I learned this simple pâte sucrée recipe at pastry school, and it is a staple in any chef’s repertoire. It can be used as a tart shell or a base for individual sized desserts, and the leftover bits can be punched out, baked, then used as decoration for your other baked goods.
What you’ll need for two 7″ tart shells :
250 g Flour
150 g Butter (room temperature, cut into cubes)
100 g Icing sugar
20 g Almond powder
1 Egg
Pinch of salt
There are two different methods, sablage (essentially “rubbing” the ingredients together) and émulsion (creaming). Personally I prefer the sablage method, I find it gives a smoother finished product.
Sablage:
Sift together flour, icing sugar, salt and almond powder, then incorporate your room temp butter until you get a grainy, loose crumble.
Add the egg, but don’t overmix! As soon as it comes together, you’re done!
Emulsion:
Cream together butter and sugar. Your mixture should lighten in colour and take on some volume. Then add the egg and continue to beat the mixture (*NOTE: to avoid seizing your butter, use a room temperature egg. This will result in a much more well mixed pastry!).
After everything is mixed, add in the almond powder, salt and flour. Mix well.
That’s it! Now you can wrap your pastry in plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it. When you’re ready to make your tart shells start with it cold (if you need it the day of making the dough, let it rest in the fridge 30 min), and gently roll out on a lightly floured surface. Line your mold or ring and bake at 350 F about 15 min, or until golden brown. Fill with ganache, lemon curd, pastry cream…whatever you feel like!
Like this recipe? I invite you to like my Patisserie’s Facebook page here. I cater to the Greater Toronto Area and would love to make something delicious for your next event!
-Florence
