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Sweet
Dough Recipe (Pate Sucree)
(Variations:
Spice & Cocoa)
For
One-Crust or
Two-Crust 9-inch Pie or 10-inch Tart |
I like to use this recipe when making
tarts because it offers a cookie-like texture. Perfect for
beginners, sugar enables this dough to be rolled and re-rolled without
making it tough. This is a perfect crust to pair with a
Pecan Pie Recipe.
How to partially and fully blind-bake a crust. |
Ingredients
for a one-crust pie or tart, about 10 ounces dough:
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1 cup (about 41/2 ounces)
all-purpose unbleached flour |
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3 tablespoons sugar
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1/4 teaspoon baking
powder |
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1/8 teaspoon salt
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4 tablespoons butter (1/2
stick) cold unsalted |
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1 large egg |
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Ingredients for a two-crust pie or tart,
about 1 1/4 pounds dough:
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2 (about 9 ounces)
all-purpose unbleached flour |
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1/3 cup sugar |
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1/2 teaspoon baking
powder |
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1/4 teaspoon salt
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8 tablespoons (1 stick)
cold unsalted butter |
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2 large eggs |
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MIX BY HAND: Combine
flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to
mix. Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces or grate. Place in the
freezer for to chill. Add butter to dry ingredients. Toss once or
twice to coat pieces of butter. Using your hands or pastry blender, rub
the butter into the dry ingredients by breaking it into tiny pieces,
continuously pinching and squeezing it into the dry ingredients. Be
careful to keep the mixture uniform by reaching down to the bottom of the bowl
and mixing all the ingredients evenly together. Continue rubbing the
butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse-ground
cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible. Beat the egg(s) in
a small bowl and pour over the flour and butter mixture. (Do not add water).
Stir in with a fork -- the dough should begin holding together, but still
appears dry and crumbly. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times,
until it is smooth.
MIX BY FOOD PROCESSOR: To
mix the dough by food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in
a work bowl fitted with a metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1-second
intervals, until the mixture resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large
pieces of butter remain visible, about 15 pulses in all. Add the egg(s) to
the work bowl and pulse ten times or so, until the dough forms a ball.
Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is smooth.
LAST STEP: Scrape
the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disc (two equal ones
for a two-crust recipe). Sandwich the disc(s) between two pieces of
plastic wrap and press it into a 6-inch disc. Refrigerate until the dough
is firm, or until you are ready to use, at least 1 hour.
VARIATIONS:
Spice Crust: Add 1/2
teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon each of freshly
grated nutmeg and ground cloves to the dry ingredients before mixing in the
butter. Double the quantities for a 2-crust pie.
Cocoa Crust: Add 2
tablespoons sifted non-alkalized cocoa
powder to the dry ingredients before mixing in the butter. Double
the quantities for a 2-crust pie. If the dough seems dry after adding egg(s),
add a teaspoon or two of ice water, no more.
From:
Nick Malgieri, How to Bake, HarperCollins, 1996
