The Easiest Pâte Sucrée Crust

The Pâte Sucrée Crust in a tart pan with a removable bottom ready to be baked.

4.58 from 7 votes

While most pastry crusts often meet with dread, this is the easiest crust to make. With only four ingredients and using the press in technique this makes an easy, go to crust that is light, crisp, tender, slightly sweet, and sturdy enough to hold custards, creams, frangipane and curd fillings among others. It is a building block and master pastry for all sweet tarts. Of the three main French pastry crusts, the pate sucree is the easiest to make.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Pastry

Cuisine: French

Keyword: French pastry crust, Pate Sucree Pastry crust, sweet pastry crust

Servings: servings

Calories: 106kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Equipment

9x1" tart pan with removable bottom

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (175 grams)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces (114 grams)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
2 large egg yolks

Instructions

Have a 9”x1” tart pan with a removable bottom for the tart handy.
Place the flour in the bowl of a processor. Pulse several times.
Place the cold butter over the flour and process until the butter is indistinguishable.
Pour the sugar over the mixture and process briefly to mix in.
Add the yolks and process until the crust comes together in a ball. This may take a bit. Reorganizing the pastry in the processor helps. If your processor is a smaller one, divide the mixture in half and process each half separately. Join the two pieces together by kneading them a few times.
Divide the dough in half (about 180 grams).
Divide one half in half again (about 90 grams).
Roll one of the smaller pieces of dough into a 14" rope that will go a little over halfway around the inside of the tart pan.
Repeat with the second half, overlapping the edges of the dough. Press the edges together so no line appears.
Press the pastry into the edges of the pan.
Press the dough about 1" into the bottom of the pan towards the center.
Flatten the remaining half of the dough and place it in the center of the pan. Press it out to join the edge dough. Join these completely so there is no line that can be seen.
To partially bake the shell, freeze the crust until hard. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Tear a piece of foil about 13" long and spray one side of it with a non-stick baking release. Line with the crust with the foil, sprayed side down. Fill the pan to the top with pie weights or with beans.
Bake for 20 minutes, remove the weights carefully by grasping all four corners of the foil and lifting out. Return the crust to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes more until about two thirds done baked. It should not be completely baked but should be firm.
To completely bake the crust, follow the above instructions and bake until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes more.

Notes

The pastry is ready to press in as soon as it comes from the processor. If, for any reason it is very soft, refrigerate briefly to firm up. Do not leave it in the refrigerator too long or it will be difficult to work with because of the large amount of butter.
When baking the crust without a filling, be sure to line the shell with foil. It is strong enough to hold the pie weights or beans without breaking when removed. Do not use parchment paper. It can and will break scattering hot pie weights or beans everywhere.
I don't dock my dough (use a fork to make holes in it)for a couple of reasons. It is usually docked to prevent the crust from bubbling up. I haven't found that this dough does that since it is not a flaky dough, which is more prone to bubbles. The other reason I don't is that if you are filling it with a liquid filling, the crust has to be sealed. While this is easily done by brushing the bottom of the crust with a beaten egg white, the white can seal the crust to the pan if it goes through the hole completely.

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