Thank you phb, that is so enlightening as I had forgotten and overlooked these important aspects lost over 40 years of not baking/cooking with pastry. Can’t wait to have another go at all the brands again, though I cannot account for my neighbour’s similar failures. For quiches, fruit etc which are wet mixes, maybe best to blind bake the pastry first. Thanks again.
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You’re welcome, Mary.
Pastry can be made with oil (any you prefer) it’s a faster alternative as it doesn’t need refrigeration.
(Shortcrust pastry can be made crisper by adding baking powder.)
It’s a faster way for Puff pastry too: just needs rolling out very, very thinly and layered for best results.
Personally, I only have a small piece, occasionally, and prefer the traditional
recipe 
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When we want homemade we use Lard or Butter as our preference for the layers, we also use the pasta sheet maker selection on our pasta machine (150mm width) to create the layers (for small pies and pastries). I guess if you have a large sheet pasta maker (180mm or bigger) you could do much larger sheets for normal family size pies and pastries.
Generally though it is much easier to buy sheets and we use Coles, Borgs, WW, or Aldi’s as our go to selections. Woolworths sell the sweet and savory Shortcrust pasty shells ready to bake, and we just top with puff or filo to get the fluffy tops. We blind bake the frozen variety flan cases first particularly if a very moist filling.
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Much easier: these are the key words!
Will anyone know how to bake from scratch in the future? 
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Only those who train to do it 
I guess Chefs, Commercial Cooks and similar will keep the art alive. Choux pastry is not one you can generally buy off a shelf nor cold water pastry so I guess there will always remain a need to be handmade for some types.
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I’ve seen in imported foods stores in Melbourne, bags of already cooked Bignè and Cannoli, ready to be filled with any cream, sweet ricotta, etc
Looks home-made, but much easier to make 
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Yes. Ready-made may be acceptable but it isn’t good. The exception is filo, life it too short to make your own filo pastry or poppadoms.
DIY pastry is like so many other aspects of cooking or any other tool-using constructive skill. Once you know how it isn’t that hard. There is some technique required, it isn’t like a stew where you can throw in almost anything in any order and it will probably be acceptable. You do need to measure when doing patisserie where with many other types of food you can very quantities with some freedom. That means you need to have some discipline and to practice, it doesn’t mean it is reserved only for professionals or that the food gods will smite you for impertinence.
To go somewhat broader, putting good food in front of those you care for is a great social and personal expression that is open to anybody who is prepared to give it a little effort. Why limit the scope of what you do if you have the time to do it right?
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Thanks very much grahroll, never having realized or spotted there was a ready made supply, will check it out asap. Enlightening!
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Thanks very much phb.
The website did not mention silicon moulds. Do you know if puff pastry can be effectively used? I was considering using my cupcake/muffin moulds with or without paper liners for quiches. Thanks.
They should work in silicon moulds or other silicon baking containers. It might take some experimenting as it may need a slightly different temperature to get the same result as a traditional tin baking container.
Also it is worth giving the silicon surface a oil (or butter which we prefer) to assist with the pastry going a golden colour.
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Hi , I haven’t seen anyone mention Careme pastry, it is apparently the bees knees . I generally make my own from rough puff pastry recipe online.
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Careme is a brand and competitor to Pampas - right?
Tanunda SA, noting they have a store finder if you don’t live in Adelaide.
I don’t think Choice has done a which store bought pastry is best cook off or taste test? 
Oil on the outside, butter on the inside if needed.
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I agree…pastry made with a vegetable oil is never as good as one made with butter. When cooking, as long as butter is used in the pastry, vegetable oil (or butter) for coating the baking surface is okay.
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It has the beauty of being fresh, so much easier than defrosting and trying to unroll the awful frozen stuff. It’s also Australian owned and made.
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I have always used Pampas butter puff w/out any problems. Make sure your oven has heated up properly as puff needs a hot oven.
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There are many factors. Was the oven at the correct temperature, I believe Filo needs a fairly hot oven. Was the pastry too hot after handling? I sometimes I pop the tray of prepared food in the fridge for 15min or so.
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My suggestion is to buy an oven thermometer as I found that many ovens temperature settings are not reliable. An Oven thermometer can sit or hang in your oven and make sure it is getting hot enough for pastry to “puff”. In addition thawing can cause problems with pastry as sometimes in humid weather or in a fridge the pastry may become damp. Filo should be okay as it is not frozen.
I recommend an oven Thermometer as I once “grilled” cupcakes as the bottom element in our oven was not working. At the time I had no idea why they were not cooking properly in the middle of the oven.
We have rented for over 20 years and have found ovens are often not reliable for temperature as per the controls. My oven thermometer has become my best friend for successful baking.
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The better ones are the digital thermometers rather than the spring dial types. The digital part of the unit needs to be outside the oven, while the probe within the oven.
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