A novel approach to pastry dough making
Watched Cook's American Test Kitchen on PBS today, and saw, what was for me, a very novel approach to making pastry dough.
The ingredients began with the usual: flour, butter, shortening, and cold water.
Then it got interesting. In addition to the water, an equal amount of vodka was added.
The result was a wetter than usual dough, that after the usual chilling, rolled out more easily, stayed together excellently, yet after baking was flaky and crisp.
The chef stated that alcohol and flour will not form gluten, like the water and flour will, and most or all of the alcohol content evaporates during the bake, leaving the dough wetted only with the usual amount of water that would normally result in a rather dry, and less manageable crust.
I'm happy with the pastry dough I make--flour, butter, lard, and water--but this is too interesting to not try at least once.
David G.