Pâte sucrée

Sweet shortcrust pastry (or pâte sucrée) by P. Conticini

Written by on in Basic doughs

I tried many recipes and many ways of making sweet shortcrust pastry, and this is one of my favorites. Sweet shortcrust pastry is the dough used for most fruit tarts and this version is light, crisp and full of flavour thanks to the addition of the vanilla and the lemon zest. This is Philippe Conticini’s version of the sweet shortcrust pasty. Philippe Conticini is a well known French pastry chef who has focused his career on exploring tastes and flavours, which is why this sweet shortcrust pastry is so packed with flavour! It’s definitely the most fragrant pastry crust I’ve had to date.

This recipe can be used for the different tart recipes on the site, such as for instance the lime basil tart and makes a pie of 8 inches diameter.

Sweet shortcrust pastry (or pâte sucrée) by P. Conticini

A light and crisp sweet shortcrust pastry packed with flavour for all of your tarts and pies.

  • 140 g (1 stick + 2 Tbsp) butter
  • 90 g (1 cup) icing sugar
  • The zest of a lemon
  • 40 g (1/3 cup) powdered almonds
  • 1/2 a vanilla pod
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 230 g (2 cups) flour
  • 1 pinch of salt
  1. Mix the butter and icing sugar until soft and creamy.
  2. Add the lemon zest and vanilla grains, mix and then add the powdered almonds. Mix well.
  3. Add the egg and the egg yolk and mix. Then add the flour and salt in 3 batches, mixing very briefly after each. Mix only until just combined.
  4. Remove the dough from the bowl and lightly crush the dough slightly using your palm. They aim here is to make sure that all the ingredients are properly combined. This should only be done 2-3 times in order to not overwork the dough.
  5. Cover with cling film and let rest for at least 3h (ideally a night) before use.

  6. If your recipe calls for blind-baking, press the sweet shortcrust pastry into a form, cover it with a sheet of baking paper, and fill with dried beans, rice, or ceramic beads. Bake at 180C (355F) for about 15 minutes, remove the beans and cook for about 5 minutes more until golden

 Sweet shortcrust pastry

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