Pâte Sucrée

P¢te Sucr©e, sweet tart dough in English, is a rich, crisp pastry dough used for free-standing dessert tarts, baked in a removable bottom tart mold or a flan ring. 

This was one recipe search that proved difficult, as there were many failures from usually trusted sources.  I finally found this very good recipe in Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.  It yields a nice shell that maintains its crispiness even with soft fillings, such as pastry cream. 

While P¢te Sucr©e is more difficult to roll out than P¢te Bris©e or pie dough, cracks and spaces may be easily pressed together or filled in with excess dough.

Yield: 13.35 oz dough

# of Servings: 12

Ingredients:
6 tbl (3 oz / 85 g) unsalted butter, room temperature (60 °F)

½ cup (2.13 oz / 60 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted 

1 pinch kosher or sea salt

2 large egg yolks

¾ cup (3.5 oz / 100 g) pastry or all-purpose flour

¾ cup (3.5 oz / 100 g) pastry or all-purpose flour

1 ½ to 2 tbl heavy cream

Special tools and equipment needed:

• Countertop mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer

Pre-recipe preparations: 

• Take butter from refrigerator, allow to reach 60 ° F

Directions: 

1. Place butter, sugar and salt in mixing bowl with paddle attachment. 
2. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl. You are not trying to beat air into the batter like a cake, just enough for a homogenous blend of the butter and sugar. 
3. Add egg yolks and mix on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until combined with the butter/sugar, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl and mix 
4. Add first part of the flour, mix on low speed until the flour is mixed in, about 20 to 30 seconds. It is not necessary to get a perfect blend at this point. 
5. Add remaining flour along with 1 ½ tbl heavy cream and begin mixing on low speed. The dough should just start coming together. Stop the machine and check the dough. If it feels dry, and a few more droplets of cream. Scrape down any flour on the sides of the bowl.
6. Mix until the dough comes together.
7. Place on large sheet of plastic film and press into a circle.
8. Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Dough may be frozen for a month.
9. Remove from the refrigerator for about 15 to 20 minutes prior to rolling out. 
10. Using a plastic spatula to mix, add enough of the ice water until the dough comes together. Add dribbles of ice water to any dry parts remaining in the bowl. 
11. Scrape the dough into a large piece of plastic wrap, press it together into a round, and wrap.
12. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or longer. May be stored in refrigerator for 3 days or freezer for 2 months. 
13. Remove dough from refrigerator approximately 30 to minutes prior to rolling out.