Pâte Brisée (French Pie Pastry)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pâte Brisée is a French type of pie pastry used to make crusts for both savory and sweet pies and tarts. It is rich and buttery. If you have been having challenges rolling out pie dough, you will find this dough easy to work with. It is very forgiving. I however find it not to be as flaky as regular pie dough like my simple pie dough. This is an adaptation of a recipe by Bruno Albouze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

(1) 210 Grams All Purpose Flour (1-2/3 Cups)

(2) 80 Grams Cornmeal or Semolina (6 Tablespoons)

(3) 1 Tablespoon Granulated White Sugar

(4) 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

(5) 170 Grams Unsalted Butter (3/4 Cup) (See Note 1)

(6) 1 Large Egg

(7) 1 Egg Yolk

(8) 1/2 Tablespoon Cold Water

NOTES:

(1) Butter should be cold and hard in order to create a flaky crust. Cut the butter into small chunks. If using salted butter, omit the salt in this recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROCEDURE:

(1) Place all the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2) Add cold butter to dry ingredients and pulse until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Do not over process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3) Add egg, egg yolk and water and pulse until the dough comes together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4) Turn dough on counter and shape into a disk or slab. Wrap dough in cling film and allow to rest for a couple of hours in the fridge or until firm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIP: It is easier to roll out pie dough when it is cold.

(5) After a couple of hours, place dough on a lightly floured surface and break into chunks. Mold dough into a disk again and start rolling out with rolling pin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(6) To roll dough, roll pin from the center of the dough outwards. Rotate the dough after each roll so as to get an even crust. Rotating dough also ensures that it does not stick to the counter surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(7) Roll dough on rolling pin and transfer to an 8 or 9 inch tart pan or pie dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(8) Tuck dough into edges of pan to properly line pan. Do not stretch dough or it would shrink during baking.

TIP: You can use a piece of the pie dough to press the dough to the sides of the pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(9) Run rolling pin over pan to remove excess dough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: You also have the option of crimping the edges of your pie dough. This can be done with your fingers and knuckles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(10) Poke sides and bottom of crust to prevent the crust from swelling up during baking. Keep crust in the fridge for an hour to become firm again. If your recipe does not call for a pre-baked pie dough, the dough is ready to be used after an hour in the fridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(11) If pre-baking your pie crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. After an hour in the fridge, cover the crust with aluminium foil and fill with pie weight. This can be rice, beans or store bought pie weights. I have some brown beans which I use solely for this purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(12) Bake pie in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Take off aluminium foil with weights and bake for another 25 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pâte brisée can now be used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

END TIP:

Roll out leftover pie dough and cut with cookie cutter. Score and brush with egg yolk and bake in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Use baked cutouts to decorate pie or tart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For other pie crusts, click here for a Shortbread Pie Crust and here for a Simple Pie Crust.