Dough and Pastry

Dough is a thick, pliable mixture of flour and liquid used for baking. It is made by combining flour with water or milk, and can include other ingredients like yeast, salt, and sugar to create products such as bread, pizza, and pastries. The most straightforward answer is that dough is the raw, uncooked material, but pastries, breads, and cookies are the end-products of the baked dough.

• Dough - a mixture of flour, liquid (usually water or milk), and sometimes other ingredients like salt, yeast, or fat. Dough is used for a wider variety of baked goods. Originally, British sausage rolls were made from shortcrust pastry, essentially a dough.
• Pastry - a type of dough, typically made with a higher proportion of fat (like butter, shortening, or lard) and sometimes sugar, resulting in a flaky, tender, and sometimes crumbly texture when baked. Nowadays, sausage rolls are made from puff pastry, which is a laminated dough consisting of thin alternating layers of butter and dough.

Making Different Types of Dough

The dough is sometimes homemade, but canned dough is most common as it is convenient and saves time. Dough is a mixture of any type of flour and a liquid. The most common liquids for dough making are milk and water. Dough should have the right texture, suitable for rolling and kneading. While dough should always hold a form, it can be made soft or stiff by adjusting the fluid-to-flour ratio.

• Stiff Dough - 1 cup water, 4 cups flour. Use: scones, cookies, pizza crust
• Soft Dough> - 1 cup water, 3 cups flour. Use: rolls, biscuits

Adding milk to flour in doughs like brioche or dinner rolls is a common practice, where milk contributes to a softer, richer, and more tender crumb. It also makes the end product sweeter. The proteins and fats in milk also influence the crust color, resulting in a more golden-brown and caramelized appearance.

Leavened and Unleavened Dough

Leavened dough is dough that has been made to rise, typically through the action of a leavening agent like yeast or chemical leaveners (baking soda, baking powder). This process introduces air or other gases into the dough, creating a lighter and more airy texture in the final baked product. Typically used in bread and pizza dough.

Unleavened dough refers to dough made without a leavening agent, such as yeast or baking soda, which means it doesn't rise like regular bread. Typically used in:

• Flatbreads - tacos, burritos, tortillas, fajitas, quesadillas, enchiladas.
• Wraps and sandwiches. Sandwich wraps are made of a flatbread, such as a tortilla, burrito, lavash, or pita, wrapped around a filling of meat, vegetables, cheese, and sauces. They are essentially a sandwich, but instead of two slices of bread, a single flatbread is used to enclose the ingredients.
• Matzah - a thin, crisp bread, traditionally eaten by Jewish people during Passover.

The most popular type of unleavened sweet dough is short dough. The term "short" or "shortening" describes fat content; short dough contains more fat than flour.

Laminated Dough - Puff Pastry

Laminated dough has thin alternating layers of butter and dough. It is made by layering fat (usually butter) between layers of dough, then repeatedly folding and rolling it out to create numerous thin, alternating layers. During baking, evaporating steam is trapped between the alternating layers of butter and dough, causing the layers to rise. This results in a flaky, airy, and buttery pastry when baked. Most of the labor of making puff pastry is in the process of rolling out the dough, folding it up, and rolling it out again. Common examples of laminated dough pastries include puff pastry and croissants.

Recipe for Making Puff Pastry Dough

2 cups general-purpose flour (240 g)
1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
9 oz (255 g) unsalted butter
5/8 cup (150 ml) of ice-cold water
Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and whisk together.
Cut the cold butter into 1/4-inch slices and add to the flour mixture, tossing to coat.
Mix in the cold water until a thick dough forms.
Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk shape, and wrap it in plastic wrap.
Chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator, or 20 to 30 minutes in the freezer.
Unwrap the dough, dust the work surface with flour, and roll the dough into a rough rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter. Turn 90 degrees, roll, and fold again. Repeat this process about 4 to 6 times, then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight.
Brush the dough with an egg beaten with two teaspoons of water before baking for a beautiful sheen. When you're ready to bake the dough, ensure the dough is cold and the oven is hot.
Preheat your conventional oven to a high temperature, ideally 400°F (220° C) or according to your recipe's instructions. A high temperature creates steam, which is key to the puffing process. Bake until the pastries are visibly puffed and beginning to turn golden brown. This typically takes around 10-15 minutes. The dough can also be frozen. It will keep for several weeks in the freezer, tightly wrapped. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Notes: Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes every two turns. To keep the butter cool, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes between each turn, especially in very warm kitchens. If some butter starts to pop through the lean dough as you roll, sprinkle the spot with a bit of flour, pat it with your fingers, and carry on. That is a sign that the butter might be warming up too much, and you should refrigerate it more frequently.

Non-Laminated Dough - Shortcrust Pastry

Non-laminated doughs are pastries where the fat is incorporated directly into the dough rather than layered between dough folds, resulting in a different texture compared to laminated doughs. There are both leavened and unleavened non-laminated doughs. Shortcrust pastry is known for its tender, crumbly texture. It is a versatile base for both sweet and savory dishes like pies, tarts, and quiches. The "short" in its name refers to the high ratio of fat to flour, typically a 2:1 ratio of flour to fat. This high fat content "shortens" the gluten strands, which is why short crust pastry is not as elastic or flaky as puff pastry.

Recipe for Making Shortcrust Pastry Dough

145 grams all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
3 g (1/2 teaspoon) salt
45 ml (3 Tablespoons ice water)
113 g unsalted butter * (1stick butter = 1/4 pound), cut in 1/8 inch pieces.
Put flour and salt in the bowl of a mixer or food processor. Add butter and quickly cut it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Don't overprocess it. If you are making the pastry by hand, rub the fats into the flour with your fingers until you achieve the same result. Add ice water and mix briefly, about 30 seconds, to form a soft dough. Remove dough, shape into a thick disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1- 2 hours or overnight. Bring to cool room temperature before rolling.
To roll, lightly flour the dough and the counter. Roll out gradually to the thickness you need, periodically letting the dough rest for a moment before continuing. This makes rolling easier and will keep the dough from shrinking back during baking. Give the pastry a quarter turn every few rolls to help it keep its shape.
Preheat the oven to 350-425°F (175-220°C). Place the pastry-lined tin on a baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until it turns golden brown.
Notes: * It was common to use a combination of 56 g unsalted butter and 56 g lard. Lard contributes to a crisp texture. It's crucial to use cold fat, usually in small pieces, so it doesn't melt into the flour, thus creating a flaky texture when baked.

Canned and Powdered Dough

Although all types of dough can be made from scratch at home, buying ready-to-use refrigerated dough is a safer option, as it only requires baking. Some kinds of dough come in the form of a prepared powdered mixture, and all they need is the addition of water; others work well with a rolling pin.

There is a difference between crescent dough and croissant dough:

• Crescent roll dough is a yeast-based dough, giving it a slightly different texture and flavor. Crescent dough doesn't have the same layering as croissants.
• Croissants are made with a laminated dough, meaning it's layered with butter and folded repeatedly, resulting in a very flaky, crisp texture.

Pretzel Dough

Pretzel dough wrapped sausages, also known as "pretzel dogs" or "pretzel bites", are a delicious and satisfying snack or appetizer. They combine the savory taste of sausages with the chewy texture and slightly salty flavor of soft pretzels.

Pizza dough and pretzel dough share similar characteristics, and both can be made from all-purpose enriched bleached flour. Boiling pizza dough in baking soda water will produce a pretzel dough.

The main thing that differentiates pretzels from pizza or other bread is the characteristic chewy texture and browned crust. This is achieved by briefly boiling the dough in a baking soda solution before baking.