228 – Pâte Sucrée (Sweet Dough) Recipe

Ingredients :

• 4 oz (113 grams) butter (softened)
• 1 1/4 cups (80 grams) powdered sugar
• 1 oz (25 grams) almond powder
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups (200 grams) all-purpose flour
• Extra flour for rolling the dough

Directions :

Step 1: Making the Dough
1- First we are going to make the butter mixture. Make sure that the butter is softened – you can put it in the micrawave for 20 seconds to soften it.
2- In a large bowl, cut the softened butter and sift the powdered sugar over it. Mix the butter and sugar using a spatula or your hands. It may be easier to do it with your hands.
3- Add the almond powder. Almond powder is just raw blanched almonds mixed in a food processor until you get a fine texture.
4- Add a pinch of salt. Whenever you are baking something sweet, add a bit of salt as it highlights the sweet flavors. Mix all the ingredients.
5- I am flavoring the pate sucree with vanilla extract, but feel free to flavor it to your taste with spices or other extracts. Add the vanilla extra to 1 large egg and lightly beat with a fork.
6- Add the egg to the butter mixture. Mix using a spatula.
7- Finally, sift the flour over all the ingredients. Mix all the ingredients together.
8- It is important not to overmix the dough, otherwise it will shrink when baked. You just need the ingredients to be well incorporate until it create a soft dough.

Step 2: Refrigerating the Dough
1- Wrap the dough with a plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This will let the dough rest so when we bake it, it does not shrink. You can actually make this dough 1-2 days in advance and bake it then.

Step 3: Shaping the Dough
1- After cooling down the dough, we are going to shape it. You can use small individual molds or a large one that usually comes in 2 pieces. I personally prefer the small ones.
2- Butter the molds with a little bit of butter.
3- Sprinkle flour over your work station and rolling pin. Place the dough, and give it a little tap with the rolling pin to flatten it. Then roll it (not too thin).
4- To transfer the dough into the modle, we are going to roll it over the rolling pin and place it in the mold. However, it has a tendancy to break, so dont worry about it, you can just patch the pieces using your hands.
5- When you transfer the dough into the modle, run the rolling pin on the edges to cut the dough. Press the dough into the mold. Add a bit of dough on the edges if they are not completely covering the mold, because they tend to shrink when baking.
6- Using a fork, pierce the dough all over in the molds, so it does not puff up when baking. If you are using the large pan, you should pierce the dough with the fork but also place a parchment paper in the center and top it with bean to add weight for the dough not to puff up.
7- Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking.

Step 3: Baking the Dough
1- Preheat your oven to 360 F degree (180 C).
2- Bake the dough for around 15 minutes until it gets a golden brown color.
3- Remove the dough from the oven and let it rest on your kitchen counter before remove it form the mold. Let the Pate Sucree cool down a bit and fill it up with custard, cream, top it with fruits, etc.
4- You can wrap the Pate Sucree with a plastic wrap then place it in a freezer bag. You can freeze it for up to 2 months. You can just heat it up in the oven before using it.
Bon Appetit!