I learned to make pâte brisée at the Cordon Bleu – the old fashion way. Flour and butter were worked together on the countertop and the whole thing was over in minutes.
Unlike recipes for shortcrust pastries made in a food processor where the emphesis is on keeping everything ice cold, here the ingredients need to be at room temperature to mix properly. The butter should be taken out of the refrigerator at least an hour before using and then kneaded until it is soft and pliable. This recipe works best with European style butter, that is to say, butter with a fat content of at least 82%. Butter is composed of fat, some milk solids and water. American standard butter has 80 % butterfat. This 2 % might sound like a small difference but essentially, less fat means more water. The higher fat European butter will be supple at room temperature, not saggy or oily, and easily blend with the other wet ingredients before the flour is cut in.
When mixing the wet ingredients into the flour, work with your fingertips or a pastry cutter so the butter doesn’t heat up.
If you want to make a paté brisée sucrée, add in the optional sugar.
Ingredients
Instructions
