What is Hot water crust pastry?

A bit of an oddball in pastry terms as everything has to be hot rather than cold! This is a heavy dough pastry made by heating water and fat (lard) together and mixing them into the flour. Because of the high amount of water the pastry is quite hard and strong, making it suitable for encasing heavy mixtures, such as pork, ham or raised game pies, without collapsing.

Once made the pastry has to be moulded quickly, when it’s still warm, before the fat sets and the pastry becomes flaky and dries out.