Pate Brisee (Flaky Tart Crust)

This is a versatile flaky dough crust used commonly in quiches and savory tarts.

Makes 1 9-inch Tart

Ingredients:

- 8 oz All Purpose Flour- cold
- 4 oz Unsalted Butter- cold, and cubed
- 1 tsp Salt
- Approx. 1/3 cup water- ice cold

*It’s important that all of your ingredients are cold. I place my flour in the freezer before making this crust.
**This dough can be made in advance and frozen. Remove from the freezer the night before and thaw in the refrigerator.

Directions for Dough Making:

- Place butter cubes on a large working surface. Sprinkle with some flour.
- Chop the butter quickly and finely using a pastry cutter. This is called cutting the butter into the flour.
- Add in the remaining flour and salt and cut the butter into the flour finely. You can also alternately crumble all together with hands, but keep in mind that this may warm the dough too much.
- Once fine and crumbly, make a well. Add the ice cold water a little at a time and knead the dough.
- Don’t knead the dough too much. Just press it all together to form a disk. It may have some cracks and be a little loose but this is okay. Visible pieces of butter are also okay and good. This is what results in a “flaky” crust.
- Cover dough disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling.

Directions for Rolling and Blind Baking:

- Flour your working area liberally
- Crush/pound the dough with a rolling pin.
- Roll the dough, pushing down on it as you go. It’s okay if the dough is breaking. Just put it back together w/ your hands.
- Roll the dough as thin as you can.
- Spray your tart mold with cooking spray to be safe.
- Line the dough firmly in the tart pan using your rolling pin to help unroll the dough onto the pan. Be careful not to stretch the dough over the mold or it will shrink. Your rolled out dough should be slightly larger than your mold to allow you to gently push and press in the crust. Roll your rolling pin over the mold to cut off excess dough. Make sure that any holes and cracks are filled. Push the edges of the dough up with your finger slightly to compensate for any shrinkage during baking. Once the tart mold is lined with the dough, place it in the refrigerator to cool for about 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- When ready to bake, line the tart pan with parchment paper and place dried beans/lentils all over the top. This is called blind baking your crust.
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-20 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment from the tart when the edges of the crust are golden. Place the tart crust back in the oven to dry. The crust is ready when the edges are unmolded from the sides of the tart pan. **Note that drying is not necessary for all recipes using this crust. It depends on whether your filling is added cooked or raw. If using a cooked filling, your crust should be blind baked and dried.