Sablé Breton Tart (VIDEO)

Sablé Breton is a delicious French pâtissérie-style buttery pastry often used as a base of a cake, tart, or simply enjoyed as sable cookies. This Sablé Breton tart filled with raspberry confit, custard - creme mousseline to be exact - and raspberries is a delicious and super decorative dessert that you will be able to make easily following my step-by-step Baking Guide.

Jump to:

• What is Sablé Breton
• What is Crème Mousseline
• How hard it is to make this dessert
• Ingredient notes
• 5 Expert tips
• Equipment notes
• Recipe FAQs
• More Tart recipes
• Sablé Breton Tart (VIDEO)

What is Sablé Breton

In the French language, the word sablé means sandy (just like Pâte Sablée, my most popular recipe on the blog!), while the word breton refers to Brittany, France’s northwesternmost region. Breton shortbread literally means Sandy Cookies from Brittany! Besides ciders and noticeable bad weather (similarly to the UK), Britanny is famous for its sea salt biscuits.

Sablé is a sweet shortbread that is deliciously buttery and noticeably salty. It is very important that you work with high-quality butter (min 82% fat content) and that you do not leave out the salt! The texture is similar to shortbread (due to similar ingredients) with rich, melt-in-the-mouth qualities.

Sablé Breton I super versatile too, the dough can be made into cookies, can be used as a base of a cake, or tarts like this Raspberry Fruit tart recipe. If you don´t fancy making tart, use the same recipe and make delicious sable cookies instead!

What is Crème Mousseline

Crème Mousseline is a silky, fluffy yet stable cream made of pastry cream and butter. It can be used as a cream filling for cakes, cupcakes and it is also super popular in French-style recipes eg. Fraisier cake or this Paris Brest.

Crème pâtissière (pastry cream) is the perfect base for other custard-like creams:

• Crème Diplomat: Crème Diplomat is a lighter version of the French Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière). Basically, it is Crème Pâtissière with added whipped cream and gelatin (optionally). Whipped cream makes it lighter and fluffier and the gelatin makes it more stable. Gelatin is not strongly needed, depending on the type of cake
• Crème Mousseline: Crème Mousseline is classic Pastry Cream enriched with fluffy butter that makes the pastry cream extra rich and also more stable to pipe kind of like buttercream but way more delicious.

This Sablé Breton tart is filled with vanilla bean and raspberry flavored Crème Mousseline, you will love it!

How hard it is to make this dessert

Making fancy-looking, pâtissérie-style homemade tart is actually not that hard, nor time-consuming.

However, perfecting any more complex recipe like this one requires practice and precision. The sable pastry dough itself comes together really easy and quickly using a handful of ingredients. The Crème Mousseline filling is also totally doable for beginners if you follow some basic rules that I will be sharing along the way. The decoration is what makes this Sable tart super pretty, and it is really not a difficult one, mainly using fresh raspberry and some green herbs! Let´s get started!

Ingredient notes

For the Sablé Breton

1. Butter: Sable Breton actually should be made using salted butter but the quality of salted butter is widely different in different countries. I suggest using unsalted butter unless you can access high-quality salted butter. No need to worry about using French butter, but aim for a high-quality 82% fat content European-style butter. But needs to be at room temperature, meaning soft enough to be able to cream. Avoid last minute microwaving
2. Sugar: This is a slightly sweet pastry and as such made with a small amount of icing sugar / powdered sugar that makes the tart sweet but not overly sweet. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my article here
3. Egg: Room temperature as always. Please note that this is not a Vegan Sable Breton recipe and the egg can´t be left out or replaced, unless you have the knowledge to totally reformulate the recipe. Use yolk only
4. Flour: I am using pastry flour (that is lower in protein content) for this recipe, feel free to use All-purpose flour, if can't find pastry flour in your local store. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read my article here
5. Almond: Some recipes contain almond, some don't, I prefer mine with almond flour from a taste and texture point of view. It is worth buying good quality ground almonds, without skin. Almond can be replaced with hazelnut, walnut, pistachio flour too, or alternatively, in case of nut allergy, replace it with equal amount of pastry flour
6. Baking powder: There is a tiny bit of baking powder in the recipe just so the pastry slightly increases in volume. Make sure not to use more to avoid "too airy" texture
7. Salt: An essential ingredient in most of dessert recipes and particularly critical for making Sable Breton. Salt balances the flavor and enhances other ingredients. Use good quality sea salt

Exact ingredient quantities can be found in the RECIPE CARD, at the bottom of this page.

As you can see the pastry is a super simple recipe in terms of the ingredients. The secret behind making beautiful, neat, and delicious Sable Breton tart is all about mastering the technique. Keep on reading!

For the Filling

1. Milk: Use high-fat content milk, the highest you can get! It makes a huge difference when it comes to the deepness of the taste
2. Sugar: Simple, white granulated sugar is perfectly fine
3. Egg: Some recipes call for whole egg however I strongly advise using egg yolk only for the best texture and flavor while making Pastry cream. Perhaps try my pavlova recipe if you want to use up your egg whites? Another, maybe not so obvious note is that the color of your egg yolk will dictate the color of your pastry cream. Farm eggs make super yellow pastry cream, on the other hand, supermarket eggs are usually way paler
4. Flour: Flour is one of the thickening agents in this pastry cream recipe, use All-purpose flour. No, it won’t taste like flour!
5. Starch: Corn starch is the other thickening agent in the recipe, theoretically you could only use flour OR only starch however I prefer 50%-50%.
6. Vanilla: Vanilla is THE heart of making pastry cream! Avoid using artificial vanilla. There are several great brands for fine, pure vanilla, I use Nielsen massey which I love and really recommend. I use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract for my pastry cream for the deepest, most delicious vanilla cream
7. Butter: Use unsalted as per above. Room temperature is key here. If too cold, it won’t incorporate properly. If too hot/liquid, it will make the pastry cream runny. We will use butter twice, first when making the pastry cream then when making mousseline cream out of the pastry cream
8. Raspberry: You will need either frozen or fresh raspberries to make the confit. For the decoration use some fresh rasperries and green leaves eg. mint

Exact ingredient quantities can be found in the RECIPE CARD, at the bottom of this page.

5 Expert tips

1. The process of making Sablé Breton tart crust

Making this Sablé Breton tart crust recipe is relatively easy, it comes together really quickly and the process is the following:

• With an Electric hand mixer or using a Stand mixer paddle attachment cream soft, room temperature unsalted butter for a few minutes until becomes really fluffy
• Similarly to the butter, cream powdered sugar with egg yolk for a couple of minutes until pale
• Using a Rubber spatula fold creamed butter into creamed egg yolk mixture until combined
• Sift in dry ingredients (flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt) and mix throughout
• If the dough is too runny, chill it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes, otherwise, continue with spreading the dough onto a Silicone baking mat (or parchment paper / baking sheet) using an Offset spatula. Aim to spread the dough in a circle of 19cm / 7.5inches in diameter
• Place a Mousse cake ring (adjustable in size) on top of the dough or use a spring-form (only the side part, not the bottom) so the dough won´t spread while baking
• Chill the dough in the fridge for 1hour before baking, or freeze for 15 minutes while preheating the oven to 180C / 356F
• Bake it for 20-25 minutes, until risen and golden brown
• Let it come to room temperature, then remove the cake ring. Please note that the pastry is very fragile while it is hot, do not force removing the ring, let is cool first

2. How to make raspberry confit

Making raspberry confit is super easy and really makes the difference and brings strong natural raspberry flavors. The process is the following:

1. Cook confit until thickens: Whether you use frozen or fresh raspberries, first blend the fruit and run in through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. Then, cook with sugar and lemon juice over medium heat until slightly thickens. You don´t want to cook it for too long (that would be a thick jam texture) just long enough so some water evaporates and it thickens a bit and is appropriate to spread on top of the Sable Breton tart

2. Let confit cool down before using: You will have to use the confit to spread on the tart so it is important that both the tart as well as the confit are either cold or at least room temp otherwise they might melt together making a mess

Making raspberry confit is super easy, however, if you don´t fancy making it from scratch, feel free to use thick, good-quality raspberry jam.

3. How to make pastry cream for the Mousseline Cream

Pastry cream is the most delicious rich, silky and creamy custard-like cream filling used in many types of dessert. You will have to make a pastry cream first that will be turned into Crème mousseline at a later stage with fluffy, soft butter. I have a whole detailed Baking Guide with tons of tips about making the perfect pastry cream (Creme Patissiere), make sure you read it.

• In a large enough bowl with the help of a Hand whisk, mix together sugar and egg yolk until slightly fluffy for about 1-2 minutes
• Mix in corn starch, flour, and vanilla until thoroughly incorporated and have a smooth paste
• Bring milk to boil in a saucepan on medium heat then remove it as soon as it starts simmering. Make sure it is simmering but not crazy boiling
• Pour the warm milk over the egg yolk mixture slowly while whisking vigorously with a Hand whisk. This stage is effectively tempering the egg yolks and the mixture should already start to slightly thicken
• Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat for a few minutes until it thickens. Concretely it is approximately 1 min after the first boil. It might get lumpy first, don’t worry just keep whisking and the cream will get smooth and glossy. It’s worth keeping a good quality (so that the milk won’t burn in it) small/medium-sized saucepan for making pastry cream only
• If in doubt, strain the pastry cream for a lump-free, creamy end result
• Add in room temperature soft butter and mix with a Rubber spatula until completely incorporated. It is worth adding the butter in 3 stages and mixing well after each addition.
• Pastry cream needs to be completely cooled to room temperature before using it to make the filling for the Paris-Brest. Place the cream into a shallow bowl or container and cover the entire surface with plastic wrap to avoid a skin forming on top.

4. The process of making Crème mousseline

For this Sablé Breton Tart recipe, we will be making a wonderful Crème mousseline. It is a rich, but not overly sweet cream, and very stable to pipe.

The process is simple, however, you have to be careful with the temperature of the ingredients:

• It is very important that the pastry cream is cooled but not cold meaning either let it cool at room temp or cool it in the fridge then let it come back to room temperature
• The butter needs to be soft. Soft butter means soft enough without hard butter chunks for the mixer to cream it but do not melt it in the microwave as melted butter can´t be creamed
• If either pastry cream or butter is too cold or too warm, you won´t be able to whip up the mixture properly as either butter will stay in chunks or the entire mixture will break and curdle
• So once pastry cream is set but not cold and butter is soft, move butter into your Stand mixer fitted with your whisk attachment and start creaming the butter for a few minutes until it becomes fluffy. Alternatively, this can be also done with an Electic Hand mixer but pay close attention to the consistency of the cream as explained below
• Once butter is creamy and pale, start adding the room temp pastry cream in 4 steps (adding always ¼ only) while the mixer is still on
• Cream mixture until it reached a fluffy, pipeable consistency. This will take about 3 minutes
• Make sure you do not over whip the cream at this point as it can get runny

For the tart filling, I am using two kinds of mousseline cream. One is this vanilla bean one. The other one is raspberry flavored using this vanilla bean base cream mixed with a small amount of raspberry confit.

Please note that due to the butter content mousseline cream gets firmer in the fridge over time, that is normal.

5. How to assemble the dessert

Once you have all the elements ready, assembling this Sable Breton tartlet is a step-by-step process but actually not that hard. Make sure that

• The Sable Breton is room temp or chilled, definitely not warm
• The raspberry confit is also not warm
• The creme mousseline (both the vanilla and the raspberry one) are ready in piping bag fitted with nozzle tips
• Prepare and wash a few fresh raspberries
• Prepare a few green herbs to decorate eg. mint, basil, or edible flower
• Prepare a small amount of icing sugar to dust the tart around

The assembling process is the following

1. Place room temperature tart onto a serving tray
2. Spread the raspberry confit on top
3. Pipe creme mousseline on top altering between the vanilla bean and raspberry one
4. Dust around with powdered sugar
5. Place a few green leaves on top eg. mint

Equipment notes

Making Sable Breton does not require too much fancy equipment, however with a few basic items you can easily achieve professional-looking results.

Digital scale - For a consistent, happy baking experience always measure your ingredients. This is absolutely a MUST

Rubber spatula - Every home baker needs a few good quality rubber spatulas, for desserts where the recipe states "folding"

Mousse cake ring (adjustable in size) - You will need to use a baking ring around the pastry - so it won´t end up like a pancake in the oven. Alternatively, you can use a springform too (without the bottom). I love my cake ring and often use it for making neat cheesecake crust or any mousse-type cake. Since the cake ring is adjustable in size, you only need to purchase one instead of buying several different sizes.

Silicone baking mat - I suggest baking the pastry on a silicone baking mat, alternatively, a baking sheet can work too. I use my silicone baking mat all the time not just for baking, but also for rolling - with that I do not need to add extra flour while rolling pastry dough. I am using the “Amazon basics” cheapest version, no need to buy anything expensive.

Stand mixer - A stand mixer will make your life easier in the kitchen. Although many tasks can be completed with an electric hand mixer, whipping the mousseline cream is definitely more convenient with the help of a stand mixer. I have a KitchenAid Classic  and that works perfectly fine

Piping bag - If you want to make professional-looking desserts I warmly recommend investing in a piping bag and a few piping nozzles. For this tart, I am using a simple round nozzle tip and a french star nozzle tip

Recipe FAQs

More Tart recipes

Check out my ultimate collection of tart recipes! With a couple of base crust recipes, you can make mini tartlets or larger ones in any shape, form, or flavor.