Ideal flour/sugar ratio for biscuit-like jam tartlet bases

[Annoying Twit]

I've been making vegan jam tarts from this recipe.

Recipes | Jam tarts | Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand

Vegan recipe for jam tarts. Read more here

www.vegansociety.org.nz

However, I use more than twice the amount of flour listed, and add a bit of water to make a dough that I can roll out. If I do that, the bases comes out quite plain, but biscuit-like, like UK supermarket jam tarts. If I use the original ratio, I find the pastry far too rich, and they fall apart when I take them out of the cases. If I use much more flour, I get something that holds together much better. I'm curious as to what others think of the fat/flour ratio in this recipe. Is that likely to be an error, or am I just making a different type of pastry.

(The cases I use are these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/KitchenCra...jam+tart+cases+silicone&qid=1588350826&sr=8-4), and they make larger jam tarts than the supermarket ones.

 

[Annoying Twit]

The thread title should be flour/fat ratio, not flour/sugar ratio.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I've been making vegan jam tarts from this recipe.

Recipes | Jam tarts | Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand

Vegan recipe for jam tarts. Read more here

www.vegansociety.org.nz

However, I use more than twice the amount of flour listed, and add a bit of water to make a dough that I can roll out. If I do that, the bases comes out quite plain, but biscuit-like, like UK supermarket jam tarts. If I use the original ratio, I find the pastry far too rich, and they fall apart when I take them out of the cases. If I use much more flour, I get something that holds together much better. I'm curious as to what others think of the fat/flour ratio in this recipe. Is that likely to be an error, or am I just making a different type of pastry.

(The cases I use are these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/KitchenCra...jam+tart+cases+silicone&qid=1588350826&sr=8-4), and they make larger jam tarts than the supermarket ones.

Different country different flour. In the UK the domestic wheat is naturally very low in protein. In fact it’s so low the domestic we cannot be used for bread. We that is cultivated for bread in the UK is actually varieties that have been imported from other countries, mainly Australia and Canada.

The vegan butters are going to vary greatly by brand. The types of oils and emulsifiers will determine how stable the butter is when baked.

Then finally the icing sugar, some are mixed with cornstarch (cornflour) or tricalcium phosphate. they bind slightly differently and create different textures because corn naturally contains some fat.

You always have to adjust for differences in brands no matter what, but those differences are more stark when a recipe has been developed in another country

 

[Annoying Twit]

I didn't know about flour being different in different countries. Much of the flour I have is international, I think. Most of it (as of today: not last week) is bread flour. My strong white flour is Canadian flour. My strong wholemeal flour is

I looked up some British flours - or at least standard flours sold in British supermarkets. Plain flour in ASDA: 9.9% protein. Self-raising flour 9.8%. My all-purpose flour at the moment is from a Polish shop, and it is marked with what seems to be a German rating; TYP550. According to the internet that's 11-13% protein. ASDA strong bread flour is 15% protein. The cheaper-brand ASDA plain flour (only 4p less) is 10% protein.

The 'premium' McDougalls plain flour is 10.2% protein. Pretty much the same as the cheaper flour and a bit more than the standard.

I think our icing sugar here typically contains tricalcium phosphate.

The 'Olivani' margarine in the original recipe is a standard spreadable table margarine. It's 55% fat, so a lot of spun in water. The Stork block I used last time is 75% fat, so a lot more fat weight for weight.

There's some information on wheat varieties here, but it's quite detailed and there are a lot of varieties growing here. I didn't know. http://www.nabim.org.uk/sites/0038/...cations/nabim-wheat-guide-2019.pdf?1565708430

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I didn't know about flour being different in different countries. Much of the flour I have is international, I think. Most of it (as of today: not last week) is bread flour. My strong white flour is Canadian flour. My strong wholemeal flour is

I looked up some British flours - or at least standard flours sold in British supermarkets. Plain flour in ASDA: 9.9% protein. Self-raising flour 9.8%. My all-purpose flour at the moment is from a Polish shop, and it is marked with what seems to be a German rating; TYP550. According to the internet that's 11-13% protein. ASDA strong bread flour is 15% protein. The cheaper-brand ASDA plain flour (only 4p less) is 10% protein.

The 'premium' McDougalls plain flour is 10.2% protein. Pretty much the same as the cheaper flour and a bit more than the standard.

I think our icing sugar here typically contains tricalcium phosphate.

The 'Olivani' margarine in the original recipe is a standard spreadable table margarine. It's 55% fat, so a lot of spun in water. The Stork block I used last time is 75% fat, so a lot more fat weight for weight.

There's some information on wheat varieties here, but it's quite detailed and there are a lot of varieties growing here. I didn't know. http://www.nabim.org.uk/sites/0038/...cations/nabim-wheat-guide-2019.pdf?1565708430

Yes, flour is significantly different throughout the world. The soil, weather, and wheat varieties have a real impact on the protein content of the flour. Canadian all purpose flour has a whopping 13% protein—it’s like a bread flour. American all propose flour varies by brand, from 10% to 11.7%. We allow bleached flour, so some brands are bleached. The British plain flour is similar our pastry flour at 9%. The European Union banned bleached flour. So cake flour is no longer available in the UK. But since your domestic wheat is naturally low in protein, you can still make a lovely cake with your flour. The Canadians, not so lucky with that 13% protein and unbleached flour. There flour is great for breads, rolls, some cookies, and some muffins, but not a good flour for cakes.


Good you looked up the Polish and German flours. It‘s very important to know the protein content. That way you which brand to use for your different recipes.

The mills test all of the batches of flour to determine the protein, ash, and moisture. So if you ever buy a UK flour and you are not sure of the protein content, the mill should be able to tell you.

If you know the brands used in a recipe, and they are available and affordable, they try to source them. When I give friends recipes, I always note the brands because even the smallest of variation in protein or fat content can wreak havoc on a recipe.