Kitchen rescueBaking and pastryHard to save: start again

How to fix tough pastry

Baked pastry that has turned tough can't be made tender again. Serve it with plenty of custard, cream or gravy to soften each mouthful, and change how you make the dough next time.

How you can tell

  • The pastry is hard or chewy rather than crisp and short
  • It's difficult to cut with a fork
  • It has shrunk and feels leathery

Why it happens

Pastry gets tough when too much gluten develops. Gluten forms when flour is mixed with water and then worked, so kneading, over-mixing or re-rolling the dough all make it stronger and chewier. Adding too much water gives the gluten more to work with. Fat keeps pastry short and tender by coating the flour, so too little fat, or butter that has gone warm and soft, also leads to tougher pastry.

How to fix it

Option 1Serve it with something moist

  1. Serve the pie or tart with custard, cream, ice cream or gravy
  2. Cut it into smaller pieces so the toughness is less noticeable

Option 2Start again

  1. If the pastry is too tough to enjoy, make a fresh batch and bake the filling again in a new case, if the filling allows
  2. Use the tough pastry broken up as a crumbly topping for fruit or a crumble

Next time

  • Use cold butter and cold water, and rub the fat in lightly with your fingertips
  • Add just enough water for the dough to come together
  • Handle the dough as little as possible and avoid re-rolling scraps more than you need to
  • Rest the dough in the fridge before rolling
General kitchen guidance, not food-safety advice. If food may be unsafe, for example undercooked meat or anything left out too long, follow the Food Standards Agency and throw it away if in doubt.