Pastry shape ideas can be made from using either puff pastry or croissant dough.
Since both of these types of pastry are made with layers of laminated butter, they create flakey, creamy pastries.
They also hold up well to hold custard or jam as center fillings for your unique pastry designs.
How to shape and design pastry
Roll out your dough until it’s about a 1/3 cm in thickness. It should be about as thin as a piece of cardboard. This is a good thickness to work with – not too thin, not too thick for creating shaped pastries.
Here are 6 ways of cutting, designing and shaping pastries.
It’s best to place the pastry on a cutting board, and then cut the pastry using a sharp knife.
Use a tape measure for rough measurements for designing your pastry shapes.
How to make a curled shaped pastry
- Cut a rectangular shape of pastry dough ~ 2″x4″.
- Fill the center will jam or custard.
- Pinch 2 opposing pastry dough together to create the curled pastry
How to make a butterfly shaped pastry
- Cut a piece of pastry 5″ x 5″.
- Cut 2 small triangles on opposing sides of the square.
- From the edge of the triangle you just cut, slice the pastry at an angle to create a point. Repeat on the other side.
- Fill the centers with custard.
- Fold the pastry over the custard downward on one side.
- Fold the pastry over the custard upward on one side.
- Pinch the ends of the point together.
How to make a duchess pastry shape
- Cut a piece of pastry 5″ x 5″.
- Cut the square 1 inch from the edges of the square giving a 1 cm border.
- Continue cutting into an angle shape.
- Repeat on the other side.
- Fill the center with custard.
- Fold the cut corner over the pastry.
- Fold the other cut corner over to the other side.
How to make a windmill pastry shape
- Cut a piece of pastry 5″ x 5″.
- Cut 4 slices into the pastry starting at the points. Leave a 1″x1″ box in the center for the filling.
- Fold the corner of one of the points into the center.
- Fold all of the corners into the center.
- Fill the center with custard.
How to make an envelope pastry shape
- Cut a piece of pastry 5″ x 5″.
- Fold the corner of one of the 4 points into the center.
- Continue folding each corner into the center of the pastry.
- Fill the center with custard.
How to make a center filled pastry shape
- Cut 2 pieces of pastry 5″ x 5″.
- Cut a circle in the center of one of pieces of pastry.
- Remove the circle.
- Place the cut pastry on top of the square pastry.
- Fill the circle with custard.
How long to bake shaped pastries for
Bake your shaped pastries for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.
