Filo pastry advice please

[blossom]

I told my littl'un we'd make mincemeat parcels using filo pastry after school, you know, I think you cut the pastry into squares, spoon in a litle mincemeat then twist the top round and round?

I bought the pastry now I realise I've never used it before and don't really know what I'm doing!

Do you use it from the fridge or room temp? How many sheets? How long to cook - presume less than ordinary pastry as its so thin? And will I need to wet the pastry before twisting to make it stick?

Such silly questions . . . but I'd really like it to turn out well cos she's so looking forward to doing it!

Any help really appreciated, thanks :hug: :hug:

 

[dee]

uurgh nitemare stuff !!! i tried using it once , so going by my disaster i think it has to be a few (4x) layers thick , or they break adn it all oozes out , lol
i did it and used 2 layers ... lets say it was pants :lol:

am sure some other geeks will be a lot more knowledgable about the horrid stuff , lol :green: and can give better advice

good luck hun xxx

 

[suzev]

its definitely tricky stuff to work with and I dont use it that often but I seem to remember that it helps if you lay a damp teatowel over the sheets just before you use them it helps keep them workable. I Usually brush with melted butter to seal and as for cook ing time i would look on the packet. HTh

 

[Zo Zo]

its definitely tricky stuff to work with and I dont use it that often but I seem to remember that it helps if you lay a damp teatowel over the sheets just before you use them it helps keep them workable. I Usually brush with melted butter to seal and as for cook ing time i would look on the packet. HTh

Yes, this is exactly what I was going to say - it dries out really quickly if you don't keep it covered and it definitely needs brushing with melted butter, before you bake it.

Instead of twisting the top, you may get a better result if you make triangles, (think samosas) so... with a rectangle of pastry, pop a small amount of filling on say the top right hand side then fold the top left hand corner over it, then fold the triangle you have made down, so the top is flat again, then continue on like that. (It's hard to explain!) The rectangle needs to be long and slim, the width needs to be the width that you wish the finished product to be, and the length needs to be long enough to fold it over a few times.

When you twist the tops they look pretty but they are not so nice to eat because the twist is quite dry and crispy.

Dusting with icing sugar looks pretty.

 

[Zo Zo]

This is kind of what I was trying to describe :lol:

YouTube - How To Make a Triangular Samosa

 

[soriminah]

Or the other option is to roll them up like a spring rolls.

Just so long as you make sure you keep the pastry covered with a damp tea towel so it doesn't dry out you should be ok - and you need to lightly brush with melted butter between sheets. Say for instance you are going to use 2 sheets thick, you need to butter between the 2 sheets.

You can use it straight out of the fridge.

Why not do a few different shapes or you can even use moulds like patty cake tins and make mini pies.

You cook it until it goes golden.

Where's Jamie Oliver when you need him.

 

[blossom]

Thanks so much for all the helpful advice . . . it went really well and we loved doing it! We made a variety of shapes and sizes and tbh all were pretty good, as was mentioned the twisted tops are a bit dry and crispy (actually that's the only bit worth eating according to my eldest lol who stood there breaking off the twisty bits and eating them)

My youngest adored making them, but didn't like the taste lol, she's a shortcrust fan . . . never mind they look lovely and all the more for the grown-ups!! thanks again:hug: