Prue Leith's professional tips for avoiding the dreaded soft bottom
Prue Leith, co-presenter of The Great British Baking Show, suggests in her new book heating the tray or using semolina to make the base crispy.
“as a way to describe a wet or under-baked base on pies, tarts, and filled pastries — that honor goes to previous GBBS co-host Mary Berry. However, Leith has deftly applied it. In Leith's new book”
The term "soggy bottom," which describes the wet or underbaked base of pies, tarts, and filled pastries, was popularized by Mary Berry, a former co-host of the show. Prue Leith has applied it skillfully and dedicates a chapter of her book to this problem.
In "Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom: Delicious, Uncomplicated Food," Leith tackles soft fillings in a sidebar featuring salmon pastries, similar to Beef Wellington but made with salmon. Her tips also apply to red fruits, creams, and other fillings.
For individual salmon parcels, the solution is to preheat the baking tray while the oven is heating up, so that the pastry starts to cook underneath as soon as it touches the hot tray: "This way, when you place the pastry on the hot tray, it will immediately begin to cook underneath, and you'll get a crispy, golden base," he writes.
If the batter wraps a whole salmon fillet, there's more juice and more surface area to cover. Leith suggests spreading a layer of semolina or fine breadcrumbs on the inside of the batter, between the fish and the batter: "This will absorb some of the juices and prevent the batter from becoming soggy," he explains.
Other experts suggest similar tricks. Paul Hollywood recommends baking the empty crust first, using dried beans to keep it flat, and then filling it. For tart pastry, you can also brush the bottom with egg white in the final stages of blind baking. Mary Berry suggests using a little leftover pastry to line the side of the tin, which raises the crust slightly and helps it bake more evenly.
Each trick depends on the situation: it's important to consider whether the dough is for a tart or puff pastry, whether the filling is sweet or savory, and whether the juices can seep through the dough.
