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Pâte Sucrée Recipe (Sweet Pastry Dough)
5 from 28 votes

Pâte Sucrée Recipe (Sweet Pastry Dough)

Pâte Sucrée is a classic sweet tart pastry dough made with butter, powdered sugar, salt, egg, vanilla, and all-purpose flour. The butter is creamed with sugar, then combined with egg and flour to form a smooth dough. Chilled before rolling, this dough yields a tender, crisp tart shell with a subtle sweetness suited for various dessert tarts and pies.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Additional Time
1 hr 30 mins
Total Time
2 hrs
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 181 kcal
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French

Ingredients

  • 125 g (4.5oz/½ cup) butter at room temperature (not melted), cut into cubes. Chilled if mixing by hand, unsalted
  • 75 g (2.75oz/½ cup) powdered sugar icing/confectioner's sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt fleur de sel, sea salt
  • 1 medium egg organic (room temperature)
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla powder or extract
  • 240 g (8.5oz /1.9 cups) all-purpose flour or plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted, T45 French, or cake flour

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Using a stand mixer with a paddle beater (otherwise mix by hand with cold butter), mix the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until pale and creamy.
  2. On low speed, gradually add the egg and flour and mix until combined. Half way during mixing, push the dough down the sides of the bowl and paddle with a spatula. Continue mixing just until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and stop.
  3. Form the dough into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for an hour. Normally you will only need ⅔ of this dough quantity - either freeze the rest or keep it chilled for up to 3 days.
  4. Remove from the fridge and after 5 minutes (as easier to work with), roll out the pastry to 3-4mm (⅛ inch) thickness on a lightly floured surface. When completely rolled out about 3cm (about an inch) bigger than the tart tin/ring, transfer the dough by rolling around the pastry roller and cover the tart tin. If using a tart ring, place the ring on baking paper or a silicone mat.
  5. Press well into the tart tin or ring, leaving no air holes around the edges. Trim off excess pastry by rolling over the edges with the rolling pin. Prick evenly with a fork.Leave to set in the fridge uncovered in the tin/ring for at least 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4/360°F.
  6. Blind bake (top with baking parchment and baking beans - see NOTES) for 15 minutes. Remove baking paper and beans.
  7. Bake uncovered for a further 5-10 minutes or until the pastry is golden. This step may be optional, depending on the recipe filling's instructions (such as this almond rum tart, which stays in the tin and is baked further with the filling in it).
  8. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes then remove from the tart tin/ring. Set aside on a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

Notes

  • This dough can be prepared one to two days ahead and kept wrapped and chilled or frozen before rolling.
  • Freeze raw dough or pre-baked tart shells for later use; thaw thoroughly before baking or filling.
  • Using a fine flour like French T45 or cake flour produces a more tender tart shell.
  • Adding cocoa powder to the flour mix creates a chocolate pastry variation.
  • Refer to detailed tart recipes in the book 'Teatime in Paris' for more guidance and uses of this dough.