Baked to Perfection: Winner of the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2022

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I regret to tell you that you will then be faced with uncontrollable drooling. The photos in this book are utterly glorious, luscious close-ups of unadorned plates of luxurious cakes, tarts, pastries and breads, each with that enviable texture right up in your face for you to lust after. Even the step-by-step pictures feel less like a how-to and more like a come-hither. By keeping the ingredients and the pie dough as cold as possible at every step of the process, you’re ensuring that the butter pieces keep intact and don’t melt while you’re making and handling the dough. Wrap the dough loosely in cling film and tap it with a rolling pin to shape it into an approximately 6×10 inch (15x25cm) rectangle (no need to be super precise about it). I find it easiest to do this by folding the cling film into a rectangle around the initial disc of dough, and then use the rolling pin to tap and push the dough into a rectangular shape within the confines of the cling film. By shaping the dough into a rectangle, you’ll make the subsequent rolling out and laminating steps easier. Then, chill the pie dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes. We only use the best ingredients for the goods that we make. Everything that we obtain is fresh. You’ll be able to taste the difference. There are numerous ways to crimp and decorate the edge of a pie crust. The one described in this recipe is my favourite, and I use it in the majority of my pies.

And then: bake! I like to bake (and blind bake) my pies at 390ºF (200ºC), as it gives the best results in terms of flakiness and caramelisation. It has everything, sweet things, cake, sweet pies, savory pies, breads, pastries, what's not to love? Besides gluten, but now you have now excuse, with thanks to Katarina. You want to squish each cube of cold butter between your fingers to form a small “sheets” of butter. During rolling and laminating, these sheets of butter flatten out even further and help create all those butter-dough layers that lead to flakiness.From Pies, Tarts + Pastries, I loved the look of the Roasted Butternut Squash + Cheddar Flaky Pastries. Shop-bought gluten-free pastries are almost always tough and disappointing. I do wish I’d read the “Makes 12” part of the recipe, as the pastries were way smaller and fiddlier to produce than I’d anticipated. Next time I’d make 6 larger pastries. They tasted terrific though, the squash and onions contrasting with the savoury cheese and seeds, flaky-as-advertised pastry and hints of thyme and nutmeg. They also reheated (as recommended) astonishingly well in the microwave, normally the nemesis of crispy pastry. The recipes are easy to follow, many of then have lovely step by step pictures which is great for beginners, and you also know what its meant to look like at different stages, if you haven't done gluten free before. Katarina Cermelj effortlessly combines her knowledge of both science and baking to demystify gluten-free baking once and for all." -- Erin Jeanne McDowell, author of The Fearless Baker Gluten-free baking just got a whole lot easier! The knowledge that Katarina shares is indispensable." -- Julie Jones, author of The Pastry School

If you look at a range of “regular” pie crust recipes (that is, those made with wheat all-purpose flour), you’ll notice that they often follow a “3-2-1 rule” for the flour:butter:water ratio. However, because gluten free flours absorb more moisture than wheat flour, a gluten free pie crust recipe requires a 3-2-slightly-more-than-1 rule, where you need to add more water than you would in a wheat-based recipe. Making a perfectly flaky and tender gluten free pie crust is actually incredibly easy. You don’t need any special equipment (no mixers or food processors) and while the whole process does take some time due to the additional laminating steps, there’s actually nothing difficult about it at all. Promise. The ingredients: keep them cold! This recipe requires only 6 ingredients, all of which are gluten free pantry staples: Wet ingredients –Buttermilk, melted unsalted butter, 1 egg, 1 can of creamed corn, and 1 can of diced green chilis. Onion –I like to use something that cooks down well in a dish like this, yellow or white will do in a pinch.Cilantro –Chopped up fine and sprinkled liberally over top, totally optional if you’re not a cilantro fan. Caster/superfine or granulated sugar. The amount of sugar in the pie dough is relatively small and doesn’t make it taste sweet. Instead, its primary function is to help the pie crust brown nicely in the oven.