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–+ servings
Dozen of PÂTE SABLÉE on a gray table top.
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4.99 from 100 votes

The BEST Pâte Sablée, sweet shortcrust pastry

This Pâte Sablée aka Sweet shortcrust pastry makes the perfect French tart crust to use for your favorite tartlets, be it be chocolate tart, lemon tart, or any fruit tart! 
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Waiting Time1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time2 hours 15 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Servings: 8
Calories: 270kcal
Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • Measure and cut butter into chunks and place it into the freezer for a few minutes
  • Sift together dry ingredients; flour, icing sugar, almond, salt
  • Add very cold butter chunks into the dry ingredients, and rub the mixture between your hands until it becomes a sand-like consistency
  • Add egg into the mixture and mix with your hands just until the dough comes together
  • Knead the dough with the palm of your hand for a minute or two, just until the dough becomes smooth. Do not over-knead the dough and do not use mixer, neither a food processor
  • If the dough is too warm and sticky, place it into the fridge for 10-15 minutes first. Otherwise, continue with rolling the dough out into 2mm thickness between two Silicone baking mat.
  • Place the dough into the freezer for 15 min in between the two Silicone baking mat.. Do not remove the mat at this point
  • Prepare your oven rack with the Perforated "air" baking mat and Perforated tart rings on top
  • Take the dough out from the freezer, remove the top of the silicone mat and using one of the Perforated tart rings, cut out 8 circles - this will be the bottom of your tart. Carefully move the dough circles with the help of an Offset spatula and place them into the rings one by one
  • If at any point the dough gets too warm to work with, pop it back into the freezer for 5 minutes. You might need take the dough in and out of the freezer many times depending on the temperature of your kitchen. It is extremely important to work with a dough which is cold enough to be able to handle (so not sticky) but not too cold which would result in breaking it
  • Cut 8 long strips out of the dough, this will be the side of the tart
  • Carefully place the strips into the ring one by one. Press each strip onto the ring so it sticks to it
  • Place the Perforated tart ring with the pastry dough in them into the freezer for 1 hour
  • Pre-heat the oven to 160C / 320F
  • After 1 hour, trim the top of the pastry with a sharp knife
  • Bake for 20 min, then carefully remove the rings and bake for another 5 -10 min until golden brown. At the 20 min mark the pastry should be already somewhat baked and therefore will contract within the ring. If the pastry feels stuck into the ring, bake it for further 1-2 minutes
  • Let the pastry cases cool on the Perforated "air" baking mat before filling

Video

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES:
  1. Measure your ingredients with a Digital scale for accuracy
  2. Use high-quality 82% fat content European style very cold unsalted butter
  3. In case of nut allergy, almond can be replaced with an equal amount of flour
  4. Do not skip the salt
TECHNIQUE NOTES:
  1. Make sure you read my Expert tips section above to maximize your success. A short recipe alone is not able to cover all the necessary details, and science behind baking. Consider this recipe like an in-depth tutorial, literally the only recipe you will ever need to make Pâte Sablée, sweet shortcrust pastry
  2. While assembling and kneading the dough, work as quickly as possible without 1. overworking the dough 2. making the dough too warm. Kneading literally should not take more than a minute or two
  3. The temperature while working with this dough is super important. Too warm? The pastry dough will tear. Too cold? The pastry dough will break. Aim for the in-between, a cold enough dough that is comfortable to work with. Use your fridge or freezer to chill the dough if it gets too warm
  4. The recipe can be made with the traditional blind baking method using a tart pan, however, consider using perforated equipment for the best result
  5. I strongly advise using a Digital oven thermometer to be able to measure your exact oven temperature
  6. Check my filling suggestions for 10+ tartlet filling ideas and recipes

Nutrition

Calories: 270kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 11mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 380IU | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg