Pastry is a food baked from a stiff, short (easily crumbled) dough made of flour, salt, water, and such fats as butter and shortening. This dough is baked into plain, flaky, or puff pastries.
Different countries are noted for special kinds of pastry. French pastry is made from a puffy dough like that used for eclairs and cream puffs, or from a cakelike mixture cut into small shapes and decorated with frostings, glazed fruits, jellies, or nuts. Danish cooks make pastries of flaky yeast dough into which they fold generous amounts of butter. The pastries may be filled with cream cheese, fruit, or nuts. Pie is perhaps the best-known American pastry. The flaky crust is created by folding layers of fat between the flour and water.
