Pâte Sucrée Recipe (French Sweet Shortcrust Pastry)
Shaziya
Mastering the art of Pâte Sucrée opens the door to buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pastries that elevate any dessert. Its sturdy yet tender structure ensures your creations hold their shape while remaining delightfully flaky.
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 1 minute min
Servings 1 (9-inch) crust
Butter
- Butter Butter is around 80% milk fat and 20% water. Hence butter provides a high percentage of fat and a low percentage of water to form a crumbly texture instead of chewy gluten. Butter also deeply enriches the flavor of Pâte Sucrée.
Granulated sugar
- Granulated sugar Granulated sugar sweetens the pastry to a point that’s not overwhelming. Granulated sugar aerates the pastry by incorporating air and retaining air. When sugar is beaten with butter, it dissolves in the film on the surface of the air bubbles. This sugary syrup film prevents the bubbles from drying out and tightening up too fast.
Egg yolks
- Egg yolks Egg yolks bind ingredients. Because egg yolks are one type of surfactant and contain an emulsifier called lecithin which can lower the surface tension between fat and water. As a result, this averages the two densities to bring the two together into a homogenous mixture at the same density. “Whisking” is the centripetal force to make this happen. Egg yolks enrich the flavor.
Heavy cream
- Heavy cream Heavy cream provides moisture to prevent this Pâte Scurée pastry from getting tough. Heavy cream enriches the flavor with high-fat content. You can also use canned coconut milk instead.
All-purpose flour
- All-purpose flour All-purpose flour provides a base for this shortcrust pastry crust. All-purpose flour has protein content around 9-11% which is perfect for forming the needed amount of gluten to hold shape and handle moisture without being chewy.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a handheld electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and salt together on high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Add the egg yolks, one at a time, followed by the cream, and beat until blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
Add the flour and mix just until combined and forms a ball.
Press the soft dough directly into a tart pan with your fingers or flatten into a disc, wrap well and refrigerate until ready to use. If the dough is chilled, rolling out is the best method.
Keyword baking recipe, dessert crust, French pastry, Pâte Sucrée, sweet shortcrust