13 March, 2023

Shortcrust Pastry And Its 4 Types

Comments : 1 Posted in : PASTRIES on March 13, 2023 by : Garima Tags: Dough, Pastries, Pie, Shortcrust Pastry, Tarts

What Is A Shortcrust Pastry?

Shortcrust Pastry is one of the “Classical French Pastries” and often used to make the base of “Quiche“, “Tart” and “Pie“.

It can be used to make both Sweet and Savory Crusts.

The texture of Shortcrust Pastry is Flaky, Crumbly or Crunchy like a Biscuit. It does not puff up during baking as it doesn’t contain any Leavening Agent.

Ingredients:

The ingredients to make a Shortcrust Pastry are always kept cold.

It consists of Flour, Fat (Cold Butter), Salt for Savory Pastry, Sugar for Sweet Pastry, and Liquid (Water or Milk or sometimes Egg Yolks for Richness in Pastry).

Proportions of ingredients vary in different kinds of Shortcrust Pastries.

How To Make Shortcrust Pastry?

The best way to make Shortcrust Pastry is in a food processor. It can be done by hands too but the warmth of hands can cause the butter to melt too quickly and make pastry a bit greasy. So making it in food processor is highly preferred.

Let’s read further the technique of making it.

Technique:

The technique to make a Shortcrust is to start with the Sanding process.

Mix the Flour with “Cold” Butter Cubes using any food processor or rub with hands until the mixture resembles Breadcrumbs and a little bit Sandy. Don’t overwork or over mix it otherwise the Gluten strands will elongate and create a tough dough rather than flaky or crumbly (“Short” strands).

After the flour has been coated well with the fat, add Liquid (Chilled Water or Milk or Egg Yolks) to it. Mix it using a cut method with the help of a spatula.

It is very important to rest and chill the dough for at least two hours in the refrigerator because that will help relax the Gluten which means when it comes to rolling it out, it is nice, elastic and mouldable.

Line the tin with chilled or relaxed pastry.

Note: For a Flaky Shortcrust, mix the cold butter until it disappears into the flour and ensure the cold butter evaporates as it bakes. When the steam releases, it results in the pockets while baking that makes a flaky crust.

There are 4 types of Shortcrust Pastries and they are all used for different things.

Here is an explanation for all about what they are, how to use them and what kind of ingredients are used in it.

Shortcrust Pastry is of 4 types:

1. Pâte Brisée
2. Pâte à Foncer
3. Pâte Sucrée
4. Pâte Sablée

“Pâte” means “Dough” or “Paste”.

1. Pâte Brisée Shortcrust Pastry:

• Pâte Brisée is used to make Savory Shells or Crusts for Savory Pies, Savory Tarts and Quiches.
• It consists of Flour, Butter, Salt and Water.
• No Eggs, No Sugar is used in it.
• It is light and delicate because of more butter.
• Very versatile, very easy to make, easy to roll and handle.
• Once it is rolled, we can flip it and it doesn’t break or fall apart. It is a very convenient dough to use for all savory preparations.

2. Pâte à Foncer Shortcrust:

• Foncer means to line up the Tartine with the dough and this is the classic all-round Sweet Shortcrust.
• It is almost the exact same recipe as the Pâte Brisée but instead of the Salt it contains a little bit of Sugar and some Eggs for Richness and Softer Texture.
• Pâte à Foncer is used to make Sweet Tart Shells with some Toppings of Fruits or Ingredients that can be Cooked.
• There are more than one Sweet types of Shortcrust but the Pâte à Foncer is the one we use when we make a Tart with Toppings of fruit or anything that can be cooked in the oven. For example, an Apple Tart, Custard Tart or an Apricot Tart.
• Cold or Chilled Water is used for binding so that the Butter doesn’t melt. Flour should be well coated with Butter. (Shortening Method).

3. Pâte Sucrée Shortcrust:

• Pâte Sucrée is used to make Tart Shells that are cooked first and then fill the Shell with a Topping that can’t be Cooked in the oven.
• Basically used for Tarts with fruits that can’t be cooked in the oven. For instance, Strawberry Tarts. For Strawberry Tart, we need a Shell that is already cooked and then fill the Shell with Pastry cream and with Strawberries because they can’t be put in the oven.
• The Shell is filled with cold or warm fillings (for instance, lemon curd or chocolate ganache) and let it cool down in the fridge to set.
• Contains lots of Sugar, lots of Butter, Egg Yolks and some Almond Milk.
• Sucrée means Sugar. Hence Pâte Sucrée Shortcrust Pastry also known as “Sweet Crust Pastry“, “Sweet Dough” or “Sweet Paste“.
• No Water is added because the quantity of egg yolks is enough to bind the pastry.
• It is very Sticky and difficult to work with. This means when it is done and then tries to roll, it sticks to the surface. We have to put this into two layers of plastic wraps and let it cool all the time.

4. Pâte Sablée Shortcrust:

• This is Sandy Shortcrust.
• Sanding is the technique used to make the Shortcrust with all the Dry ingredients mixed with Butter that is rubbed with hands to get a sandy mixture. Then add the liquids to make the Donut Sablée, Biscuits or Cake.
• Pâte Sablée is used to make Biscuits, especially Biscuits like Crust or Crunchy Base for Cakes (for instance, Cheesecakes). This Biscuity Crunchy Base is cooked first in this. Then put a cold preparation that needs to be set in the fridge.
• More Butter, more Sugar than Pâte Sucrée is added into it. Sometimes flavored with Almond Milk.
• Most fiddly to roll, handle and cook.

Notes:

• We should not overwork the dough for a nice Shortcrust Pastry. Kneading it for too long can build up the Gluten and the dough becomes elastic. So as it bakes it retracts in it, stretches back because the elasticity brings it back together and lose the volume in pastry. So don’t over work the dough.
• The other reason the pastry shrinks is adding too much water at a time. When we add Water to Flour, it starts to activate the Gluten. It makes the dough really hard to handle and also when it bakes, water evaporates away and it again retracts the pastry and makes it shrink.
• Empty Tart Shells get Soggy. How To Save These Empty Tart Shells? 1. Brush it with Cocoa Butter. Cocoa butter prevents it from oxidation.