller device.
This multiroller allows the dough sheet to be
PASTRY PRODUCTS/Types and Production 4411
7 8 9 11 10
manipulated when in contact with the small rollers,
which press the dough on to the larger roller. The
small rollers revolve individually as the whole group
of small rollers also rotate together in a loop. The
dough is allowed to relax when it is between the
rollers and is not touching the large roller. A similar
stretcher system with a larger number of small rollers,
but without the bottom roller, has also been used. The
final pastry production steps repeat the sheeting and
reducing steps, depending on the necessary dough
thickness and desired flakiness. Preparation of indi-
vidual pastries of varying sizes and shapes depends
upon the type of cutting, depositing and shaping
equipment utilized.
See also: Extrusion Cooking: Principles and Practice;
Leavening Agents
Further Reading
Doerry W (1998) Formulation and production of puff
pastries. AIB Research Department Technical Bulletin
XX (2): 2–5.
Friberg BO (1990) The Professional Pastry Chef, 2nd edn.
pp. 14–23, 29–34, 94–97. New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold.
Goodsell GR (1985) Making Danish – basics that determine
quality results. Bakers Digest 59(3): 16–21.
Loving HJ and Brennesis LJ (1981) Soft wheat uses in the
United States. In: Yamazaki WT and Greenwood CT
(eds) Soft Wheat: Production, Breeding, Milling and
Uses, pp. 169–207. St. Paul, MN: American Association
of Cereal Chemists.
Matz SA (1987) Formulas and Processes for Bakers, pp.
1–26, 39–55, 58. McAllen, TX: Pan-Tech Inter-
national.
4412 PASTRY PRODUCTS/Ingredient Functionality and Dough Characteristics

Matz SA (1992) Bakery Technology and Engineering, 3rd

edition. McAllen, TX: Tan-Tech International, Inc.
Nicolello LG and Dinsdale J (1991) Basic Pastrywork Tech-
niques, 2nd edn, pp. 45–46, 53–58. London: Hodder &
Stoughton.
Pyler EJ (1988) Baking Science and Technology, vol. II, pp.
1107–1183. Meriam, KS: Sosland.
Rijkaart C (1984a) Producing the perfect pastry. Food
Manufacture 59(7): 29–31.
Rijkaart C (1984b) Producing the perfect pastry. Food
Manufacture 59(8): 46–47.
Sultan WJ (1990) Practical Baking, 5th edn., pp. 217–328,
379–423, 425–485. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.