Page 46 - YC Cooking School

The Art of Baking

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A few quick facts about favourite pastries

Filo pastry

Middle Eastern in origin, filo (or phyllo pastry) is paper thin and used for making anything
from syrupy Turkish baklava to Greek spanakopita. It can also be adapted for simple
savoury tarts such as quiches. Filo is also one of the healthiest pastries with very little or no
fat content.

How it’s made:
It is made by layering extremely thin pastry sheets together and the technique and time

required to roll this out by hand is significant, which is why it is usually machine made and
store bought. The layers are usually brushed with olive oil or melted butter for a crisp
golden finish.

Puff pastry

Puff pastry is known for its buttery, flaky pillowiness and croissant-like finish and is used for
everything from mille-feuille (a layered French dessert with cream filling), pie toppings, beef
wellington, simple tarts and even decadent cinnamon rolls. It’s thought that puff pastry is a
relative of the Middle Eastern filo pastry.

Store-bought puff pastry requires very little work. In the case of a pie or pudding for
example, it can simply be rolled out onto your pie dish to cover the filling, ‘crimped’ around
the edges (pressed down using your fingers or a fork), brushed lightly with egg wash and
baked until golden and crispy.

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