The short answer is no. How you make pastry now is most likely similar to, if not exactly the same as how it was made decades ago, not least because, if it ain’t broke …
Let’s take shortcrust, as an example, for which you’re essentially rubbing together butter, flour, salt and sugar, and adding water or egg to bind. “Most recipes are going to tell you to keep the butter and water as cold as possible,” says Guardian baking columnist Benjamina Ebuehi, “and to rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips, until you’ve got a really fine mixture. And to add only just enough water, little by little, to bring it together.” Sure, some recipes specify the exact amount of water required (“It’s helpful to have a guide, after all,” Ebuehi says), but often with a caveat in the recipe method as to what the dough should look like.
