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Pastry

Gluten Free Pate Brisee

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As a pastry chef, Pâte Brisée became one my favourite go-to pastry recipe because of its buttery, flaky texture.  I use this pastry to make all types of pies and tarts. This pastry adapts well to gluten-free, hence my sharing of this Gluten-Free Pate Brisee. You can prepare this pastry using an electric mixer, or by hand using a pastry cutter.  One of the benefits of making this pastry is that you can use it right away – not the usual case for typical pastry doughs because most need to be refrigerated before you can use them. You will find that the results are excellent as the pastry holds up and browns well in the oven, which is commonly an issue with many gluten-free pastries.

Gluten Free Pate Brisee tarts | urbnspice.com

Gluten Free Pate Brisee Mini Pickle Pie

 

Refer to my links for creative ways to use this gluten-free pâte brisée such as Pickle Pies or Australian Meat Pies, or even the Ultimate Maple Butter Tarts. I use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour for my gluten-free baking….

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Shortcrust Pastry

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One of my favourite doughs for meat pies, tarts, hand pies or meat turnovers is a Shortcrust Pastry because of its sturdy, crispy and buttery characteristics. When a pastry is eaten out of hand, a sturdier, leaner pastry is most suitable. In this post, I will guide you through how to make a shortcrust pastry.  I also include a gluten-free option. The tips and techniques provided will simplify the overall process to inspire the chef in you.

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Blenditarian Turnovers | urbnspice.com

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How to Make Pâte Sucrée Pastry

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Pâte Sucrée is a tender dough enriched with egg yolk. It is excellent for recipes such as Sour (Tart) Cherry Pie or The Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tarts.  The dough can be quickly made in a food processor or it can be easily made by hand. It can be used after one-hour of chilling or refrigerated for up to three days. For longer storage, wrap the dough well in plastic wrap and slip inside a plastic zipper bag, then label and freeze the dough. Use within one month. Pâte Brisée is another great option for pies and tarts. You can find the recipe for Pâte Brisée here.

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Pate Sucree can be used for pies | urbnspice.com

Pate Sucree can be used for pies and tarts

HOW TO MAKE PÂTE SUCRÉE PASTRY

YIELD: 20 – 3-inch tarts or 30 – 36 mini tarts

CHEF TIP: In order to extend the shelf life of the dough, I use a vacuum sealer to store and freeze the dough. Using this system eliminates air pockets and the possibility of freezer burn. This process will extend the life of the dough – use it within six months.  

NOTE: I often make a combination of different tart sizes to have available for different events. The following recipe for the pâte sucrée dough will make 8 – 3-inch tarts as well as 24 mini (2 inches) tartlets for bite-size treats.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup ice water, as necessary 

METHOD:

  1. In a food processor bowl, combine the flour and sugar – pulse once or twice to combine.
  2. Add the pieces of cold butter into the food processor and pulse 10 to 20 times until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  3. In a smaller bowl, combine the egg yolks and vanilla bean paste.
  4. With the food processor running, pour the egg yolk mixture in through the feed tube.
  5. Process until the dough comes together (about 10 – 20 seconds). Add a little ice water, one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together in a ball.
  6. Divide the dough in half. Form each half into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.
  7. Refrigerate the dough for one hour before use.

CHEF TIP: Ice water is used when making pastry to keep the cold butter from melting. This keeps the pastry crust flaky.

Here is a visual step-by-step procedure “How to Make Pâte Sucrée Pastry”:

Pate Sucree ingredients | urbnspice.com

Pate Sucree ingredients

Pate Sucree dough | urbnspice.com

Pate Sucree dough

Pate Sucree Dough wrapped | urbnspice.com

Pate Sucree Dough wrapped and ready for chilling

Pate Sucree can be used for pies | urbnspice.com

Pate Sucree can be used for pies and tarts

Pate Sucree used for Sour (Tart) Cherry Pie | urbnspice.com

Pate Sucree used for Sour (Tart) Cherry Pie

Pate Sucree can be used for pies | urbnspice.com
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How to Make PÂTE SUCRÉE Pastry

Prep

Inactive

Total

Yield 20 tarts

Pâte Sucrée is a tender dough enriched with egg yolk. The dough can be quickly made in a food processor or it can be easily made by hand. It is perfect for Sour (Tart) Cherry Pie or Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tarts.

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup ice water, as necessary 

Instructions

  1. In a food processor bowl, combine the flour and sugar – pulse once or twice to combine.
  2. Add the pieces of cold butter into the food processor and pulse 10 to 20 times until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  3. In a smaller bowl, combine the egg yolks and vanilla bean paste.
  4. With the food processor running, pour the egg yolk mixture in through the feed tube.
  5. Process until the dough comes together (about 10 – 20 seconds). Add a little ice water, one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together in a ball.
  6. Divide the dough in half. Form each half into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.
  7. Refrigerate the dough for one hour before use.

Notes

CHEF TIP: Ice water is used when making pastry to keep the cold butter from melting. This keeps the pastry crust flaky.

For more details and step-by-step photographs, please refer to the original post:  https://urbnspice.com/my-recipes/make-pate-sucree-pastry/

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Courses Dessert

LEARNING TIPS:  

Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:

  • Butter
  • Oven Temperature Accuracy
  • Vanilla Extract
    __________

You Might Also Enjoy:

Learn How to Make Pate Brisee

My Mom’s French Canadian Tourtiere

The Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tarts

If you try my technique for How to Make Pâte Sucrée Pastry, please leave me a comment below with your feedback.

You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy! 

Denise Pare-Watson - The Urb'n'Spice Chef | urbnspice.com

 

Denise Paré-Watson

The Urbnspice Chef

 

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The Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tarts

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Urb’n’Spice Ultimate Recipe Series

Is there anything more Canadian than butter tarts made with pure maple syrup? I truly believe you will agree that these Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tarts are hard to beat.  Maple is as much a part of the Canadian food scene as poutine, tourtière or Nanaimo Bars.  This particular recipe is also included in an article pertaining specifically to maple for the Culinary Historians of Canada‘s CANADA 150 FOOD BLOG CHALLENGE.  You can read all about it here.

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My Mom always made this family favourite with maple syrup and I have carried on that French Canadian tradition. The filling for this tart recipe is essentially a custard (similar to pecan pie filling or cheesecake). The addition of maple syrup is delightful and oh, so Canadian. While many butter tart purists prefer their baked treats without embellishments, roasted pecans or walnuts and/or raisins are a great addition.

Maple Butter Tartlet with Pecans | urbnspice.com

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Maple – A Timeless Canadian Tradition

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CHC CANADA 150 FOOD BLOG CHALLENGE

Prelude:  I am a proud Canadian. When the Culinary Historians of Canada invited food bloggers to participate in the “CHC Canada 150 Food Blog Challenge”, I knew that I wanted in! What a great way to celebrate and honour Canada’s 150th birthday by featuring a different Canadian dish or discussing a topic which reflects on what it means to be Canadian.  For March, the topic is maple.  For that reason, I am pleased to present:  Maple – A Timeless Canadian Tradition.

I was excited to learn that this month’s challenge is maple, a favourite in both sweet and savoury recipes. Even before I began my research for this article, I was very much aware that maple has evolved from its humble beginnings as a natural sweetener. Maple syrup is one of Canada’s quintessential food products.

Skip to Maple Butter Tart Recipe

I sometimes think that we, as Canadians, take maple syrup for granted – it is not just for pancakes and waffles. We have what the rest of the world wishes they could access as easily as we can. Many of my international colleagues have Canadian maple syrup on the top of their shopping list whenever they come to Canada.

Maple Butter Tartlet with Pecans | urbnspice.com

The Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tart

Maple Syrup is uniquely Canadian with 80% of the world’s production coming from Canada and 91% of our domestic production originating in Quebec.  My research indicates that in 2015, Canada had an annual maple syrup production of 8,908,000 gallons, generating revenue of $358 million CDN.

Canada’s maple syrup has health benefits that far exceed any other natural sweetener. It has over 60 anti-oxidants and minerals including calcium, copper, manganese, potassium, zinc and sodium, which offer a number of health-related benefits.

Why is maple syrup so timeless in its uses and its benefits? As a chef who works in recipe development on a daily basis, I have noted that the use of maple syrup has evolved into an important lifestyle and culinary movement – essentially the elimination of white and brown sugar and the reintroduction of natural unprocessed sugars such as honey and maple syrup. These ingredients are being substituted for granulated sugar in home kitchens as well as commercial kitchens. Canada’s Maple syrup has specific health benefits, which makes it a superior alternative to sugar. (See the topic Maple Syrup Substitution in Recipes below).

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Australian Meat Pies

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Urb’n’Spice Freezer Reserve Series

Have you ever had an Australian Meat Pie?  If you haven’t, you are missing out on one of life’s great pleasures.  We had an opportunity to enjoy several traditional Australian Meat Pies at a ‘footy’ (Aussie Rules Football) while travelling in Australia. Joining the jovial and boisterous (and slightly intoxicated) crowd on the buses to the game was an experience we will never forget.

Aussie Hand Pies | urbnspice.com

Each and every footy fan (even the babies) donned vibrant scarves in the colours of their favourite teams.  The atmosphere was friendly and the excitement was infectious as fans chanted and waved their scarves wildly.

We typically see in North America hot-dog and taco chip vendors walking up and down the stadium steps. In Australia, the meat pie vendors troll the stadium steps at the footy games selling their pies. Australians eat over 270 million pies every year. That is a lot of pies considering their population is 24.3 million.

What exactly is an Australian Meat Pie?  Australian Meat Pies are made of well-seasoned meat packed into pastry shells. They are also commonly known as Aussie Meat Pies. These meat pies could be considered their national fast food.

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Pistachio Chicken Pastry Puffs

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I want to tell you why I came up with the idea for Pistachio Chicken Pastry Puffs. You would think that a girl who specializes in pastry arts would be totally focussed on creating a dessert. To be honest, I played with the idea of making pistachio brittle. That particular confectionery is gorgeous to look at, delicious and used frequently as a garnish for desserts either as a wafer-thin shard or crushed as praline. I am quite sure that I have made several hundred pounds of pistachio brittle over the years.

Pistachio Chicken Pastry Puffs plated | urbnspice.com

Pistachios are often used in both the sweet and savoury kitchen. When I think back to the wonderful dishes we made at my workplace that included pistachios as an ingredient, it occurs to me that they were typically very special dishes reserved for VIP events.

It is little wonder – they are expensive little nuts. Perhaps one of the reasons why they are ‘trop cher’ (too expensive for everyday use) is that it takes so many years (8 to 10 years) before the medium-sized deciduous tree produces its first major crop.  (That reminds me of the cork trees in Portugal where the bark is harvested every nine years – an interesting fact.) So that aside, the uniquely similar properties of the pistachio nut is what inspired me to make a special appetizer dish that would feature them at their finest. A savoury bite like Pistachio Chicken Pastry Puffs seems apropos to this very pretty and tasty nut.

Pistachio Chicken Pastry Puffs cut on a diagonal | urbnspice.com

Pistachio Chicken Pastry Puffs cut on a diagonal 

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