[phatch]

Now, I'm just a home cook. No training but books and hard knocks.

Rollling out squares, rectangles and circles is hard for me. I don't cook these sorts of things often and I've not seen much direction for improvement.

For example, pastry dough with the butter square. AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!! I've only attempted it a few times and it drives me bats.

Any instruction and tips will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Phil

[Gale Gand]

For something that is so second nature to me I often don't realize what a struggle that can be for some people. I know that there are some rolling guides you can buy with circles printed on them as a guide (to help you color inside the lines with your dough, so to speak) such as those for rolling out pies etc. but probably my best recommendation is to use a straight French rolling pin. They just give you a lot more control as opposed to the ball bearing rolling pins with separate handles, and let you apply direct pressure to what you're rolling out.

My best recommendation is practice, practice, practice. Make some dough and just use that dough to practice on. Roll it out again and again and when you are done just toss it. I recommend the same technique for someone trying to learn piping buttercream. Just get a round cake cardboard and practice piping around the circle over and over. Then scrape up the buttercream, stick it back in your pastry bag, and do it again. Eventually you will develop some muscle memory and it will become second nature.