Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked goods made from ingredients such as flour, butter, shortening, baking powder or eggs. It may also refer to the dough from which such baked goods are made. Pastry dough is rolled out thinly and used as a base for baked goods. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts and quiches. Pastry is distinguished from bread by having a higher fat content, which contributes to a flaky or crumbly texture. A good pastry is light and airy and fatty, but firm enough to support the weight of the filling. These are some of the main types of pastry dough:

Shortcrust is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart or pie. It does not puff up during baking because it usually contains no leavening agent.

SweetCrust is made with the addition of sugar, which sweetens the mix and impedes the gluten strands, creating a pastry that breaks up easily in the mouth.

Phyllo (filo) Phyllo, filo, or fillo dough is paper-thin sheets of raw, unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Greek and Middle Eastern Cookery. Phyllo dough is made with flour, water, and a small amount of oil. It is almost always used in multiple layers separated by melted butter. When these are baked, they become crispy and the result resembles puff pastry, though the method is very different, and they are generally not substituted for one another.

Flaky pastry Flaky pastry is similar to puff pastry, the difference being that large lumps of shortening (ca. 1-in./2? cm. across), (as opposed to a large rectangle of shortening), are mixed into the dough, which is then rolled and folded in a similar manner. Flaky pastry is sometimes called quick puff pastry or blitz puff pastry.

Puff pastry is a light, flaky, unleavened pastry containing several layers of fat which is in solid state at 20?C (68?F). Puff Pastry, also called 'P?te Feuillet?e' or 'P?te Feuilletage,' is a dough, sometimes called a "Water dough" or "Detrempe," which is spread with solid fat and repeatedly folded and rolled out.

Choux pastry is a light pastry dough used to make profiteroles, croquembouches, eclairs, French crullers, beignets, Indonesian kue sus, and goug?res. It contains only butter, water, flour, and eggs. Its raising agent is the high moisture content, which creates steam during cooking, puffing out the pastry.

Puffed Chode