Mastering Pâte Sucrée
This is the structural foundation for fruit tarts and custards. Unlike flaky pie crust, this dough should snap cleanly when bitten, behaving more like a shortbread than a leaf-thin pastry.
Cold ingredients are your only defense against a greasy crust.
Ensure your butter is straight from the fridge and your workspace is cool. If the kitchen is warm, chill your mixing bowl before beginning.
- Bench scraper
- Large mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- 9-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom
What goes in.
- 250gall-purpose flour
- 150gunsalted butter, cubed and cold
- 100gpowdered sugar
- 1large egg, cold
- pinchfine sea salt
Rubbing the fat
Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture resembles coarse, yellow cornmeal. This coats the flour proteins in fat, preventing them from developing elasticity when the egg is added.
The method.
Mix dry components
Whisk flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add the cold butter cubes.
Create the sand
Rub the butter into the flour using your thumbs and fingers until no large butter chunks remain and the texture is uniform.
Bind the dough
Add the egg. Use a bench scraper to fold the mixture until it starts to clump. Stop immediately once a dough forms; do not knead.
Rest
Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to relax the gluten.
Roll and pan
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Drape it into the pan and press into the fluted corners using a small ball of excess dough.
Blind bake
Freeze the shell for 20 minutes before baking at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.
Other turns to take.
Chocolate Sucrée
Replace 30g of flour with high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder.
Almond Sucrée
Replace 40g of flour with finely ground almond flour for a more brittle, nutty crumb.
When it doesn't go to plan.
If the dough feels soft while rolling, slide it back into the fridge for 10 minutes; warm dough will stick to the pin and shrink in the oven.
Use a bench scraper to move the rolled dough to the pan to prevent stretching.
Prick the bottom of the raw shell with a fork before baking to prevent large air bubbles from forming underneath.
The ones that keep coming up.
Why did my crust shrink away from the sides of the pan?
The dough was likely overworked or not rested long enough in the refrigerator. Stretching the dough into the pan instead of pressing it gently also causes it to snap back during heat.
Can I use granulated sugar?
Avoid it. Powdered sugar contains a small amount of cornstarch which helps maintain a crisp, fine texture; granulated sugar will make the crust grainy and potentially too hard.
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