Julie’s top tips FOR PASTRY

1 WORKING WITH PASTRY IS QUICKER and easier than you might think. You can make it in seconds and decorating speeds up with practise. I use a Kitchenaid with a paddle.

2 YOU DON’T NEED FANCY EQUIPMENT. A basic pasta machine is useful for slicing sheet pastry into strips. Then be inventive. I use piping nozzles as stamps for circles and a pizza wheel for wavy patterns.

3 COLD HANDS DO MAKE BETTER PASTRY. Dip your hands in cold water before you work and throughout if you need to. Or move to Carlisle. It rarely gets too hot here. We have natural pastry conditions.

4 THE TASTIEST PASTRY IS OFTEN DARK. You might be tempted to underbake it because you don’t want to burn it. Be confident. Hot water crust pastry, for example, should be crisp. It shouldn’t chew.

5 THINK ABOUT TASTE AND TEXTURE. Looks are important, but food is about eating. I love crisp pastry on a beef shin ragout. The difference between the textures is wonderful.