Pâte sucrée

Serves: 8

If they like it, it serves 8 otherwise

Totaltime: 40 minutes
Additional info: Makes one 9- to 9 1/2-inch tart shell

The French often use this classic crust for tarts. The sweet pastry pie crust known as Pâte Sucrée is light and crisp. If the dough feels too firm when you're ready to roll it out, let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes. If, on the other hand, the dough becomes soft and sticky while rolling, don't hesitate to rechill it until it becomes easier to work with. Better to rechill than to add too much flour, which will damage the delicate, crisp texture of the dough. Bake the tart shell in a 9- to 9 ½-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and fluted sides about 1 to 1 1/8 inches high.

Ingredients

1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon cold cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour for dusting
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
4 ounces, 1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preparation

1. Whisk together yolk, cream, and vanilla in small bowl; set aside. Pulse to combine 1 1/4 cups flour, sugar, and salt in bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture; pulse to cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. With machine running, add egg mixture and process until dough just comes together, about 25 seconds. Turn dough onto sheet of plastic wrap and press into 6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or freeze up to 1 month.
2. Unwrap dough; lightly flour large sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap and place dough in center. Roll out dough and line tart pan. Freeze dough 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, adjust one oven rack to upper-middle position and other rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Place chilled tart shell on cookie sheet; press 12-inch square of foil inside tart shell and fill with metal or ceramic pie weights. Bake on lower rack 30 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. Carefully remove foil and weights by gathering edges of foil and pulling up and out. Transfer cookie sheet with tart shell to upper rack and continue to bake until shell is golden brown, about 5 minutes longer.
Use this tart shell for fruit tarts, and pies that do not require baking as the shell is already cooked.