Pâte Brisée

Shortcrust rubbed rather than creamed, where visible pieces of butter are what you are aiming for and a smooth dough is the failure.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter).

Ingredients

• 250 g plain flour
• 150 g cold butter, in 1 cm cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar, for a sweet case
• 60 ml ice-cold water
• 1 egg white, for sealing

Method

1. THE BUTTER MUST STILL BE IN VISIBLE PIECES WHEN THE WATER GOES IN. Flattened flakes the size of a thumbnail, not a uniform crumb and certainly not a paste. Those flakes melt in the oven and leave the gaps that make the pastry short; rubbed in completely, the fat coats every grain of flour evenly and what you bake is a dense biscuit. Stop rubbing while it still looks unfinished.
2. THE WATER GOES IN ALL AT ONCE AND IS CUT IN, NOT KNEADED. A knife or a fork, in slicing strokes, until it just clumps. Every extra second works gluten and gluten is what makes pastry tough and shrink. If it looks too dry in patches, press it together with your hands rather than adding more water.
3. IT IS RESTED TWICE: ONCE AS A DISC AND ONCE IN THE TIN. The first rest relaxes the gluten so it rolls without fighting back. The second, after lining, is the one people skip and it is the one that stops the sides sliding down the tin in the oven.
4. AND A BLIND-BAKED CASE IS SEALED WITH EGG WHITE while it is still hot. Brushed over the base and back in the oven for two minutes, it sets into a waterproof film. Any wet filling poured into an unsealed case soaks straight in and the base is raw pastry under a cooked tart.
5. Flour and salt in a wide bowl, the sugar too if the case is for something sweet.
6. Butter cubes tossed through the flour, then rubbed between fingertips -- high up, so air gets in -- for about 45 SECONDS ONLY. Stop while there are still flat flakes.
7. The cold water poured in all at once and cut through with a knife until it clumps.
8. Gathered into a disc with the hands, pressed rather than kneaded. Wrapped and chilled 30 minutes.
9. Rolled on a floured surface to 3 mm, turning a quarter between rolls rather than stretching it.
10. Lifted into the tin over the rolling pin, eased into the corners without stretching, and the excess left hanging over the rim.
11. CHILLED AGAIN, 30 minutes, then the overhang trimmed with a knife run across the top of the tin.
12. Lined with paper and filled with beans, baked at 190C for 15 minutes, then the paper and beans out and 5 to 8 minutes more until the base is dry and pale gold.
13. Brushed with egg white while hot and returned 2 minutes. Now it will take a filling.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under France · All recipes