Best French Short Pastry Recipes

THE BEST PâTE SABLéE, SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Steps:

• Measure and cut butter into chunks and place it into the freezer for a few minutes
• Sift together dry ingredients; flour, icing sugar, almond, salt
• Add very cold butter chunks into the dry ingredients, and rub the mixture between your hands until it becomes a sand-like consistency
• Add egg into the mixture and mix with your hands just until the dough comes together
• Knead the dough with the palm of your hand for a minute or two, just until the dough becomes smooth. Do not over-knead the dough and do not use mixer, neither a food processor
• If the dough is too warm and sticky, place it into the fridge for 10-15 minutes first. Otherwise, continue with rolling the dough out into 2mm thickness between two Silicone baking mat.
• Place the dough into the freezer for 15 min in between the two Silicone baking mat.. Do not remove the mat at this point
• Prepare your oven rack with the Perforated "air" baking mat and Perforated tart rings on top
• Take the dough out from the freezer, remove the top of the silicone mat and using one of the Perforated tart rings, cut out 8 circles - this will be the bottom of your tart. Carefully move the dough circles with the help of an Offset spatula and place them into the rings one by one
• If at any point the dough gets too warm to work with, pop it back into the freezer for 5 minutes. You might need take the dough in and out of the freezer many times depending on the temperature of your kitchen. It is extremely important to work with a dough which is cold enough to be able to handle (so not sticky) but not too cold which would result in breaking it
• Cut 8 long strips out of the dough, this will be the side of the tart
• Carefully place the strips into the ring one by one. Press each strip onto the ring so it sticks to it
• Place the Perforated tart ring with the pastry dough in them into the freezer for 1 hour
• Pre-heat the oven to 160C / 320F
• After 1 hour, trim the top of the pastry with a sharp knife
• Bake for 20 min, then carefully remove the rings and bake for another 5 -10 min until golden brown. At the 20 min mark the pastry should be already somewhat baked and therefore will contract within the ring. If the pastry feels stuck into the ring, bake it for further 1-2 minutes
• Let the pastry cases cool on the Perforated "air" baking mat before filling

PATE BRISEE (PIE DOUGH)

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
• With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.