Pâte Sucrée (French Sweet Shortcrust Pastry)

Pâte Sucrée (French Sweet Shortcrust Pastry)

Pâte Sucrée is a classic French sweet tart crust that's buttery, crisp and tender yet wonderfully sturdy - perfect for fruit tarts.

Print Pin

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 40

Chilling time: 1

Total Time: 1 55

Servings: serves

Calories: 257kcal

Equipment

Stand mixer helpful, but not essential
Baking paper or baking mats for rolling
Rolling Pin
~23cm/~9 inch fluted tart pan

For best results, weigh ingredients with a kitchen scale.

Ingredients

95 g icing sugar (powdered sugar) (¾ cup / ~3 ½oz)
100 g unsalted butter softened (3 ½ oz)
1 large egg (roughly 50g / 1 ¾oz)
225 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (8oz)
2 tablespoons almond meal (ground almonds) (18g / ⅔ oz)
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar and butter. Beat on low until smooth (you don’t want to aerate it)
Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat on low again until it comes together. It may look a little split but that’s fine.
Add the flour, almond meal and salt and beat on low until it clumps together.
Turn the pastry out onto a clean work surface and gently pull it together. Shape it into a round disk.
Between two sheets of baking paper or silicone mats, floured very lightly on each side, roll the dough out to about 4-5mm thick or about 11 inches in diameter.
Peel away the top layer of baking paper or silicone and use the other to lift and carefully lay it over a 9 inch round tart pan with removeable base.
Press the dough down in to the corners all the way round, then press it gently into the scalloped sides. Leave the overhang standing upright and place the tart pan into the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours or overnight. If your freezer has space you can place it in there.
TO BAKE THE TART SHELL:
You only need to bake your pastry if you are adding cold filling that will not be baked later. You can partially bake it for 15 minutes, to step 12 (if it will return to the oven with a wet filling) or fully bake it for no bake fillings. You don’t need to blind-bake at all for some fillings (like frangipane).
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) / 350F. I prefer fan for this tart shell.
Use a fork to prick the pastry base all over. Use a small sharp knife laid flat to the edge of the tart pan, to trim off the excess pastry.
Line the tart shell with a sheet of baking paper and fill with pie weights or rice. Fill it quite full and making sure it’s pressed up tight against the edges.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Carefully remove the baking paper and rice (or weights) and bake a further 15 minutes or until turning pale golden.
If you’re going to be filling the tart shell with a wet filling like pastry cream, you can take the optional step to brush the base and inside-sides with egg wash and bake for a further 5 minutes. This will add a film between the pastry and the filling to reduce the chances of the pastry turning soggy.
Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.

Notes

Yield: This recipe makes enough pâte sucrée for a 9 inch tart pan or 8-10 mini tarts (using 8cm /~3 ¼ inch tart rings).
Weigh ingredients with a kitchen scale for the best result.
All ovens vary. Check for doneness 3-4 minutes before the recipe suggests.
Pâte sucrée can be made ahead. Chill in the fridge for 2-3 days or the freezer for up to 3 months, wrapped well in plastic wrap, before baking.
Leftover dough can be frozen for another time (you can store all your scraps then use them all up for a large tart later down the line).

Tried this recipe?Make sure to !

Nutrition