Pie Pastry, Pate Brisee & Pate Sucree

Appears in

Published 1989

About

Pie pastry is the easiest and most versatile of all doughs. The ingredients are mixed as quickly as possible in a bowl, the fat lightly rubbed into the flour with the fingertips. Water is added, with egg yolk for a richer dough that should be soft but not sticky. Pie pastry can be given a flaky texture by rolling for one or two “turns” (see Rolling and folding).

Pâte brisée is the French version of pie pastry, made in traditional European style directly on the work surface with the dry ingredients spread in a well or “fountain” to enclose the fat (usually butter), egg yolks and water. The name means broken dough, because the ingredients are “broken” into each other after mixing, then kneaded until they are as pliable as putty. Pâte brisée is rolled more thinly than pie pastry, to about ⅛ in/3 mm thick.