Best Sweet Essentials Pâte Sucrée French Pastry Recipes

PâTE SUCRéE (SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY)

Steps:

• Place the very soft butter in the bowl of your mixer with the Icing Sugar. Cream with the paddle attachment until smooth; about 2 minutes on medium speed.
• Add in the whisked Egg and Almond Meal. Mix on low speed until combined.
• Slowly mix in the Flour and Salt, stopping as soon as a rough dough comes together (see note 1).
• Transfer the pastry dough over a large sheet of baking paper and assemble it into a ball. Gently flatten the ball into a disk using your hands and do the "fraisage" (see note 2).
• Cover with a second sheet of baking paper and roll to a thickness of about 4mm (1/8 inch) with a rolling pin (see note 3). Place in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
• Take the pastry out of the fridge and leave it to come back to room temperature for about 5 minutes.
• Remove the baking paper sheets (see note 4) and transfer the pastry over the tart pan.
• Gently slide the pastry along the edges of the pan until it touches the bottom. Press it tightly against the bottom and edges of the pan (but without breaking it) to remove any air pockets. There should be no gaps between the pastry and the pan.
• Remove any excess dough using the rolling pin and/or a small paring knife (see note 5). Use any excess pastry to patch up holes, cracks or irregularities if needed.
• Place in the fridge to chill and rest for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
• Dock the pastry (poke the bottom with a fork). Preheat your oven on 160'C/325'F and place the pastry in the freezer in the meantime.
• To par-bake: bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the bottom feels dry to the touch. Add the filling and finish baking.To fully blind-bake: bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until lightly golden. Leave to cool down completely before adding your choice of filling.

PâTE SUCRéE - FRENCH SWEET TART CRUST (PASTRY DOUGH)

Steps:

• Mix Dy Ingredients: Whisk together flour, icing sugar, salt and almond meal in a bowl.
• Add butter: Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs. (Note 4).
• Add egg: Mix with a rubber spatula until it becomes too hard to stir anymore, then use your hands to bring it together into a dough.
• Bring dough together: Turn dough out onto a work surface, then knead to bring together into a smooth ball. Flatten into a 2cm / 0.8" thick disc. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Unwrap chilled dough. Place on a lightly floured work surface.
• Roll out into a 32cm / 13" round (3mm / 1/8" thick).
• Line tart tin: Roll pastry lightly on to a rolling pin (ie. so it wraps around itself). Then unroll it gently over the tart tin.
• Fit pastry: Adjust the pastry to fit into the tart tin, fitting into the corner, taking care not to stretch it (causes shrinkage during bake).
• Trim excess dough: Roll the rolling pin over tart tin to trim excess dough. Pictured tart tin is 24 x 3 cm / 9.5 x 1.2" - you can use any up to this size.
• Prick the base of the pastry 30 times with a fork. Not all the way through - just make a light prick on the surface.
• Chill pastry in tart tin for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).
• Baking beads: Cover pastry with 2 sheets of baking paper (parchment paper), in a "X" arrangement. Fill with baking beads (or 2 cups dry raw rice or beans).
• Baking times for a Par Baked Tart to be used for tarts that are baked for > 30 minutes once the filling is added into the cooked tart shell.
• Bake 15 minutes the remove from oven. Use excess paper to remove baking beads.
• Bake uncovered 5 minutes: Return tart crust to oven for 5 minutes. Pastry should be light golden, crispy on surface, but slighty undercooked inside (will finish cooking once filled and baked again).
• Use these baking times if the tart shell is to be used for raw fillings (ie tart not baked once crust is filled) OR fillings that are baked for < 25 minutes.
• Bake 15 minutes the remove from oven. Use excess paper to remove baking beads.
• Bake uncovered 10 minutes: This will fully cook the pastry through and give it nice colour which we need as the pastry won't cook through in less than 25 minutes once filled.
• Cool: Remove then cool in tart tin before filling (this ensures crust stays crispy once filled), then baking again if filling needs to be cooked (like this Pistachio Frangipane Pear Tart).
• Make ahead up to 3 days, suitable for baking once filled.

SWEET ESSENTIALS: PâTE SUCRéE (FRENCH PASTRY)

Steps:

• PREP/PREPARE
• To successfully make this recipe, all the ingredients need to be kept cold. One trick that I use is to put the flour in the freezer for an hour or so. In addition, the bowl you are going to use, and the tart pan, should be in the freezer until needed.
• To bake, I am using a tart pan with a removable bottom, 9-inches (23cm) in diameter.
• Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
• Cube the butter, and then put into the refrigerator to keep cool until needed.
• Whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla paste and ice water, then place into the refrigerator, until needed.
• Add the cold flour, almonds, salt, and sugar together in a food processor fitted with an S-blade, and pulse a few times to combine.
• Toss in the cold butter cubes.
• Give the mixture a few 1-second pulses until the butter is broken up into pea-sized bits, about 6 - 7 pluses.
• Add the mixture to a bowl... preferably a cold bowl.
• Add a tablespoon of the egg/ice water mixture, and lightly toss with a fork.
• Continue to add the liquid, one tablespoon at a time, until you can pinch a bit of the dough, and it holds together.
• Chef's Note: It will be a bit shaggy, but that is what you want.
• Toss out onto a lightly-floured surface.
• Using the heel of your hand, knead the dough a few times, to get the butter incorporated into the flour. About six or seven times. Then bring it together into a shaggy ball
• Flatten it out, wrap in some cling foil, and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
• Remove from the fridge, and place it on a piece of lightly-floured parchment paper.
• Add a bit of flour to the top of the dough, place another piece of parchment paper on top, and roll out.
• The dough should be bigger in diameter than your tart pan.
• Carefully remove from the parchment, and place into the tart pan. Gently tuck it into the sides, and press into the fluted edges of the pan.
• Chef's Tip: To cut off the excess dough, just use your rolling pin, and run it over the top of the tart pan. Make a perfect cut every time.
• Cover with cling foil and place in the freezer for fifteen minutes.
• Chef's Note: Keep an eye on the time. Do not freeze for more than twenty minutes. We want it firm, not frozen.
• While the dough is cooling, place a rack in the middle position, and preheat the oven to 375f (190c).
• Remove dough from the freezer, and dock the bottom crust with a fork. This helps to release steam, and prevents bubbles forming in the crust.
• Place a piece of parchment paper, or foil in the tart, and fill with dry beans, rice, or ceramic pie weights.
• Place on a baking sheet, and blind bake in the preheated oven. Bake until the crust is cooked and beginning to brown, about 20 - 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, and let rest for 15 - 20 minutes, before using.
• Chef's Note: The crust can be made a day ahead, and kept, wrapped, in the refrigerator until needed.
• Chef's Tip: The crust is very fragile, so take care. The last thing that you want is for it to break.
• PLATE/PRESENT
• Pull out your favorite sweet tart recipe, and go for it. Enjoy.
• Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

FLAKY SWEET PASTRY (PATE SUCREE)

Steps:

• Place 1 cup of the flour, the butter, sugar and salt, into a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process 10 seconds, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the ice water and pulse 10 to 15 times, just until the mixture begins to come together (do not let it form a ball). Empty the dough out of the machine onto a floured work surface and gather together by pressing lightly. If the dough seems too sticky, gently incorporate more flour. Shape into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before proceeding with recipe.

PATE SUCREE (SWEET PASTRY DOUGH)

Steps:

• A note on ingredients: If you do not have Cake Flour, you can make some. For every cup of Cake Flour needed, scale out 120g (1 cup) of All Purpose Flour and substitute 15g (2 tablespoons) of All Purpose Flour with 15g (2 tablespoons) of Corn Starch. Sift the mixture so that the All Purpose Flour and Corn Starch are evenly distributed. The Corn Starch lowers the protein content of the mix and makes for a more tender dough. To yield 75g (1.5x) Eggs, crack two large Eggs into a bowl, beat them gently with a fork to combine the yolks and the whites, and scale out the 75g.
• Place the room temperature Butter and Powdered Sugar in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream the ingredients until they are completely smooth.
• With the mixture on medium speed, slowly add the eggs. Continue mixing until the ingredients are once again completely smooth and homogeneous. At this point, a properly mixed dough should have the appearance of mayonnaise.
• Chef's Note: As with the Butter, room temperature Eggs are best. Adding cold Eggs or adding all of the Eggs at once may cause the dough to "break" (i.e. the dough will appear curdled as the Butter & Sugar float in the Eggs).
• Add the Cake Flour in two additions and mix until all of the ingredients are fully combined, but do not over-mix.
• Chef's Note: The final dough should have a smooth, shiny appearance. There should be no visible sports of unmixed Flour or Butter.
• Rest the dough wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
• Storage: The dough can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or frozen for several months. The dough should be tempered but still chilled before rolling.
• Bake times for Pate Sucree will vary by recipe and filling. Bake an unfilled 8"/9" tart shell at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) for approximately 25 - 30 minutes or until it is lightly browned throughout.