Prepare sweet shortcrust pastry

For sweet shortcrust pastry, first sift the flour onto a clean work surface. This is important to remove any lumps in the flour and to make it nice and fluffy, which will result in a better dough later on.

Cut the cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour together with the sugar, egg, salt and lemon zest. It is important to use really cold butter, otherwise the dough will be sticky and difficult to roll out.

Knead quickly with cool hands to form a smooth dough. Do not knead for too long, otherwise the dough will become tough and rise when baking.

Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least an hour, but preferably overnight. Chilling the dough makes it easier to work with later.

After the resting time, roll out the sweet shortcrust pastry on a floured work surface and process as desired.