Pastry

History

Pastry was originally made by the Egyptians. They made a flour and water paste to wrap around meat to soak up the juices as it cooked. Pastry was developed in the Middle East and it was brought to Europe by the Muslims in the 7th century. By medieval times local areas had their own puddings and pies. In the 17th century both flaky and puff pastries were used, and intricate patterns on the pies were a work of art.

Today the chief purpose of pastry is to complement the flavour of the fillings and to provide a casing. When learning about pastry it is important to know some terms. Paste is the uncooked pastry mixture with the fat added. It has less water and more fat than the dough which is used for bread and scones. In bakeries a special pastry margarine is used, whereas the tastiest fat to use at home is butter.

Types of pastry

The two major types of pastry used in New Zealand are short and puff. Flaky pastry is a more quickly prepared version of puff pastry. Short pastry can be altered to make suet pastry and short sweet pastry. Other pastry types include strudel, filo and choux. Yeasted pastries such as Danish and croissants are made with yeast.

Short pastry

Short pastry is a soft, tender pastry that is made from flour, fat, salt and water. It is made by mixing the fat and flour together, adding water and then rolling the paste. It is cooked at 180°C. Different types of short pastry are used for different foods. Short pastry is used to make meat and other savoury pies. Short sweet pastry with added sugar, and sometimes eggs, is used to make fruit pies, Christmas mince pies and other sweet recipes for desserts. Suet pastry is used as a delicious cover on stew.

Puff pastry

Puff pastry is light, flaky and tender. It is made by mixing flour, salt, a little fat and water to form a dough. The dough is then layered with fat, preferably butter, to form hundreds of layers of fat and dough by folding and rolling. When it is baked, water from the dough turns into steam and puffs up the pastry to produce lots of flaky layers. Flaky pastry is made in the same way but has less rolling and folding and is quicker to make. Puff pastry is used for pies and vol-au-vents and can be filled with meat or fruit and spices.

Filo (pronounced fee-lo) and leaved pastries

Leaved pastries are traditionally found in many parts of the world - Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and China. All leaved pastries (apart from puff pastry) are made from a sheet of dough that is as thin as tissue paper – so thin you can read through it.

Traditionally, the dough is made by hand by gently rolling, stretching or pressing it into very thin sheets. Now we can buy it ready made.

In New Zealand it is sold as filo (or phyllo) pastry. Before baking, the dough is brushed with butter or oil. It is then used in different ways depending on the recipe. It can be cut into sheets and layered in a tin, cut to make individual rolls or rolled up as one large roll.

The pastry is filled with all sorts of delicious fillings – either sweet or savoury - for entrees, mains or desserts. These can include fruit, nuts and honey, meat or cheese and spinach. Popular recipes are traditional strudel from Austria, baklava from the Mediterranean, borek from the Middle East and spring rolls from China.

Choux pastry

This is a French speciality used for cream buns, chocolate eclairs and profiteroles. The feather-light pastry surrounds a large cavity which is filled with cream. The butter is boiled with a water/milk mix and then flour is added to it. This mixture is then beaten and eggs are added. The mixture is put in a forcing bag, and placed as rounds or lengths on a baking tray before being baked in a hot oven. When cool, the pastry is pierced to let out the steam.
The pastry is often cut and filled with cream.

It is delicious when filled with cream flavoured with essence – orange, coffee, caramel or chocolate. Chocolate can be used as icing.

Yeasted pastry

Yeasted pastries are light flaky pastries that are crisp on the outside, but soft and tender on the inside. The dough, which has yeast added, is layered with fat, so this pastry is a cross between bread and pastry.

Examples of yeasted pastries include croissants and Danish pastries. Croissants are made in a horseshoe shape, and are traditionally eaten warm filled with butter and jam for breakfast.

However, in New Zealand we eat them any time of the day with all sorts of fillings. Danish pastries are found in all sorts of shapes, such as swirls and figures of eight. They are always sweet and can have a filling, such as custard, and icing on top, making a delicious snack or dessert.

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Puff pastry - how it works

Puff pastry is a light, flaky and tender pastry made by mixing flour, water and salt into a dough and adding layers of fat. It is used to make pies, pasties, vol au vents, savouries and desserts.

There are many ways of making puff pastry. The aim is to produce a paste with many alternating layers of dough and fat which rise and form a layered pastry when baked. Specialist bakers and pastry cooks have their own way of making puff pastry. They use different proportions of butter and flour, and differ in the way they incorporate the butter and the number and type of folds they make to the pastry.

Ingredients

It is important to use the correct ingredients and the right pastry making techniques to make a good puff pastry. The main ingredients are flour, water, salt, dough fat and fat.

It is best to use a pastry flour because it is has no bran (which will cause the product to have dark specks) and a high protein content (a minimum of 10%). Some protein becomes gluten when wet and this makes the paste elastic and strong and capable of forming layers when cooked.

'Dough fat' is a small amount of fat that is rubbed into the flour during mixing, to 'shorten' the dough so it becomes more tender. Cool water must be used to prevent the fat from becoming oily. The water must also taste good, i.e. be free of any unusual flavours, so it does not taint the pastry. Salt is added to strengthen the gluten and improve the flavour.

Fat is the second most important ingredient when making a good pastry. Butter is tastiest, but there are some excellent pastry margarines specially produced for making pastry products. There are even better butter/margarine combinations available for use. Fat must be kept cool so that it does not become soft and oily and mix into the dough. Other ingredients are sometimes added to give the pastry a distinctive look and taste. Eggs improve the colour of the pastry, and a little raising agent such as baking powder strengthens the gluten and increases the height of the pastry.
When making puff pastry it is important to rest the pastry. During resting, gluten relaxes and become elastic again, making rolling easier and preventing the pastry from shrinking and becoming misshapen during baking. Correct rolling is essential. The edges of the pastry must be straight and the corners square. The terms full, three-quarter and half are used when describing the amount of fat in the pastry. Full has equal weight of fat and flour, three-quarter has three-quarters of the weight of fat to flour, and half has half the weight of fat to flour. More fat makes the pastry softer to eat but reduces its height.

Making the pastry

First a dough is made using a little dough fat and then more fat is added between the dough layers. The dough and fat are then laminated, which involves folding and rolling the dough and fat a few times to make many layers of dough and fat. The fat stays as separate layers and does not mix into the dough.

Adding the fat

There are three different ways of adding the fat.

Once the fat is placed on the dough during lamination, the layers are folded and rolled a number of times until you have the number of layers you want. This can range from 100 to about 700. If there are more than 700 layers the dough layers are too thin and break during baking, so the pastry does not rise evenly.

Dough is rolled into a rectangle three times as long as wide to a thickness of about 12 mm. When rolling the paste keep the unfolded edges closest to you and parallel to the rolling pin before you begin rolling. The dough is then folded as described below.

There are two different ways of doing this and any combination of the two ways can be used when making puff pastry:

• The half-turn method
• The book-fold method

Finishing puff pastry

When there are enough layers the paste is rolled out to a final thickness of about 5 mm thick and left to rest so it will not shrink or become misshapen when baked. The paste is then used to cover tins or is cut into the shape needed. To line baking tins roll the paste carefully around a rolling pin and unroll it over the tin. Then trim off excess paste that is overhanging by cutting around the top of a tin with a knife. Finally, add fillings or toppings. Puff pastry is best baked at 220°C.

Height of pastry

Bakers using the English or French method calculate the number of layers they want. About 130 layers often give the greatest height of pastry, but sometimes they want less height and more layers. Bakers may use different types of folds to get the number of layers they want. The number of dough layers is calculated using different formula for different folding methods. The three-fold method gives two layers of fat after the first half turn. Each subsequent turn triples the total number of fat layers. However, there is always one more layer of dough than fat. The formula for the number of dough layers is 2(3n-1)+ 1 where n is the number of half-turns. The four-fold method quadruples the number of fat layers each time the dough is folded. Like the half-turn method there is one more layer of dough than fat after each 'half turn'. The number of dough layers is calculated as (4n)+ 1 where n is the number of book-folds. If the English method is used to add the fat then the number of dough layers is 2(4n)+ 1.

How puff pastry works

Unbaked puff pastry (paste) has many alternating layers of fat and dough to make it puff. As the pastry bakes water boils off as steam from the gluten in the dough layers and goes into the fat layers. As water turns into steam it expands, making large bubbles between the layers of dough. This inflates the pastry and it becomes about eight times higher.

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Yeasted pastries

Yeasted pastries are a delicious product that originated in Europe, where they are traditionally eaten in the morning freshly baked and still warm. They are a cross between bread and puff pastry and so they should be crisp on the outside, like puff pastry, and soft and tender inside, like bread, and should melt in your mouth, leaving no aftertaste. Two types of yeasted pastries are commonly eaten in New Zealand: Danish pastries and croissants.

Croissants
Croissants are thought to have originated in Austria. In 1683 when the Turks were secretly digging tunnels under Vienna to make a surprise attack on the city they were heard by the bakers working early in the morning. The bakers who raised the alarm and saving Vienna from being defeated by the Turks, then baked a special commemorative roll in the shape of the crescent on the Turkish flag. Marie Antoinette, a French princess, introduced the roll to France where it became known as the croissant, the French word for crescent.

Over the years the croissant developed into the product we know today. Because croissants are time-consuming and expensive to produce by hand, they were not widely eaten. Recently new technologies have been developed that allow less expensive, efficient, mass production of this delicious cereal product.

Croissants are made from a sweet yeasted paste (unbaked pastry) layered with fat. Nowadays they are eaten at any time of the day and can be filled with all sorts of delicious savoury or sweet fillings. They may also be pre-filled with delicious fillings such as chocolate, fruit or almond paste.

Danish pastries
Little is known about the history of Danish pastries. They are popular throughout Europe and the USA. In different countries they have different names: the Danish call them Wienerbrod (Vienna bread, after the Austrian capital) and the Austrians call them Kopenhagener (Copenhagen, after the Danish capital). They were introduced to America by bakers from Denmark.

Like croissants, Danish pastries are made from yeast-leavened sweet doughs layered with butter or margarine. They are not kneaded for as long as croissants so they will have a softer mouthfeel and will be more tender. They can have all sorts of fillings and/or toppings, such as nuts and fruits


Making yeasted pastries

Figure 1: Steps in the production of danish pastries

Yeasted pastries are a cross between puff pastry and bread so a combination of techniques used for both bread and pastry making are involved in their production. To make high quality yeasted pastries it is important to understand the effects of ingredients on the quality of the final products. Information about the functions of ingredients can be found in the bread and puff pastry information sheets.
First, a dough is made with yeast in the same way as bread dough is prepared. This contains flour suitable for breadmaking, some sugar, dough fat, salt, yeast and cold liquid, which is usually water or milk. Some recipes include eggs, giving the baked pastry a beautiful golden colour. The flour needs to have a fairly high protein content. When the ingredients are mixed into a dough the protein changes to gluten. The gluten is strong and elastic, producing layers that hold up the pastry after it is baked. After the dough has been kneaded it is covered and left in a cool place to relax. This helps prevent distortion and shrinking in the final product. After relaxing, the dough must cool for the lamination stage.

Lamination is a way of adding the 'roll-in' fat to the dough to produce a paste (unbaked pastry). This paste is made up of many very thin layers of dough and fat, which are made by rolling and re-rolling the dough in a similar way to making puff paste. The tastiest fat is butter and it leaves no aftertaste. The butter must be cool, but pliable. If it is too soft it soaks into the dough and layers will not form. One way to add the roll in fat is to use the English method.

The dough is then given four half turns. This is done by placing the paste on the bench so that the unfolded sides of the dough are parallel to the edge of the bench. The paste is then carefully rolled away from the edge of the bench into another rectangle and then folded into three, as in figure 2b. It is then covered and placed in a fridge for 10-15 minutes. Repeat this twice more. Finally the dough is rolled out ready for cutting.

The lamination process in yeasted pastries
Figure 2a: Adding the roll-in fat	Figure 2b: Making a half-turn croissant make-up

Croissants are made by rolling out the paste into a square about 3.5mm thick. This is cut into triangles that are rolled up, bent into the traditional crescent, put on a baking sheet and left to rise until they have doubled in size. This takes about 40 minutes at 32°C. Before being baked, croissants are brushed with a beaten egg so the baked croissant looks golden. During baking the dough rises a little more, as bread does during breadmaking. This is called ovenspring. The moisture in the dough puffs up the pastry when it converts to steam. The steam is trapped between the layers of fat, turning the fat and dough laminations into flaky layers so the croissant looks like a cross between bread and puff pastry.

Danish pastry make-up
To make Danish pastries the paste is rolled out to about 4mm thick, cut and folded into various shapes - from 'snails' and 'elephant ears' to 'swirls' and 'knots'. All sorts of fillings can be added; popular ones include almond paste, fruit, nuts or custard. Like croissants, danish pastries are then put on a baking tray and left to rise until about double in size. Toppings such as chopped nuts may be added and a beaten egg may be brushed on the surface just before baking. Danish pastries rise up and form flaky layers like croissants. After baking, the pastries are usually glazed to make them look attractive and to add flavour. Usually the glaze is diluted apricot jam, which is brushed on while the pastry is still hot. When cool the pastries may also be iced. Lemon icing is a delicious and popular icing.

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Source: http://www.bakeinfo.co.nz/school/school_info/pastry.php

ALMOND CROISSANT
A sweet croissant filled with almond paste and topped with sliced almonds. Some are dusted with confectioners’ sugar. As such, it becomes more of a pastry than a bread.

ALMOND TART
A tart filled with almond paste.

ALMOND PASTE and MARZIPAN Almond paste is made of blanched, finely ground almonds, powdered sugar and generally, glucose or syrup to bind them together. It is coarser and less sweet than marzipan. Both are used as a pastry filling, and were traditionally popular in wedding cakes as a layer on top of the cake and under the fondant. Marzipan has more sugar and is also shaped into plain or chocolate-covered rolls, painted figures and fruits, and enjoyed directly as a confection. Marzipan originated in the Middle East, where it was flavored with rose water or orange blossom water. The delicacy was served at palaces as early as 965 C.E.

Animals and fruit are two favorite subjects for marzipan artists. Photo courtesy of Olomarzipan.ch.

While scholars don’t agree as to the origin of the word, one explanation is that it is a combination of the Arabic “mautaban” and the Italian “Marci panis,” Marcus bread.* Marzipan came to Europe via the Arab invasion of Spain and like chocolate, was initially a delicacy reserved for monarchs and aristocrats. It was initially produced by pharmacists, who had the spice monopoly. In the 19th century, when sugar became affordable to most people, it entered the confectionary mainstream. While modern European countries regulate the ratios of sugar to almonds that define marzipan and almond paste, these do not exist in the U.S. Because the ratios can vary significantly, try different brands to see what you like.

*Mautaban meant “sitting king” in Arabic (as costly marzipan was initially a food for regents), a Byzantine coin (with the image of the king) and also apparently, a box in which marzipan was traded. Marci pani, “Bread of Marcus,’ refers to Saint Marcus, the patron saint of bakers. There are numerous other explanations.

À LA MODE
This French term, which means “in the manner (or mode) of,” refers to the style in which a dish is prepared. For example, “Tripe à la mode de Caen,” a classic French dish, refers to the way tripe is prepared in the Normandy city of Caen (onions and carrots are layered on the bottom of a casserole, topped by a halved steer’s foot, followed by the tripe, garlic, leeks and herbs, covered with apple cider and Calvados, baked under a crust and served cold). However in America, the term has been Americanized, first to mean pie topped with ice cream, and now to mean any dessert with a scoop of ice cream.

ANGEL PIE
A meringue crust filled with whipped cream. It also can have a layer of fruit filling such as lemon curd, fresh halved strawberries or whole raspberries, topped by more whipped cream.

APPLE BROWN BETTY See Brown Betty. APPLE PIE Forget “as American as apple pie”; the apple pie, in its flour and lard crust, came from England. The sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg that are essential ingredients were brought by trading ships to England, long before the American Colonies developed—in fact, they came from what would become British colonies. The pie itself was an English pastry specialty, as opposed to the pastry specialties of other cuisines—the French tart and the Greek phyllo pastry, for example.

As British as Apple pie. Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Milk Media Board.

BAKING SHEET LINER
See pastry mat.

BAKLAVA A Middle Eastern dessert made of layers of phyllo pastry filled with a mixture of ground nuts and sugar. The pastry is sliced, baked, and brushed with a honey syrup flavored with lemon or rosewater; the honey makes the pastry very sweet. The earliest form of the pastry was made in the 8th century B.C.E. in northern Mesopotamia, when the Assyrians layered very thin pieces of dough with nuts and honey, and baked them in wood-burning ovens. Greek seamen brought the concept home.

Baklava. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Athenian artisan bakers created phyllo, the leaf-thin layers of dough; and as early as the 3rd century B.C., the modern prototype of baklava was served in wealthy Greek households for special occasions. Other nations adapted the recipe: Armenians added cinnamon and cloves, Arabs added rosewater and cardamom. The pastry spread to the households of wealthy Persians and Romans; in the 4th Century C.E., when the Roman Empire expanded to Byzantium (modern Turkey), so did baklava. A Mediterranean favorite, it is easy to see why every country would want to claim baklava as its own!
Historical information courtesy of SinbadSweets.com.

BANANA CREAM PIE While savory pies date back to ancient times, sweet pies—fruit, cream, custard and pudding pies—date to Medieval times (the Middle Ages), which lasted from the 5th through the 16th century. In the High Middle Ages, from the 11th through 13th centuries, crusaders brought phyllo dough and baklava recipes back to Europe. But bananas did not arrive on a reliable basis until the 1880s, when improved transportation and aggressive promotion introduced what was to become a popular fruit. Banana cream pie, banana tarts, banana cake and banana pudding soon followed. BANBURY TART Actually a turnover, a raisin and cracker crumb filling, accented with lemon zest, is enclosed on all sides by crimped pastry.

Banana Cream Pie. Photo courtesy Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

BEAR CLAW
A pastry made from yeast pastry or laminated dough, roughly shaped like a claw. The dough can be almond-flavored, or can have an almond paste filling. The filling can also include raisins or chopped dates. Often, the top is striped with fondant and sometimes, sliced almonds.

BOCCONOTTI
See pasticiotti.

BREAKFAST PASTRY or BREAKFAST BREAD A breakfast bread is a bread traditionally reserved for the morning meal. It can be sweet or savory; a savory bread, such as a croissant, is typically served with a sweet embellishment such as preserves. Other examples include almond croissants, pain au chocolat and other Viennoiserie, danish, diplomats and financiers. The difference between a pastry and a “breakfast pastry” is that the latter contains far less sugar and less rich embellishments.

Almond croissants. Photo courtesy of Tisserie.com.

BREAKFAST PIE Typically a savory pie crust filled with breakfast items—eggs, cheese and breakfast meats. Breakfast wraps, tacos and the McMuffin are another example of porting plated breakfast foods into a bread wrapper. Historically, pies were savory items, as bread was a Western invention and sugar is native to the Pacific Rim. The original pies were meat pies; the first fruit pies, sweetened with very expensive sugar, were treats for the very wealthy in the 17th century, when Portuguese traders brought sugar to Europe. It wasn’t until the latter part of the 18th century that sugar became affordable to the middle class, and cakes and pies became an affordable treat. BISCOTTI While a cookie, not a pastry, we include this twice-baked Italian biscuit. Traditionally flavored with anise or nuts, biscotti are now made in a wide variety of flavors. See the history of biscotti.

Breakfast pie. Photo courtesy of MackenzieLtd.com.

BETTY or BROWN BETTY
Most often found in recipes for a Brown Betty or an Apple Brown Betty, a betty is a crisp topped with buttered bread crumbs or bread pieces instead of streusel or another topping; later recipes also use graham cracker crumbs (see the history of the graham cracker, which postdates the Brown Betty). In some recipes, sugared and spiced fruit, usually diced apples (although any fruit can be used), is placed in alternating layers with the crumbs and baked, covered, to the consistency of bread pudding. The dish and name date back to colonial times, but the original “Betty” is lost to history; the brown refers to the brown sugar in the recipe. See also cobbler, crisp and grunt.

BLACK BOTTOM PIE
A chiffon pie made with two flavors of custard. The bottom layer is chocolate custard, the top layer is rum-flavored vanilla custard. The pie is topped with a thin layer of sweetened whipped cream and sprinkled with thin shavings of chocolate. In general, “black bottom” refers to a bottom layer of chocolate. You can make a black bottom cake, cupcake, etc.

BOUCHÉE
Miniature tart shells or cream puffs (puff pastry shells) used for sweet or savory fillings.

CANNOLI A Sicilian pastry, cannoli is actually the plural form of the word. The singular is cannolo (cannolu in Sicilian dialect), meaning “little tube.” The crunchy, fried pastry dough tube (sometimes dipped in chocolate) is filled with a sweetened ricotta cream (sometimes mascarpone), which can be flavored with vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, marsala, rosewater and other flavorings. Chocolate chips or candied citron can be mixed into the filling; the open ends of the tube can be decorated with chopped chocolate or pistachio nuts. Cannoli range in size from finger-sized “cannulicchi” (mini-cannoli) to five-inch-long tubes.

Cannoli. Photo by Mike Connors | MorgueFile.

You can also find “cannoli tarts,” made with a pie crust, filled with cannoli cream and generally topped with a strawberry.

CATHERINE’S PASTRY
Plain pastry made with pastry flour and the addition of 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. The baking powder makes it almost as flaky as puff pastry. It is an especially good base for cream pie.

CHEESECAKE A cheesecake is actually a custard pie made in a springform pan. It generally has a bottom crust, although savory cheesecakes are often crustless and are served with crackers as an appetizer or as a first course (see our review of Savory Secret cheesecakes). The weight and texture of a cheesecake varies greatly according to the type of cheese used (cream cheese, ricotta cheese or cottage cheese, other cheeses for some savory recipes) and other recipe elements. There are light and airy cheesecakes, rich and dense cheesecakes and everything in between. Crusts can be pastry, cookie crumbs or bread crumbs. Cheesecakes made in a rainbow of flavors and are served chilled, plain or with a variety of topping including sour scream, fresh fruit, fruit toppings and sauces. See cheesecake royale, below.

Toffee Crunch Cheesecake from PRPastry.com, maker of many delicious flavors of cheesecake.

CHEESECAKE ROYALE
After the cheesecake comes out of the oven and cools briefly, a topping of sour cream and vanilla is baked on top of it for a final five minutes, creating a separate sour cream layer.

CHEESE PASTRY
Plain pastry with five tablespoons of grated cheese cut in with the shortening. This pastry is an ideal pairing with fruit pies, e.g., a Cheddar crust with apple pie.

CHEESE STRAWS Cheese straws are strips of pastry, topped with cheese and baked until crisp. They are sometimes twisted for a more festive shape. Today popular with cocktails, the original cheese straws are believed to be a result of leftover biscuit dough, which was mixed with cheese and rolled into long strips that were baked along with the biscuits to be enjoyed as snacks. There are also sweet cheese straws, flavored with cinnamon, citrus and other flavors. Read the history of cheese straws.

Cinnamon cheese straws from John Wm. Macy’s, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

CHESS PIE
A Southern specialty, chess pie is simple pie of eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla with a cornmeal crust. It uses brown sugar in addition to white sugar, and some recipes use corn syrup as well. It is very sweet—like pecan pie without the pecans. The name has nothing to do with the game of chess, but, as this is the simple base for more complex recipes, may relate to the pie chest common in the early South, in which pies were stored (i.e., “chest pie”).

CHIFFON PIE
Egg whites and gelatin are incorporated into a custard base to provide a lighter, fluffier texture. Examples include chocolate chiffon, coffee chiffon, lemon, lime, orange and pumpkin chiffon pie. For the holidays, chiffon candy pie with crushed peppermint stick candy, and egg nog chiffon pie, are popular.

CHOCOLATE SILK PIE See silk pie. CHOUX PASTE or CHOUX PASTRY See pâte à choux. CINNAMON ROLLS A sweet roll or yeast pastry made of layers of flaky pastry and rolled with a cinnamon and sugar filling, and often raisins and nuts. It is topped with is topped with a sticky vanilla icing or glaze. (See photo at right.) See also viennoiserie.

Cinnamon rolls available from MackenzieLtd.com.

CLAFOUTIS
A French dessert made of fruit, covered with a thick batter and baked until puffy. It can be served hot or cold. Originally made with cherries, a variety of fruits are now used.

COBBLER A cobbler topping is different from a crisp or crumble, which has a crumb topping (see below). Although some might see the cobbler as a crustless pie or “spoon pie” (a fruit pie with a filling so juicy it should be eaten with a spoon instead of a fork), it is often classified as a cake. Fruit is baked in a baking dish or casserole, then shortcake batter or biscuit dough is dropped onto the fruit before baking. The dish got its name because the lumps of cooked dough resembled cobblestones.

Mixed berry and cherry cobbler. Photo courtesy of USACherries.com.

Related desserts include a grunt, which is a spoon pie with biscuit dough on top of stewed fruit (fruit which is steamed, not baked); a pandowdy, a spoon pie with a rolled top crust that is broken up to allow the juices to come through; and a slump, a spoon pie topped with biscuit dough or pie crust, which can be baked or steamed, and can be made upside down.

COCKTAIL PASTRIES
Hors d’oeuvres that include benne pastries (dough mixed with brown sesame seeds and Worcestershire sauce), cheese sticks, mini tarts and quiches, pinwheels (rolled pastry with various fillings (anchovy paste, blue cheese, deviled ham, mushroom) and miniature turnovers.    

COFFEE PASTRY
Plain pastry to which a tablespoon of instant coffee is added. Ideal for cream pies.

CONDÉS
Strips of plain pastry or puff pastry, topped with a glaze of sugar and chopped almonds and sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar.

CONFECTIONER’S CUSTARD
Crème pâtissière or pastry cream.

CONFECTIONER’S SUGAR or POWDERED SUGAR or 10x SUGAR

Confectioner’s sugar, also known as icing sugar, is a very finely-ground form of granulated sugar with the consistency of talcum powder. It dissolves quickly to make icing, and is used to dust a powdery garnish onto unfrosted cakes. 10x refers to the number of times the sugar is processed to produce fine powder. Commercial brands of powdered sugar are generally mixed with cornstarch, wheat flour, or calcium phosphate to improve its flowing ability, which is why it is not used to sweeten beverages. You can make powdered sugar by grinding table sugar in a coffee grinder. See our Sugar Glossary for more types of sugar.

Photo of confectioner’s sugar courtesy of SXC.

COOKIE CRUST
Bottom and top crusts can be made from cookie crumbs: chocolate and vanilla wafers, ginger snaps, graham crackers and Oreos are popular examples.

COTTAGE CHEESE PIE
A cheesecake made with cottage cheese, often made in a crumb pie shell.

COTTAGE PIE A shepherd’s pie with a bottom crust, this traditional British dish serves up slow-roasted beef in gravy (season yours with garlic and mushrooms). Like shepherd’s pie, the top crust is made of mashed potatoes, browned until they are crispy. CREAM HORN A cream horn is an individual “cornucopia” made from puff pastry that is baked, cooled and filled with whipped cream or custard. The horn is garnished with cascading cut fruit and dusted with powdered sugar. CREAM ROLL A cream horn is a sausage-shaped pastry filled with custard and sprinkled with powdered sugar. The ends are typically garnished with chocolate sprinkles.

Cottage pie. Photo courtesy of MackenzieLtd.com.

CREAM PIE or CREME PIE
A plain pastry or crumb pastry shell with a pudding filling (butterscotch, chocolate, frangipane and vanilla are most common).

CREAM PUFF Of those two pastries that people consider siblings, the cream puff and the éclair, the cream puff is the elder, dating back to the late 16th century. The elongated éclair did not appear until 200 years later, in the late 18th century. Originally, the cream puff was filled with whipped cream and served plain (or late, dusted with powdered sugar). Now, the round pastry, which is piped from a bag and baked, is often halved, as in the photo at right. Profiteroles, cream puffs stuffed with ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce, are a 20th century dish.

Cream puff with a custard filling and powdered sugar dusting. Photo courtesy American Egg Board.

Today, both can be prepared in any way that the pastry chef can conceive, from pistachio whipped cream and glaze to saffron custard with caramel glaze to blueberry jam with cassis whipped cream and cassis glaze. Some cream puffs have chocolate-glazed tops, similar to the éclair.

CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE
Crème pâtissière, pastry cream, is a stirred custard (egg yolks and sugar with milk and/or cream) thickened with cornstarch or flour and typically flavored with vanilla (although other flavors can be used). This is the same recipe as crème anglaise, but the addition of the starch gives it the stability to be brought to a boil. It is used to fill éclairs and other pastries; inside fresh fruit tarts and flans, to fill cakes (it is added to buttercream to make mousseline filling for cake and pastry), etc. With the addition of beaten egg whites, it becomes crème Saint-Honoré, a filling for cream puffs.

CREME PIE
See cream pie.

CRÈME PRALINÉE Crème pralinée is crème pâtissière flavored with praline powder. It is used to fill pastries. CRISP or CRUMBLE A crisp is a deep-dish fruit dessert made with a crumb or streusel topping and baked. The British term is crumble. A cobbler has a pastry top instead of a crumb top). Also see betty.

This wildberry crisp is available at MackenzieLtd.com.

CROQUILLANT Crunch balls of yeast dough, which can be sweet or savory; a more elegant rendition of “doughnut holes.” The name comes from croquer, the French verb “to crunch” or “to be crunchy.”

Croquillants from FinancierPastries.com.

CROQUE EM BOUCHE A traditional French wedding cake in the shape of a large cone, constructed of small choux puffs filled with vanilla pastry cream. The puffs are held together by caramelized sugar and finished with a web of caramel. Decorations such as candied almonds, flowers or ribbons may adorn the cone as well. The cone usually rests on a base made from nougatine, an edible mixture of caramelized sugar and sliced almonds. Croque em bouche is also traditionally served during baptisms and other special occasions. The name means “cracks in the mouth,” which is what the caramelized sugar does! (Photo at right.) CROSTATA A crostata is a rustic style of tart baked free form rather than in a pan or mold. The pastry is rolled into a round circle, the filling is piled into the middle and the edges of the dough are folded up over the filling.

A towering croque em bouche, here covered in chocolate instead of caramel. Photo by Creacart | IST.

CRUMBLE PIE
See streusel.

CRUMB PASTRY
A crust made of cookie crumbs or bread crumbs. See cookie crust.

CRUST
The thin layer of pastry covering lining and topping a pie. (Note: This term has other meanings with other types of food, e.g. bread crust and salt crust.) Cookie crumbs, meringue, nuts and even mashed potatoes (in shepherd’s pie) also serve as crusts.

CUSTARD A sweet or savory mixture of milk and eggs that can either be baked or stirred on the stovetop. Stirred custards are softer than baked custards and can be used as a sauce (or the base for ice cream). Custards require slow cooking and gentle heat in order to prevent separation (curdling); stirred custards are generally made in a double boiler and baked custards in a water bath. Custards may be flavored. See our Custard Glossary. CUSTARD PIE Custard baked in a pie shell. Variations include caramel custard pie and coconut custard pie. Pumpkin pie is a pumpkin-flavored custard; cheesecake is a actually a custard pie blended with cheese.

Crème brûlée, custard with a caramelized top, is available from MackenzieLtd.com.

DACQUOISE
A dacquoise (dah-KWAHZ) is a meringue-based dessert. It can be either a layered dessert of meringue (usually with chopped almonds or hazelnuts), alternating with a chocolate or mocha mousse, buttercream or whipped cream; or it can be a meringue cup filled with mousse, custard or whipped cream and garnished with fruit. It takes its name from the feminine form of the French word dacquois, meaning “of Dax,” a town in southwestern France. See photo above; the base is a layer of dacquoise. See also marjolaine.

DANISH PASTRY or DANISH A variety of rich, buttery breakfast pastries made from a slightly sweetened yeast dough that is rolled out, dotted with butter, then folded and rolled several times in the manner of puff pastry (see laminated pastry). The dough may be flavored with vanilla or cardamom. Danish pastries are made in a variety of shapes with different fillings, including sweetened cream cheese, cooked fruit (apple, apricot, cherry and prune are popular), poppyseed, almond paste and nuts.

Photo © Yuri Arcurs | Dreamstime.

DARIOLE
A puff pastry baked in a dariole mold (slightly taller and narrower than a ramekin) and then filled with almond cream, custard or other filling (there are savory darioles as well). Cream horns are a variety of dariole; the molds are also used to make egg custards, puddings, timbales and individual rum babas.

DEEP DISH PIE
A sweet or savory pie made either in a deep pie dish, that has only a top crust. A deep dish pie pan will be 1-3/4 or 2 inches deep, as compared with 1 inch for a regular pie pan.

DEVONSHIRE CREAM PIE Two circles of plain pastry filled with cream pie filling and topped with a ring of pastry. The pie is garnished with fresh strawberries or other fruit plus whipped cream. The fruit can be glazed with melted currant jelly. DIPLOMAT A Parisian breakfast pastry: flaky croissant pastry filled with custard and raisins. Photo at right. DOUGH Dough is made from flour, fat, salt and water: The fat (butter, margarine, olive oil or suet, e.g.), flour and salt are combined, water is added, and the paste is rolled into dough.

Diplomats available at MackenzieLtd.com.

DOUGHNUT or DONUT
A doughnut is a small, fried ring of sweet, leavened dough. Doughnuts leavened with baking powder are more dense than the fluffier, yeast-leavened doughnuts. Originally a Dutch recipe without a hole, the dough is dropped into hot oil, and was originally called an olykoek, or oily cake. The first written reference to “doughnut” is in Washington Irving’s 1809 in History of New York, where he writes of “balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog’s fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks.” It is said that in 1847, 16-year-old Hanson Gregory created the hole in the center of the doughnut by using the top of a round tin pepper container to punch the holes, so the dough would cook evenly. There are many types of doughnuts. Just a few include bismarks or jelly doughnuts, raised doughnuts leavened with yeast, squares and twists, crullers made from twisted cake-doughnut dough and French doughnuts made with cream-puff pastry dough. They can be filled or unfilled, plain, glazed or iced.
Photo by Michael Lorenzo | SXC.

DUMPLING There are different types of dumplings, but they all involve a piece of a piece of dough. Sweet dumplings are dough wrapped around fruit, baked and served as a dessert, such as apple dumpling. Savory dumplings are sometimes filled with meat or vegetables, and can be cooked in liquid such as water or soup, and served in soup. Others are served as a side starch, instead of potatoes. Some people refer to fried balls of sweet or savory dough as dumplings.

Photo of sweet cheese dumpling by Zsuzsanna Kilián | SXC.

ÉCLAIR
An elongated, finger-shaped pastry made of pâte à choux (puff pastry), filled with whipped cream or custard and topped with ganache or a glacé icing (glaze). The éclair is known to have originated in France around the turn of the 19th century. Many food historians speculate that éclairs were first made by Marie-Antoine Carême (1874-1833), the first “celebrity chef,” considered the founder and architect of French haute cuisine: cookbook author, and chef to Talleyrand, the future George IV of England, Emperor Alexander I of Russia and Baron James de Rothschild. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the word “éclair” in the English language to 1861. The first known recipe for éclairs appears in the 1884 edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, edited by Mrs. D.A. Lincoln (and later by Fanny Farmer). “Éclair” is the French word for lightning. It is suggested that the pastry received its name because it glistens when coated with confectioner’s glaze. We would suggest that it is because they are so popular that they disappear as quickly as lightning. See also cream puff.
Photo by Daniel West | SXC.

ELEPHANT EAR COOKIE
See palmier.

EN CROÛTE En croûte (French for “in crust”) refers to a food that is wrapped in pastry and baked. Meats, fruits, vegetables and cheeses are prepared en croûte. Foods with the exception of cheeses, which have long cooking times, are usually cooked partially prior to wrapping so the crust doesn’t overcook. FILO PASTRY An alternative spelling for phyllo pastry.

Photo of Beef Wellington by Parkerman & Christie | Wikimedia Commons.

FLAKY
A pie crust with a dry texture that easily breaks off into flat, flakelike pieces.

FLAKY PASTRY or ROUGH PUFF PASTRY A crisp, buttery pastry that is a simpler, more quickly prepared version of puff pastry. Flaky pastry expands when cooked due to amount of layers. The “puff” is obtained by beginning the baking process at a high temperature and then lowering it. See pastry. FLAMBÉ French for “flamed” or “flaming,” a dramatic method of presenting foods aflame. This is done by warming liquor, such as brandy, igniting it, and pouring it over the dessert immediately prior to serving. The fire goes out when the flames consume the alcohol. Steamed puddings (especially Christmas Pudding) and Crêpes Suzette are two popular desserts to flambé.

Flambé photo by Paul Kemp | SXC.

FLAN In the pastry world there are two definitions for flan. (1) A single-crust (open) pie with a sweet or savory custard filling. Spinach flan or leek and bacon flan are examples of savory flans. (2) A single-crust pie filled with pastry cream (créme pâtissiere) and topped with fruit. Both examples are baked in a fluted flan ring, a short pan (about 11/2-inch-high) with a removable bottom. (3) Outside of the pastry world, flan, known as creme caramel in Spain where it originated, is a baked custard topped with a layer of caramel that is baked on the bottom but becomes the top when the custard is inverted onto the plate.

Photo of berry flan by A. Schaeffer | SXC.

FLORENTINE MERINGUE PIE
Puff pastry covered with tart jam and topped with meringue. The meringue is sprinkled with chopped toasted almonds and dusted with powdered sugar.

FRANGIPANE or FRANGIPANI
As with flan, above, there are two or more interpretations for frangipane. Originally, frangipani was a custard tart flavored with almonds or pistachios. (1) It came later to mean an almond cream (crème pâtissière flavored with finely ground almonds or macaroons) or custard used as filling in pastries and cakes (if crème pâtissière, it also can be used as a topping). (2) Frangipane is a type of Belgian almond pastry tart made with pâté a choux. Usually the tarts have a striped icing pattern on top, similar to a hot cross bun from above).

FRANGIPAN CREAM PIE
A pie filled with vanilla pudding, into which macaroon crumbs and lemon flavoring (zest or extract) have been added.

FRENCH PASTRY
A style of rich, elaborately constructed and decorated pastries based on puff pastry, prepared in individual portions with rich fillings such as crème pâtissière, custard and fruit.

FRENCH SILK PIE
See silk pie.

FRITTER
Food that has been dipped in batter and deep fried or sautéed. They can be savory or sweet, such as apple fritters.

GALETTE A term with multiple meanings, depending on the category of food. In the pastry world, a galette is a rustic, open-face pie or tart (depending on the size). It is flat, with a flaky, turned-up crust that creates a bowl around the fruit inside (see the photo at right of a peach galette).

Galette from FrogHollow.com, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

GRASSHOPPER PIE
Grasshopper pie is a crème de menthe chiffon pie with a chocolate cookie crust. It was invented in the U.S. in the 1950s and pays homage to the Grasshopper cocktail, made with crème de menthe and crème de cacao. A frozen version can be made with mint or mint chip ice cream.

GRUNT
A grunt is a “spoon pie,” biscuit dough dumplings atop cooked fruit. It is steamed on the stovetop, instead of baked in the oven. See also cobbler, pandowdy and slump.

HOT WATER CRUST PASTRY or HOT WATER PASTRY
A quick and easy method for making plain pastry. It is less flaky than the traditional method, but crisp, tender and serviceable. It works best with lard: Lard is placed in a bowl and melted with boiling water; sifted pastry or cake flour, salt and baking powder are added and stirred until blended. The dough is patted into a ball, wrapped in wax paper and chilled.

ICEBOX PIE
A pie that must be refrigerated or frozen before it can be served. Icebox pies have cookie-crumb crusts that may or may not be baked; fillings are either uncooked or cooked on top of the stove. The fillings are set in the refrigerator (icebox) or freezer (in the case of an ice cream pie). This chilling process allows the filling to thicken and/or set, giving it the proper consistency for serving. Most refrigerated pies need to be consumed within a day, before the crust begins to get soggy.

ITALIAN PASTRY
There is no single type of “Italian pasty.” Like French pastry or the pastry of any nationality, it is rich and varied. Examples include cannoli, lobster tail, pignolata, sfogliatelle and zeppole.

JALOUSIE A jalousie (the word means both jealousy and slatted blind in French; in this case it refers to the slats) is a fusion of a turnover and a strudel. You have seen it before, but have not known the official name. A jalousie consists of two rectangles of puff pastry with a fresh fruit filling in-between; the edges of the pastry are pinched together or or crimped with a fork. Before baking, slits (“slats”) are cut into the top crust that allow steam to and also create a glimpse at the attractive filling between the slats.

Jalousie. Photo courtesy Pepperidge Farm.

KEY LIME PIE A one-crust custard pie made specifically from the juice of Key limes, which are less acidic than the standard supermarket Tahitian lime. Key lime juice is yellow, not green. (See our Lime Glossary.) If you see a green-colored Key lime pie, avoid it—it is artificially colored and likely, artificially flavored. Read the history of the Key lime pie, which originated in the Florida keys, plus a recipe. (See photo at top of page.) KOLACHE or KOLACKY A light, round Czech and Polish yeast-dough pastry with a sweet cheese, fruit or jam filling. It is enjoyed as a breakfast pastry, snack and dessert. There are also savory versions filled with vegetables and meats. The dough is filled with these ingredients and allowed to proof and rise prior to baking. It is also spelled kolace and kolach.

A berry-filled kolache. Photo courtesy of KolacheMama.com.

KRINGLE PASTRY
Kringle pastry is a type of light, flaky Danish pastry similar to French pâte à choux (puff pastry). It is used to make a round coffeecake (originally baked in the shape of a pretzel) filled with almond paste or other variation and topped with glaze or powdered sugar, also known as a kringle, that is popular in the Midwest, where a concentration of Danes settled in the 1800s.

LAMINATED PASTRY
Laminated dough is used to make Viennoiserie—brioche, croissants, danish and other buttery, flaky breakfast pastry. It is a time-consuming and expensive dough to make, owing to the large quantity of butter used. First, a yeast dough is made, called the détrempe (from the French verb, “to soak,” as the dry ingredients soak in liquid): milk, dry yeast, brown sugar, bread flour, and sea salt kosher salt are kneaded together. Some recipes use starter dough from a prior batch. The dough is chilled, then rolled out into a rectangle. A smaller rectangle of rolled out and chilled butter, called the beurrage (from the French word for butter, beurre), is placed on top of it. Then the construction of the pâton, or dough roll, begins. The rectangle is folded into thirds, as if folding a letter (in fact, this first fold is known as a “single letter fold”). The pâton is then refrigerated for an hour, rolled and folded again. The rolling and folding continues, usually for four turns.

LATTICE CRUST A top crust made by criss-crossing strips of dough (see photo at top of page). The strips can be plan or made with serrated edges using a pastry cutter. A lattice crust is generally used to showcase beautiful fruit. LEMON MERINGUE PIE A pie crust filled with lemon custard and topped with meringue.

Photo of lemon meringue pie courtesy of American Egg Board.

LINZER TORTE
Probably second in fame in Austria to the Sacher torte, the Linzer torte, traced back to 1696 in the town of Linz, Austria, is a pie with a lattice crust top. It is made with an almond short-crust pastry and traditionally filled with black currant preserves (some sources say red currant). In the U.S., where currant preserves are not easy to find, raspberry jam is usually substituted. Today, there are many varieties on the theme: apricot and cranberry, fig and orange Linzers, and hazelnut crusts, which many bakers feel improve upon the original. While Linger torte is a pie, Sacher torte is a chocolate cake, filled with apricot jam and iced with chocolate ganache.

LOBSTER TAIL An Italian specialty, a flaky pastry in the shape of a lobster tail, filled with cannoli cream, vanilla or chocolate custard and dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Lobster tail pastry. Available at LucibellosPastry.com.

MACAROON A small round cookie with a crisp crust and a soft interior. The original version was made in Italy from almonds and was evolved by French pastry chefs into an almond-flavored meringue sandwich cookie that today is made in many flavors and colors. A coconut macaroon was developed and is popular in the U.S. See the history of macaroons. MARJOLAINE A long and rectangular form of the dacquoise: almond and hazelnut meringue layers with chocolate buttercream. Dacquoise is a dessert cake made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue and whipped cream or buttercream. It takes its name from the feminine form of the French word dacquois, meaning “of Dax”; Dax is a town in southwestern France. It is usually served chilled and accompanied by fruit.

Macaroons from Mad Mac, a NIBBLE Top Pick of the Week. Photo by Claire Freierman |  THE NIBBLE.

MARZIPAN
See almond paste.

MEAT PIE A meat pie is a savory pie that can be filled with beef, lamb, pork, poultry, even fish, plus vegetables and herbs. There are many kinds of meat pie, varying in size and pastry types. They can be made in a pie plate or a square or rectangular baking pan. A pot pie is an example of a meat pie, as is a steak and kidney pie and a shepherd’s pie, which is minced or ground beef or lamb with a top “crust” of mashed potatoes. Individual meat pies, which are sealed on all sides, include, among others, empanadas, pasties, Scotch pies and turnovers.

A meat pie. Photo by Sophie | SXC.

Meat pies date back to ancient times; they were a way to pull scraps together for a frugal dinner, while cooks in wealthier househoulds prepared elaborate pastry filled with costly cuts. Savory pies could include fruits as well as meats, along with spices, wine, fat and mincemeat. Later, in England, chicken and veal pot pie were sometimes cooked with mashed potatoes and a rich sauce filling, a precursor of shepherd’s pie; on the coast, fish and seafood pies prevailed). See pie.

MERINGUE Meringue is a versatile substance made from beaten egg whites, to which sugar has been added to form stiff but airy peaks. The  meringue can then (1) be folded in lighten cake, mousse and pastry cream, (2) used as a topping for pies (e.g., lemon meringue pie) and other desserts (e.g. baked alaska), (3) baked in a very low oven into cookies or cake layers, (4) baked into shells (vacherin) which are filled with custard, fruit, mousse or ice cream (see dacquoise).

Photo of lemon meringue pie courtesy of McCormick’s. Find this and other delicious recipes at McCormick.com.

MILLE-FEUILLE or MILLEFOGLIE Pronounced meal-FWEE in French and MEE-lay FOAL-yay in Italian, meaning “a thousand leaves,” this pastry is made as three rectangular sheets of puff pastry spread with Bavarian cream, pastry cream, whipped cream, custard, jam or fruit purée, often dusted with confectioner’s sugar, and cut into individual rectangular portions. When filled with custard and iced with chocolate, the pastry is called a Napoleon (see photo below). Savory versions are filled with cheese and served as appetizers. See also phyllo.

Millefoglie available from Venieros.com.

MINCE PIE or MINCEMEAT PIE
Mince pie dates back to Medieval times, when the recipe did include venison, along with dried fruits, sugar and spices. It was then known as mincemeat pie. In the mid-nineteenth century, the meat began disappearing from the recipe, which evolved into the sweet and spicy mince pie we know today, served during the Christmas season, filled with candied and fresh fruits, nuts, sugar, spices, wine and suet. (Suet is raw beef fat [or mutton fat], particularly the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys. A vegetarian suet is made from palm oil and rice flour.)

MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE
An open pie consisting of a cooked chocolate filling in a crust made of chocolate or vanilla cookies or a graham crackers.

NAPOLEON The napoleon pastry was not named after France’s famous general and emperor. The name is believed to be a corruption of the word “napolitain,” referring to a pastry made in the tradition of Naples, Italy (napolitano). This pastry was a millefoglie, or mille-feuille, most likely a descendant of phyllo. It is believed that the napoleon, and mille-feuille pastry, was developed by the great chef Antoine Carême. See mille-feuille. Three layers of puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) are filled with pastry cream and iced with fondant.

A Napoleon topped with confectioners’ sugar instead of fondant. Photo courtesy CafeBlanc.us.

An “American Napoleon” has a heavily marbleized chocolate and vanilla fondant top, looking more like Jackson Pollack than the neat French style shown at the top of the page. An “Italian Napoleon” adds layers of rum-soaked sponge cake. Some variations layer fruit, such as raspberries, in the pastry cream.

NESSELRODE PIE
Nesselrode pie is a classic Bavarian cream pie (i.e., a custard with added gelatin for stability and egg whites for volume and lightness), flavored with candied chestnuts and rum. It is named after Count Karl von Nesselrode, a 19th century Russian diplomat who negotiated the Treaty of Paris after the Crimean War. The recipe began as Nesselrode pudding, a pink custard pudding enhanced with chestnut purée and maraschino cherry liqueur, plus maraschino-soaked fruits (candied lemon peel, currants and raisins, whipped cream and stiffly-beaten egg whites. The original Nesselrode was chilled in a pineapple-shaped and is said to have been created for the count by his chef, a Monsieur Mouy, Mony or Monie. As a pie, Nesselrode was popularized by Hortense Spier, who had a brownstone restaurant in New York City on 94th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West in the 1930s and 1940s. The restaurant closed before World War II; thereafter, Mrs. Spier baked pies for other restaurants (Nesselrode pie as well as banana cream pie, coconut custard pie and lemon meringue pie). These pies became standards at New York restaurants. You can find a product called “Nesselro” made by G.B. Raffetto, but if you’re going to go through all of the trouble to bake the pie, find a from-scratch recipe.

NOCCIOLA TART
An Italian tart with chocolate-hazelnut filling, topped with chopped hazelnuts. Nocciola is the Italian word for hazelnut.

NUT PASTRY
Plain pastry where 1/2 cup finely ground nuts is substituted for 1/2 cup of the flour. Ideal with cream pies.  Here’s a recipe courtesy of the American Egg Board. Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup (2 ounces) ground pecans or other nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (cold), 1 egg yolk, 3 to 4 tablespoon ice water, (divided), 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice.  Preparation: (1) Mix flour, nuts and salt in large bowl. (2) Cut in shortening with pastry blender until pieces are the size of small peas. (3) Mix in egg yolk, 3 tablespoon ice water and the lemon juice in small bowl. (4) Add to flour mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring lightly and tossing with fork until moistened and dough just holds together. (5) Add remaining ice water, if needed. (6) Gather dough and shape into 1-inch thick disk. Refrigerate, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour or overnight. (7) Heat oven to 425°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, rolling from center to edge, to form a 12-inch circle. (8) Fold into quarters; ease and unfold into 9-inch pie plate. (9) Press pastry gently against bottom and sides of pie plate, easing out any air. Trim edge leaving 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang under; flute edge. (10) Refrigerate, covered, at least 30 minutes. (11) Line piecrust with aluminum foil; fill with pie weights. Bake in 425°F oven until pastry is set, 8 to 10 minutes. (12) Remove foil and weights; pierce pastry all over with fork. Bake until pastry is golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes longer. Cool completely on wire rack.

OPEN PIE
A single-crust pie, i.e., one with no pastry covering or other top crust.

PALMIER or ELEPHANT EAR COOKIE
A palmier is a cookie made of sheets of puff pastry that are rolled in sugar and folded to resemble palm leaves (palmiers) or elephant ears, depending on your perspective. These cookies are baked until the sugar becomes caramelized. See photo above.

PANDOWDY
A pandowdy is a spoon pie with a rolled top crust that is broken up to allow the juices to come through. See cobbler.

PARCHMENT PAPER
A heavy, grease-resistant paper used to line cake pans or baking sheets. Parchment paper creates a nonstick surface on bakeware and other surfaces. It makes it especially easy to remove delicate baked goods from the baking pan. There is no need to pre-grease or wash pans; the piece of paper, which has a one-time use, is thrown away.

Parchment paper available from Chefs.

PARIS BREST A pastry ring made of pate à choux, that is split and filled with crème pralinée (praline cream) and topped with almonds or confectioner’s sugar (see photo at right). The Paris-Brest-Paris, launched in 1891 as a 1200km bicycle race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris, is the oldest long-distance cycling road event.		Photo of Paris Brest courtesy of Ceci Cela, one of our favorite New York City bakeries.
PASTE A mixture of flour, water or milk, a fat (shortening) and sometimes a beaten egg, that creates a dough that is baked to make pie crust and other pastry. Pastry-making was practiced by the ancient Greeks and Romans, but the modern development of the types of Western dough we know today dates from the late 18th century. See pastry types, below. PASTICIOTTI Pasticiotti (from the Italian pasta ciotti) are shortbread tarts filled with with ricotta cream, vanilla or chocolate pastry cream or custard and sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar. In Rome, they are called bocconotti.		Pasticiotti. Photo courtesy of LucioBellosPastry.com.

PASTIE or PASTY A pastie is a U.K. term that is similar to a turnover or an empanada. It is made by placing the filling on a flat pastry shape, usually a circle, and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge to form a seal. The result is a raised semicircular package, which is baked. Pasties are made with many different types of fillings; the traditional Cornish pasty has diced beef, sliced potato and onion.

Photo of a rectangular-shaped cheese pastie by Mark Mordecai | SXC.

PASTRY or PASTRY TYPES
Pastry refers to foods made of paste (see above), or having a crust made of paste. This large category includes pies and tarts, cheese straws, cream puffs and other sweet and savory foods. Pastry is classified according to the amount of shortening used and the method of blending it with the flour. For example, plain pastry is used to cover fruit or meat pies; flaky pastry, which requires more shortening than plain pastry, is used for strudels and baklava. Puff pastry is used for airy cream puffs and éclairs. Some of the other different types of pastry include Catherine’s pastry, galette pastry, hot water pastry, short crust pastry and stirred pastry. Cookie crumbs, meringue, nuts and even mashed potatoes (in shepherd’s pie) also serve as top crusts.

PASTRY BAG Traditionally, a pastry bag has been a V-shaped cotton bag; metal nozzles of various sizes and shapes are attached to the ends and used to decorate or fill cakes, cookies and pastries. Today, many chefs use disposable plastic bags for easy clean-up. PASTRY BLENDER A utensil used to make dough, which cuts solid fats such as butter and shortening into dry ingredients such as flour and sugar. As a substitute, use two knives and cut in the ingredients with criss-cross motions.

Pastry bag available from Chefs.

PASTRY BOARD A square or oblong board upon which pastry is rolled out. Marble is preferable because its cool surface keeps the dough cooler, but wood is more common. Professionals roll out on metal tables, which also keep the dough cool. Home bakers often install granite kitchen counters. PASTRY BRUSH A small basting brush used for glazing pastry with egg whites, melted butter, milk, etc. The most versatile ones these days have silicone bristles; the brushes can be washed in the dishwasher to fully sanitize them and remove any trace of flavors. They also do not lose bristles like the boar bristle and nylon bristle brushes. Boar bristles, however, are the most absorbent.

Pastry bag (above) and pastry brush (below) available from Chefs.

PASTRY CHEF or PÂTISSIER
A culinary professional who focuses on pastries and/or desserts; some pastry chefs are experienced chocolatiers as well. Pastry chefs work in bakeries, restaurants, hotels, catering facilities and other establishments that require dedicated pastry professionals (as opposed to those that purchase pastry from outside suppliers). Pastry baking in a general kitchen is usually separated from the main kitchen. This section of the kitchen is in charge of designing and making pastries, desserts, and other baked goods, including breads.

PASTRY CLOTH
A reusable canvas cloth used to roll out dough in the absence of a marble or wooden board. The best ones have a nonstick backing. There is also a Silpat food prep mat called Roul’Pat that can be used for rolling dough, not to be confused with the pastry mat that goes into the oven, below.
Roul’Pat available from Chefs.

PASTRY CREAM See crème pâtissière. Also known as confectioner’s custard. PASTRY CRIMPER A pastry crimper looks like a small pizza cutter; its purpose is to provide a professional crimped look on the crust of a pie or tart (see photo at right), instead of the homemade “pinched crust” look, and also to give a firm seal on a two-crust pie so the filling won’t leak. They also can be used for cookies, lasagna noodles, ravioli and other pasta shapes. A crimper is one type of pastry wheel. PASTRY CUTTER Like a small cookie cutter, pastry cutters in metal or plastic make various shapes to cut biscuits, scones and pastries, and to make dough decorations for pies and pastries (like the pumpkin cutout on the pumpkin pie above).

Photo of pumpkin pies, showing crimped edges and a cut pastry decoration, by Golders | MorgueFile.

PASTRY CRUST
See crust.

PASTRY DOUGH
See pastry types, above.

PASTRY FLOUR or COOKIE FLOUR
Pastry flour is a soft wheat flour; soft flours have less gluten (a type of protein) than all-purpose or bread flour (8%-10%), which helps to produce a more delicate yet crunchier crust than other flours, rather than an overworked or tough crust. A good pastry is never leaden, but light, airy and buttery (or fatty in general, if another shortening is used). Whole-wheat pastry flour has a bit higher gluten level and produces a heartier pastry. While some people use all-purpose flour, very delicate pastries such as pâte à choux (puff pastry) or phyllo dough require lower-gluten flour to achieve the crispness and delicacy for which they are known. In general, while all-purpose flour works for a pie crust, pastry flour produces the crumbly, tender pastry that makes an excellent pie crust. If you can’t find pastry flour, you can mix four parts mix all-purpose to two parts cake flour to get similar results. Also use pastry flour for a more crumbly cookie (think shortbread or a cream cheese based cookie like rugelach), and for lighter scones and biscuits. In addition to the flour, pastry has a higher fat content than bread, which contributes to its flaky or crumbly texture.

PASTRY MAT or BAKING SHEET LINER A reusable silicone baking sheet that replaces parchment paper on baking sheets and jelly roll pans. The sheet can be used up to 3,000 times, and is heat-resistant up to 482°F. PASTRY PRESS or COOKIE PRESS Actually a tubular cookie press with different attachments that enable the dough to be forced through, creating a variety of designs.

Baking sheet liner available from Chefs.

PASTRY RING
A baking accessory used to shape pastry (e.g. tarts) and hold it together during baking or assembly. Those designed for baking are typically made of metal or silicone; those designed for molding only can be made from plastic or any improvised material.

PASTRY SHELL
A pie shell, or bottom crust. These can be purchased frozen in any supermarket.

PASTRY WHEEL
A tool used to cut, shape and/or mold pastry. There are a variety of styles of pastry wheels, from rotary trimmers for a neat, uniform edge to cutters that produce uniform strips of pastry to pastry crimpers. Some wheels have removable inserts that do all of the above. Look for wheels that have large, soft ergonomic handles and are dishwasher safe.

PÂTE À CHOUX or CHOUX PASTE or PUFF PASTRY
Pâte à choux (also called choux paste or cream puff paste) is a very versatile dough; numerous sweet or savory pastries can be made with it. Some examples of savory pastries are gougères (cheese pastry) and pommes dauphine (crisp potato puffs). Just to name a few, sweet pastries include éclairs, cream puffs, paris-brest (a baked almond-topped pastry ring filled with a praline-flavored butter cream filling, and named in honor of a bicycle race between Paris and Brest), profiteroles (small round puffs that are served cold with a sweet filling such as ice cream and sometimes a topping), Saint Honoré (named after the patron saint of pastry), and religieuse (meaning “nun” in French, this is a large cream-filled profiterole topped by a smaller one, both glazed with fondant icing; it resembles a nun, hence the name), and croque em bouche. Pâte à choux is made by combining flour, butter and boiling water, then beating eggs into the mixture until it becomes very sticky and pastelike. During baking, the eggs make create irregular domes in the pastry. Learn how to make pâte à choux.
Photo by Mark Mordecai | SXC.

PÂTE FEUILLETÉE
French for puff pastry.

PÂTE À FONCER
French for “lining dough,” this is a basic pie dough, but with a finer texture than American dough. It is made with butter at room temperature, instead of cold butter, for a finer and crisper crumb.

PÂTE BRISÉE
French for short crust pastry, used for pies and tarts.

PÂTE SABLÉE
A sweet tart pastry dough. Pâte sablée is rich and crumbly; sablé is the French word for sandy.

PÂTE SUCRÉE
Pâté sucrée is rich, sweetened short pastry used for tarts, plus pies and filled cookies.

PÂTISSERIE
The French word for pastry or pastry shop. In France, a pastry shop is different from a bakery (boulangerie), where bread is sold. n course or appetizer. Pies can have bottom crusts only, top and bottom crusts or, as with deep dish pies, only a top crust. Crusts can be made of a variety of recipes.

PEANUT BUTTER PIE
There are many variations on the theme of a peanut butter pie. Some are so dense and sweet that they are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ported into a pie crust, mixing cream cheese with peanut butter to create a cheesecake-like density. Others whip the PB into a mousse-like filling. Some use smooth PB, some use crunchy, some make their own. Purists maintain that a peanut butter pie should be strongly flavored of peanut butter and nothing else, with a light consistency (think peanut butter pastry cream). Most everyone will agree that the crust should be chocolate! Some use cookie crumbs, some make a chocolate tart dough. Variations include lining the base with ganache and toasted peanuts.

PECAN PIE A very rich pie made with a plain pastry and pecans bound in a rich filling of eggs, brown or white sugar, corn syrup and vanilla. Sometimes Bourbon is added. It is traditionally garnished with whipped cream. Chocolate pecan pie uses chocolate wafer crumbs for the crust, and optional chocolate morsels in the filling. Pecan pie is a 20th century invention; no recipes have been found dated earlier than 1925; earlier references to pecan pie, dating back to the 1800s, used a milk-based custard. According to FoodTimeline.com, The Fannie Farmer Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking did not include recipes before 1940. The Karo Syrup website claims that the pie was invented by the wife of a Karo corporate sales executive in the 1930s. Try these recipes for sweet potato pecan pie with Jack Daniel’s (instead of Bourbon) and Bourbon pecan pumpkin pie.

One of America’s favorite desserts, pecan pie. Photo courtesy of Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab in Chicago.

PHYLLO or FILO DOUGH or PHYLLO PASTRY

Phyllo (FEE-low) is the traditional dough of the Greek and Middle Eastern cuisines, for sweet and savory pastries including the famous baklava (with honey and nuts) and spanakopita (spinach and feta). Phyllo means “leaf” in Greek, and refers to the many tissue-thin leaves (so thin you can read through them), or sheets, of pastry  dough that comprise the dough. Traditionally, the dough was made by hand by gently rolling, stretching or pressing it into the ultra-thin sheets. Now it is made by machine and available ready made. In preparation for baking, the dough is brushed with butter or oil; it must be worked with quickly as it dries with exposure to air. It can be cut into sheets and layered in a tin, cut into individual rolls or rolled up as one large roll. See also puff pastry and strudel.

Michael Recchiuti’s baklava. See the recipe.

PIE
A pie is a pastry with a sweet or savory filling (cream, custard, fruit, meat, pudding, meat, vegetable). Sweet pies are generally served as dessert and savory pies as the main course or appetizer. Pies can have bottom crusts only, top and bottom crusts or, as with deep dish pies, only a top crust. Crusts are made from a variety of recipes, depending on the desired effect. See pastry.

PIE CRUST
The most basic pie crust is made with flour and water; fat can be added to make a finer pastry crust. Medieval cooking texts refer to the crust as the “coffin”; a pie crust with very thick walls was often used as the cooking receptacle—no pie plate needed. These tall, straight-sided pies appear in Dutch and French paintings; meats, fruits and sauces were layered inside. Later, tin pie plates appear, although poor housewives made do with soup bowls, dinner plates and pots—the origin of the “pot pie”; the pot later gave way to deep-dish pie plates.

PIE GATE This ingenious invention keeps the filling from spilling out of a cut pie. It has a center hinge that opens to any angle, until the last piece is gone! The gate can also be used to contain for runny cheeses like Brie and Camembert. PIE PASTRY See pastry.

Pie gate available from Chefs.

PIE WEIGHTS Pie weights are used when baking a pastry shells to keep them bubble- and shrink-free. Pierce the unbaked shell, cover it with with parchment paper or foil and fill with the pie weights before baking. The reusable weights prevent uneven rising. The ceramic weights shown in the photo produce much better results than the “home remedy” of beans.

Pie weights available from Chefs.

PIGNOLATA Pignolata is a cake-size Sicilian pastry (pignulata in Sicilian dialect) meant to serve several people. Small balls of pastry are bound in oil, then iced. A “black and white” pastry, it is half covered in chocolate and half covered in lemon syrup or icing. In other regions, chocolate and vanilla are used.

Pignolata from PasticceriaMartino.it.

PLAIN PASTRY
Plain pastry is made from pastry flour or all-purpose flour, salt, and a fat, which can be butter, lard or vegetable shortening. The ingredients are cut with a pastry blender or two knives (or even with fingers) until it is in bits the size of peas; then the bits are sprinkled with ice water and lightly patted—never kneaded, which makes a dough too tough for tender pastry—into a ball. The ball is chilled and rolled out. Leftover scraps of dough can be used to make cheese straws.

POT PIE or POTPIE As opposed to a meat pie, which is simply a savory two-crust pie of minced meat in plain pastry, a pot pie is a stew baked inside two flakey crusts. Beef, chicken or turkey are most popular, including chunks of the meat plus mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots, green beans and peas) in a gravy. The term evolved from the early use of a pot as the baking receptacle; the deep dish pie plate evolved later. See pie crust. We’re addicted to the chicken pot pie from Twin Hens. POWDERED SUGAR See confectioner’s sugar and discover other types of sugar in our Sugar Glossary.

Photo courtesy of McCormick. This and other recipes are available at McCormick.com.

PUFF PASTRY or CHOUX PASTRY or PÂTE À CHOUX or
LAMINATED PASTRY
Puff pastry is a light, flaky and tender pastry made by mixing flour, salt, chilled butter (or other fat) and water to form a dough. This is the process to make short pastry as well, however with puff pastry, the dough is then layered with butter, then rolled it out, folded into thirds and letting it rest.

This process, which is repeated 6 to 8 times, produces a pastry comprising hundreds of layers of dough and butter. When baked, the moisture in the butter creates steam, causing the dough to puff and separate into hundreds of extremely thin and delicate, flaky layers. Puff pastry is used for delicate pastry like cream puffs, éclairs, napoleons and some danish pastries; for sweet and savory pies and vol-au-vents; for cookies such as palmiers; and for breakfast breads such as croissants and pain au chocolat. It is also used as a wrapping pastry for dishes en croûte.

Cream puffs. Photo courtesy of American Egg Board.

PUMPKIN PIE Pumpkin pie is a pumpkin-flavored custard pie. Pumpkins are a New World food (along with chiles, corn, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, turkey and other favorites. While some foods like tomatoes took generations to be accepted, pumpkins (often called pompions in old literature) were similar enough to Old World squash, delicious and easy to grow. The Native American tribes of the Northeastern U.S. were big consumers of pumpkin and other squash, which they baked and turned into soup. The Pilgrims brought the concept of pie with them. It is more accurate to say, “As American as pumpkin pie.”

Pumpkin pie. Photo courtesy Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

QUICHE
A rich and savory custard pie that originated in the northeastern France region of Alsace-Lorraine. The famous Quiche Lorraine is a bacon seasoned with cayenne and nutmeg; the original recipe did not include Gruyère or other cheese. The addition of Gruyère creates quiche au gruyère or a quiche Vosgienne. The addition of onion to quiche Lorraine makes quiche Alsacienne. Other quiches are made with ham, herbs, mushrooms, onions and shellfish or herbs. Quiches can be served as a lunch or dinner entrée or as a first course; mini quiches are popular hors d’oeuvres. They can also be made without a crust, as shown in the photo at top left. Try this recipe for cheese quiche.

ROLLING PIN Rolling pins have evolved for specific purposes. The traditional pin with handles is ideal for rolling out pastry dough; the lightweight cylinder-style bakery pin in the center of the photo is used for small jobs like rolling out individual pastry squares or cookie dough; the French pin is the tool chefs prefer when rolling out thin piecrust.

Rolling pins available at Chefs.

RUGELACH Rugelach is a traditional European Jewish pastry, a small, two-bite pastry that is either crescent-shaped or square-cut into a “snail” shape. Its name comes from the Yiddish “rugel,” or royal, and it goes by other names such as kipfel (in Hungary and the Czech Republic) and horns of plenty (in non-Jewish areas of the U.S., where people “rugelach” may not easily roll off the tongue). Rugelach are often classified as cookies, but they are really miniature pastries: soft, sweet dough with filling. They are enjoyed at any time of the day. The original filling was nuts, raisins and cinnamon. Today, the repertoire has expanded to include fruit preserves such as apricot, cherry and raspberry, raisins or currants, walnuts and chocolate (filled with chopped chocolate or morsels) and much more.

Photo of cherry rugelach by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE.

People argue the virtues of a moister cream cheese dough over a sour cream dough; cream cheese is an American development, as the product did not exist in Europe. As for the many spellings of the word: Rugelach was made in perhaps a dozen European countries by bakers who spoke a dozen different languages. It is variously spelled rugelah, rugalah, rugelach, rugalach, rugulah, ruggelach and ruggalach. Read reviews of our favorite rugelach in our Cookies Section.

Rugelach can be made in “homestyle” rolled or crescent styles. Rugelach above available at Zabars.com.

RISSOLE
A rissole is a small croquette, enclosed in pastry or rolled in breadcrumbs. It is baked, deep fried or cooked on a barbecue, and can be sweet, served as a dessert or snack, or savory (made of meat, fish, vegetables or cheese), and served as an entré, side dish or snack.

SAWDUST PIE
A pie shell is filled with a very sweet filling of sugar plus coconut, graham cracker crumbs, pecans and an egg white meringue. It appears to have originated in the South in the early 1980s, perhaps at Patti’s restaurant in Grand Rivers, Kentucky.

SCOTCH PIE
A Scotch pie is a small, round, double-crusted meat pie filled with spiced, minced mutton or other meat. Individual recipes can add baked beans, mashed potatoes and a brown sauce or gravy. Scotch pie is believed to originate in Scotland, where it is often known simply as a pie, but it can be found in other parts of the U.K. It is popular takeout food and is often sold at football games and other outdoor events, so is occasionally called a football pie. Because the crust is can be eaten in the hand. Think of it as the U.K. equivalent of a hot dog or hamburger.

SESAME PASTRY
Plain pastry with 1/4 cup sesame seeds added to the paste. Ideal for cream pies.

SFINICI
An Italian specialty, fried dough balls filled with ricotta, miniature chocolate chips and candied orange peel.

SHEPHERD’S PIE A dish consisting of minced meat, usually lamb but also beef, covered with a layer of mashed potato. which is baked until it browns. There is no bottom crust. See also called cottage pie. While the classic British recipe does not include vegetables, Americans have added corn, carrots and other veggies to the recipe for variation (photo at right). SHOOFLY PIE While treacle-based pies were popular in Medieval Europe, refined white sugar became more affordable in the Renaissance. In the American Colonies, the treacle pie resurfaced in Pennsylvania Dutch country, purportedly because a pie-baker had only flour, lard and molasses on hand. The name comes from the pools of sticky molasses that formed on the surface of the pie, attracting flies.

Shepherd’s Pie available from BlakesAllNatural.com.

SHORT PASTRY or SHORTCRUST
PASTRY
A soft, tender pastry made from flour, fat, salt and water, rolled into a dough. There are savory and sweet short pastry doughs; sweet doughs, for sweet pies, can add sugar and eggs.

SILK PIE or FRENCH SILK PIE or CHOCOLATE SILK PIE A one-crust chocolate pie that originated in the South. It has a graham cracker crust and a very rich, creamy and “silky” chocolate filling (butter, sugar, chocolate and eggs, plus vanilla). It is served topped with whipped cream and often, chocolate shavings. SINGLE CRUST PIE A pie with no top crust.

Silk pie with a puff pastry crust. Photo courtesy of Pepperidge Farm, PuffPastry.com.

SNICKERS PIE A cream pie made of cream cheese, peanut butter and chopped Snickers bars on a chocolate crumb crust. The top is typically decorated with chopped Snickers Bars and sometimes, caramel and /or chocolate drizzles. There are many variations of the recipe; a Snickers ice cream pie can be made with vanilla or peanut butter ice cream, along with the chopped Snickers bars. Some cooks like to add chopped roasted peanuts into the recipe as well.

A pie for peanut lovers.

STICKY BUNS Sticky buns are a breakfast pastry that have evolved since arriving in America with 18th-century German immigrants (including the Pennsylvania Dutch). Originally, leavened dough was rolled in a pan lined with “sticky” honey (later in America, maple syrup was an alternative) and nuts. Sometimes the dough contained brown sugar or cinnamon. After baking, the pan was inverted and the honey and nuts became the topping. Today, similar products can be found commercially, as well as individual sticky buns made by fine bakers, which employ cream-cheese pastry rolled with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, pecans or walnuts and honey.

Sticky buns are available at MackenzieLtd.com.

STIRRED PASTRY An easy pastry, not as flaky as plain pastry or Catherine’s pastry. It uses salad oil (corn, cottonseed, peanut or soy oil) as the fat, plus milk, plus pastry or all-purpose flour, salt and sugar. STREUSEL Streusel is a crumb topping of butter, flour and sugar; it can contain chopped nuts or rolled oats. Pronounced SHTROY-zul, the word derives from the German “streuen,” meaning to sprinkle or scatter. Streusel is used as a topping for a variety of pies, fruit crisps, cakes and pastries, most notably coffee cakes. A pie with a streusel topping is sometimes referred to as a “crumble pie.”

Photo courtesy of McCormick. For this recipe, Wonderful Apple Pie, and others, visit McCormick.com.

STRUDEL Strudel is a  sweet layered pastry with a filling that became very popular in the latter part of the Hapsburg Empire (1278-1780), whose glittering capital was Vienna (the oldest strudel recipe is a handwritten recipe from 1696, now kept in the Vienna City Library). There are sweet and savory strudels. Popular sweet varieties include apple (often with raisins), cherry, cheese and poppy seed; savory varieties include spinach and cabbage. Although associated with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, strudel has its origins in Byzantine Empire pastries such as baklava.

Photo of apple strudel courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

But while some people make strudel from phyllo or puff pastry, traditional strudel pastry dough is a very elastic and stretchable—not flaky dough. Supermarket products known as “toaster strudel” bear no similarity to a real strudel.

SUET PASTRY
Suet pastry is a short pastry to which suet (raw beef fat from around the kidneys and loins) is used instead of other fat. It is typically used for meat pies.

TAMALE PIE A savory pie filled with the meat, bean and cheese mixture of a tamale, often made in a skillet with a cheese or corn bread “top crust.”

Tamale pie. Photo courtesy of McCormick. This and other recipes available at McCormick.com.

TART and TARTLET A tart is an open-face pastry with a base of plain or puff pastry, baked in a shallow tart pan that has either straight or fluted sides dough with a sweet or savory filling baked in either a shallow tart pan that has straight, fluted sides and a removable bottom, or a metal tart ring placed on a baking sheet. The tart is removed from the tart pan or ring before serving. Tarts can vary in depth. To be completely accurate, “tart” refers to the full-size to full-size, multi-portion tart. Individual-size size tarts are called tartlets; a mini tart is also a tartlet. Tarts can have sweet or savory fillings; the term includes flans, quiches and certain open-faced pies, like lemon meringue, that do not have top crusts. Bite-size tarts can be served as appetizers or as part of dessert trays.

Tartlets. Photo courtesy SXC.

TARTE AU FLAN
Milk custard in sugar crust.

TARTE TATIN
Some people think of Tarte Tatin as an upside-down cake. It is similar, but it is a one-crust fruit pie, invented by accident in France in the early 1880s. It is served upside-down; the apples are on the bottom with the crust on top. The Tatin sisters, Caroline and Stéphanie, ran the Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, southwest of Paris in the Loire Valley, not far from the town of Chambord. Stéphanie, preparing an apple tart, erroneously put the apples in the pan without the crust underneath. The apples caramelized, the customers loved it and the Tarte Tatin was born.

TARTE PAYSANNE A tart filled with pastry cream and topped with sautéed apple, pear, or plum filling, then topped with a Grand Marnier glaze. TEA CAKE In different regions and countries, a tea cake means anything from a cookie to a loaf cake. In the pastry arena, it is a pastry round variously flavored. TIMBALE A timbale is an individual savory pie made of meats, fish or vegetables and cooked in a drum- or thimble-shaped mold called a timbale (the word is French for “tumbler”), and often served with a creamy sauce. Small pastry shells that hold creamy mixtures of minced foods are also called timbales. Timbale molds are also used for crustless presentations, for example of vegetable or meat custards.

Photo of Tennessee Tea Cake by Corey Lugg | THE NIBBLE.

TOURTIÈRE A tourtière is a meat pie with origins in Quebec. Ground pork and/or veal, beef or game are used inland; salmon is commonly used on the coast. TUILE A paper-thin cookie, sweet or savory, often bent into a cupped shape so that it looks like a curved European roof tile (tuile is the French word for “tile.”). The tuile is rounded while hot from the oven, by being placed over a curved object such as a cup or rolling pin (there are also tuile molds) to cool and harden. A traditional tuile is made from crushed almonds, but the one with fluted edges in the photo at the right is made from Parmesan cheese.

Arugula and portabella salad on a Parmesan tuile. Recipe at MushroomInfo.com.

TURNOVER A turnover is a kind of pastry made by placing a filling on a piece of dough, folding the dough over, and sealing it. Turnovers can be sweet or savory and are often made as a sort of portable meal or dessert, similar to a sandwich. It is common for sweet turnovers to have a fruit filling and be made with a short (pie crust-like) or puff pastry dough; savory turnovers generally contain meat and/or vegetables and can be made with any sort of dough, though a kneaded yeast dough seems to be the most common in Western cuisines. They are usually baked, but may be fried. Unlike pasties or empanadas, they are triangular in shape.

Cherry almond turnovers. Photo courtesy Pepperidge Farm.

VIENNOISERIE Viennoiserie refers to pastries made of laminated pastry dough (a.k.a. pâte à choux and puff pastry), an expensive (because of the amount of butter needed) and time-consuming process (because the butter is folded in-between layers of dough). This technique is used to make the flaky “breakfast pastries,” croissants, danish and brioche. It is a marriage between traditional bread baking and sweet pastry baking. You can see the striations, or layers, of pastry when you look at the top of the Viennoiserie or when you cut into them, and you can pull apart the layers of the baked dough.

A cream cheese délice from Tisserie.com shows the flaky laminated pastry dough of Viennoiserie.

According to legend (subsequently disproved), the croissant was created to commemorate the defeat of the Turks in Vienna; hence, the group of specialty breads became known as Viennoiserie. See croissant in our Bread Glossary for the accurate history.

VOL-AU-VENT A small- (hors d’oeuvre) to medium-size hollow case of puff pastry. A round opening is cut in the top and the pastry cut out for the opening is replaced as a lid after the case is filled. The fillings can be as varied as the chef’s imagination, from creamed or curried kidney, mushrooms and sweetbreads to garlicky escargot or prawns to a fondue of cheeses with or without mushrooms and charcuterie, or even fruit and custard; but vols-au-vent are almost always savory. You can buy prepackaged vols-au-vent off the shelf, but check to see if they are made with butter. Otherwise, they will have a shadow of the flavor of what a good pastry chef would prepare.

Vol-au-vent, called a puff pastry shell in English. Photo courtesy of Pepperidge Farm.

WHOOPIE PIE Not a pie, but a cookie sandwich, with two soft cookies (most recipes are cakelike) that sandwich a fluffy filling. The original whoopie pies were chocolate with white filling, but today anything goes, as you can see in our review of Wicked Whoopie Pies; some artisan bakers specialize in red velvet whoopies and whoopie wedding favors (see WannaHaveACookie.com). Whoopie pies are popular in New England, particularly Maine, and in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where the recipe originated with the Amish (as the story goes, when Amish children would find the baked treats in their lunch bags, they would shout “Whoopie!”).

A classic whoopie pie. Photo courtesy Wicked Whoopie Pies.

Whoopie pies are made in all sizes from jumbo (burger size) to miniature. Traditional whoopies pies are made with vegetable shortening instead of not butter, but some artisan bakers have improved on the ingredients so that people who discern and disapprove of the shortening can have their whoopie and eat it too.

ZEPPOLE A popular Italian pastry, traditionally made to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day (March 19th). A kind of Italian doughnut, it consists of a fried puffed dough filled with pastry cream or a ricotta (cannoli cream) filling and dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

Zeppole. Photo courtesy of LucibellosPastry.com.

Source: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/MAIN/cookies/pastry/pastry-types.asp