Shortcrust pastry is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart or a pie. It does not puff up during baking because it contains no raising agent. It is based on a 'half-fat-to-flour' ratio. Fat (lard, butter or full-fat margerine) is rubbed into plain flour to create a loose mixture that is then bound using a small amount of water, and rolled out, then shaped and placed to create the top or bottom of a flan or pie. Pastry is the name given to various kinds of dough made from ingredients such as flour, butter and eggs, that are rolled out thinly and used as the base for baked goods. ... A tart is a pastry dish, usually sweet, similar to a pie, but different in that the top is open and not covered with pastry. ... A slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie à la mode A pie is a baked dish, with a baked shell usually made of pastry that covers or completely contains a filling of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, cheeses, creams, chocolate, custards, nuts, or other sweet or savoury ingredient. ... Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject: Baking Baking is the technique of cooking food in an oven by dry heat applied evenly throughout the oven. ... A leavening agent is an organism or substance that when added to a dough of flour and water causes it to rise by evolving carbon dioxide or other gases that become trapped as bubbles within the dough. ...

Sweetcrust pastry is made with the addition of sugar, which sweetens the mix and retards the gluten strands, creating a pastry that breaks up easily in the mouth. Wheat - a prime source of gluten Gluten is an amorphous ergastic protein found combined with starch in the endosperm of some cereals, notably wheat, rye, and barley. ...

In both sweetcrust and shortcrust pastry, care must be taken not to overmix the dough. Overworking elongates the gluten strands in the dough, creating a product that is chewy, as opposed to 'short', or light and crumbly.