Shortcrust Pastry

Shortcrust Pastry / Pâte Sablée

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (290g)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cubed (170g)
3/4 cup powdered sugar (75g)
1 large egg
Big pinch of salt

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, powdered sugar, and a big pinch of salt. Add the cold butter cubes and break into the dry mixture either by pinching with your fingers or using a pastry cutter. When you can no longer see large chunks of butter and the mixture has a “sandy,” texture, you’re good to continue!

2. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the egg. Using a fork, stir gently and gradually pull in more of the dry mixture to the egg in the center. Once it’s mostly combined, used your fork and your other hand and toss everything together (almost like a salad!). Remove the dough to a work bench and knead together for less than a minute, just until combined and smooth. Wrap and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

To roll: there are three possible ways you can approach the rolling of this dough. One of them requires no rolling at all! If the dough is coming from the fridge it will need 15 to 20 minutes to soften and be rollable. If it’s straight from the freezer, expect almost double that.

Option 1: When the dough has softened, lightly flour a work surface and roll it out until it’s 1/4” thick, flipping the dough over and adding flour as needed, just like rolling pie dough. Rotate your dough a bit after each roll to keep it evenly circular (unless you’re going after a square!)

Option 2: You can also place this dough between two sheets of parchment once softened, although it may need a little help sticking to the paper at first — just try flattening the dough about halfway with your hand. This will help in two ways: you can easily roll without needing additional flour, and once you’re ready to use it, you can simply invert it from the parchment paper to easily release.

Option 3: Finally, this dough could also be grated instead of rolled. Yes, like, on a cheese grater! Grate the frozen dough into shreds, then evenly arrange in a tart pan and press in with your fingers or a flat cup. I use this method a lot because it’s just so easy and it actually helps promote a tender crust!

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