Making pastry ahead of time

[MidnightLoaf]

I'm making the Anna Jones recipe for a Celeriac and Sweet Garlic Pie.
I want to know whether I can make this pastry one day in advance and keep it tightly wrapped in cling film in the fridge overnight until the next day when I assemble the pie.

The pastry involves plain white spelt flour, butter, sea salt, rosemary, thyme and sage, lemon zest, cheddar cheese, 1 egg yolk and some cold water.

Can anyone think of a reason why this may not be a good idea?
Any advice very welcome!
Thank you and Happy Christmas!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I'm making the Anna Jones recipe for a Celeriac and Sweet Garlic Pie.
I want to know whether I can make this pastry one day in advance and keep it tightly wrapped in cling film in the fridge overnight until the next day when I assemble the pie.

The pastry involves plain white spelt flour, butter, sea salt, rosemary, thyme and sage, lemon zest, cheddar cheese, 1 egg yolk and some cold water.

Can anyone think of a reason why this may not be a good idea?
Any advice very welcome!
Thank you and Happy Christmas!

It should be fine overnight. Spelt absorbs moisture more readily than wheat flour. So recipes with spelt require less water. So just be sure not to add too much water in the mixing as the flour will continue to fully hydrate during an overnight rest. If too much water is added it could make the crust tough.

 

[MidnightLoaf]

It should be fine overnight. Spelt absorbs moisture more readily than wheat flour. So recipes with spelt require less water. So just be sure not to add too much water in the mixing as the flour will continue to fully hydrate during an overnight rest. If too much water is added it could make the crust tough.

Thanks so much! Excellent advice
In your opinion, could I easily replace the spelt flour with plain all purpose flour without compromising the flavour or texture too much? Given I'm adding herbs and cheese to the flour, do you think it really matters which flour I use? Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thanks so much! Excellent advice
In your opinion, could I easily replace the spelt flour with plain all purpose flour without compromising the flavour or texture too much? Given I'm adding herbs and cheese to the flour, do you think it really matters which flour I use? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Substituting plain all purpose flour for the spelt should be fine. Since all purpose flour absorbs a little bit less water you will need to add a tad bit more in the mixing.

Usually there are more issues going from wheat to spelt. Spelt flour has less gluten in it, so will not rise as much. So it will require more leavening. But given this is a pastry crust leavening is not issues. You should be able to make the substitution gram for gram without any real issues other than attention to the amount of water. And to, wheat has more gluten so it cannot handle as much handling as spelt. The egg adds fat and moisture so it makes the crust more forgiving.

 

[MidnightLoaf]

Substituting plain all purpose flour for the spelt should be fine. Since all purpose flour absorbs a little bit less water you will need to add a tad bit more in the mixing.

Usually there are more issues going from wheat to spelt. Spelt flour has less gluten in it, so will not rise as much. So it will require more leavening. But given this is a pastry crust leavening is not issues. You should be able to make the substitution gram for gram without any real issues other than attention to the amount of water. And to, wheat has more gluten so it cannot handle as much handling as spelt. The egg adds fat and moisture so it makes the crust more forgiving.

Thanks again Norcalbaker59!! This is really so helpful.
So, final question - just to be sure I get this right!
My recipe advises using 50-70ml cold water to my spelt pastry (which uses 250g white spelt flour, as well as the 125g butter, salt, lemon zest, herbs, 25g cheddar and egg yolk).
Given that spelt flour absorbs moisture readily and will continue to hydrate if I leave it in the fridge overnight, do you recommend that I use 50ml water in the recipe (as opposed to the 70ml)?
OR, would you recommend that as I'm leaving it in the fridge overnight, I should cut back even further from this amount of water?
Thanks for helping make this Christmas perfect

 

[MidnightLoaf]

Actually, I'm clearly overthinking this...
I should just do as the recipe says, and add water a teaspoon at a time IF needed until it comes together into a smooth dough.
I'll use as little as possible of the water (if at all) and just make sure I've got a smooth dough at the end of it.
No need to reply unless you think there's anything else I should note!
Thanks again!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Actually, I'm clearly overthinking this...
I should just do as the recipe says, and add water a teaspoon at a time IF needed until it comes together into a smooth dough.
I'll use as little as possible of the water (if at all) and just make sure I've got a smooth dough at the end of it.
No need to reply unless you think there's anything else I should note!
Thanks again!

Welcome to the baker’s OCD club

As you add water, grab a a bit of dough and squeeze it with medium pressure in the palm of your hand. If the dough is hydrated enough most of it will stick together in a clump. At that point, shape into a disk and wrap. If the dough remains crumbly after squeezing it, add water by the teaspoon until it sticks.

Make note of the weight of the water you use. Since I use the same brand of flour for my pastry crust, I figured out 30% water to weight of flour it the right amount. So now I measure out water by weight, dissolve the salt in it, chill and just dump all the water into the flour. No more mixing and testing for hydration.