The pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water, and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savory or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. The word "pastries" suggests many kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs. Small tarts and other sweet baked products are called pastries. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.

• The French word pâtisserie is also used in English (with or without the accent) for the same foods.
• Originally, the French word patisserie referred to anything, such as a meat pie, made in the dough (paste, later pâte) and not typically a luxurious or sweet product.
• This meaning persisted in the nineteenth century, though by then the term more often referred to the sweet and often ornate confections implied today.

Pastry can also refer to the pastry dough,[4] from which such baked products are made. Pastry dough is rolled out thinly and used as a base for baked products.