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Pâte Brisée or Traditional Savory French Tart Pastry



Pâte Brisée or Savory French Tart Pastry is easy to make; a welcome change from our traditional lovely flakey North American counterpart. Watch the video within this post to learn the fraiser technique if making by hand.
Course Pastry
Cuisine French
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 1 Large Tart
Author Valerie Lugonja

Ingredients

  • Ingredients for the Pâte Brisée:
  • 250 g flour (2 cups)
  • 125 g butter at room temperature (0.55 cup)
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 egg yolk , whisked
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • (more or less water may be necessary depending on consistency of dough when making by hand)

Instructions

Instructions for Making the Dough:

  1. In large bowl, mix flour with salt; cut the soft butter into small pieces and add to flour/salt mixture: dough should resemble coarse crumbs
  2. Create a well and pour the egg yolk and the water and combine all ingredients using your finger
  3. Once it forms a soft ball, engage in the fraiser method* 3 or 4 times, until the dough is homogenous (with attention not to overwork it)
  4. Dough is ready when it holds together and is soft to the touch
  5. Gather dough into a ball, cover with a plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for approximately 30 minutes
  6. Roll out the dough between two sheets of cling wrap and place into mold/ring
  7. Preheat oven to 360 degrees F
  8. Poke holes in the dough, line the crust with plastic wrap and fill it with beans or rice to keep the bottom from puffing and the sides from falling
  9. Prebake shell for 15-18 minutes
  10. Fill with whatever you are making
  11. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes (until cooked)

Instructions for Thermomix:

  1. Weigh flour and salt into TM bowl; mix to combine for 5 seconds, speed 4
  2. Weigh butter into TM bowl by pinching small pieces into it; combine until resembling course meal for 2 seconds on Turbo one or two times
  3. Whisk egg yolk together with water; pour into TM bowl and combine for 2 seconds on Turbo one time (ingredients should be completely incorporated into small balls of pastry)
  4. Combine for 2 seconds on Turbo one more time to bring ingredients together into one homogeneous ball if you have experience with what that should look like OR to avoid overworking the dough...
  5. Remove dough from TM bowl and engage in the fraiser method* 3 or 4 times, until the dough is homogenous (with attention not to overwork it)
  6. Dough is ready when it holds together and is soft to the touch
  7. Gather dough into a ball, cover with a plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for approximately 30 minutes
  8. Roll out the dough between two sheets of cling wrap and place into mold/ring
  9. Preheat oven to 360 degrees F
  10. Poke holes in the dough, line the crust with plastic wrap and fill it with beans or rice to keep the bottom from puffing and the sides from falling
  11. Prebake shell for 15-18 minutes
  12. Fill with whatever you are making
  13. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes (until cooked)

Recipe Notes

*Fraiser: a French technique to evenly blend butter, sugar, etc. into flour dough with heel of hand on a flat surface in a downward smearing motion; once complete, dough is folded back upon itself and technique is repeated until every ingredient is evenly incorporated into a smooth dough

It is important to not over work dough during this process. This enables a light, fluffy crust.