Pate Brisee - Flaky Tart Pastry

Flaky Tart Pastry – Pate Brisee
From In the Sweet Kitchen ( I forgot to take a photo before I filled it - oh well...next time)

Printable Recipe

Preparing dough: 5-10 minutes
Chill time: 2 hours to 4 days or frozen for up to 2 months
Rolling time: 5-10 minutes
Chill time: at least 1 hour or overnight before pre-baking or filling
Bake time: Blind baking – 20-25 minutes: to completely bake – add 10-12 minutes after liner is removed

Makes 1 (10-11”) single crust tart shell or 6 (4 ½”) shells or 12 ( 2”) shells
Special equipment: 9” tart pan with a removable bottom

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, cold, in small cubes
3-5 tbsp ice water

Directions:
1. Preparing the dough:
Food Processor Method –and my choice
Place flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter cubes and pulse using short bursts until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of large peas. Add the ice water through the open feed tube while using long pulses, until the dough comes together. Stop the machine and feel the dough. It should hold together well when squeezed. If the mixture is too dry and crumbly, add a little more water – a teaspoon at a time.

By-hand method-place the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl and stir to blend. Add the butter cubes and, using a pastry blender or two knives, cut them into the dry ingredients until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of large peas. Add the water, beginning with 3 tbsp all at once, and use the tips of your fingers to lightly and rapidly toss and rub the mixture until the dough holds together when squeezed. If necessary add 1-2 more tbsp until the desired consistency is achieved.

2. Chill time: Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and use the plastic to help form the dough into a flattish disc. Wrap tightly and chill for at least 2 hours or up to 4 days. At this point the dough can be frozen – wrap well – for up to 2 months.

3. Rolling out the dough: Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and let it temper slightly. If the dough is too cold when you begin rolling it, it will resist the rolling and pull back into the disc shape. Let it sit covered with a piece of plastic or clean kitchen towel until it is a little warmer.

(Ruth’s tip: Because I am truly a novice baker and always have trouble with dough sticking to the surface I’m rolling it out on, I place a sheet of parchment paper that is larger than the tart pan on the table and then roll the circle of chilled & tempered dough to fit the size and shape of the tart pan. Lift the parchment and place the dough side down over the tin and ease the dough into it). Trim the edges of the pastry to about 1” overhang and tuck this edge under, pressing the fold gently to seal it and coax out any air bubbles.

Cover the shell with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight before prebaking or filling and baking.

4. Blind baking:
Preheat oven to 375° F/190°C.

For a partially baked shell, prick the chilled shell all over with a fork. Line the bottom of the shell with a circle of aluminum foil or parchment paper that is larger than the pan and fill the liner with pie weights or dried beans (Ruth’s note: I save the dried beans after, to use again – but just for this purpose). Place the shell in the center of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are just coloring and the bottom of the pastry is beginning to cook. Remove the liner and weights and return the shell to the oven for another 5 minutes or until the bottom of the shell feels mostly dry but is still pale. To completely bake you will continue to bake until the shell is completely dry and golden.

Cool completely before filling. Preparing the shell can be made a day ahead.

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
From Ralph Brennan's New Orleans Seafood Cookbook

Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour or so
Cooling time: 1 hour
Serves 8-10

Ingredients:
3 large eggs, plus 1 egg of any size (for brushing the edges of the pie shell)
½ cup sugar
1½ tsp kosher salt, divided as directed
¼ cup Steen’s cane syrup ( I used maple syrup instead)
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp dark corn syrup
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted & cooled
2 tbsp good quality Bourbon whiskey, preferably Jim Beam
¼ lb/113g/1 stick unsalted butter, plus butter for greasing the pan
1¾ cups all purpose flour, plus flour to dust pan & roll out dough
1 tsp Steen’s cane vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, other option is distilled white vinegar)
1/3 cup cool water
3 tbsp whole milk
2 cups pecan pieces or chopped pecans
1 cup good quality semi-sweet dark chocolate chips
Options for accompaniments and garnishes:
Caramel sauce
Vanilla ice cream (my choice)
Lightly sweetened whipped cream
Mint leaves
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°F/165°C

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the 3 large eggs until frothy. Add the sugar, plus 1 tsp kosher salt, whisking vigorously until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Whisk in the cane syrup (or maple since I can’t find cane sugar locally), corn syrup, melted butter and bourbon. Set this filling aside.

3. Cut ¼ lb butter into ¼ “ cubes. Let the cubes soften at room temperature for 15 minutes. Meanwhile generously butter a 10” metal pie pan. (I used a tart pan with removable bottom). Dust the pan with flour and set aside.

4. In another large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine 1¾ cups flour with ½ tsp salt. Add the slightly softened butter cubes and quickly work them into the flour using a pastry blender or fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse meal with just a few pea-sized lumps of butter in it.

5. Add the vinegar to 1/3 cup cool water. Gradually add the vinegar water to the flour. Tossing lightly with your hand or fork until blended in. Gently gather the mixture together to form a ball. If it doesn’t hold together, add another ½ tbsp water at a time until the mixture is sufficiently damp to hold together, using as little water as possible.

6. Shape the dough ball into a smooth 5” disk. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, into a circle about 14” in diameter and 3/8” thick. Very lightly flour the dough, fold it in half and carefully transfer to the prepared pie pan. Unfold the dough and gently fit it into the pan.

7. With a small serrated knife, trim the excess dough flush with the outer rim of the pan (I pressed the rolling pin over my tart pan). Chill the pie shell for 3 minutes to firm it slightly. Then crimp the edges if you’re using a regular pie pan.

8. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and milk, blending well. Brush a generous amount of the egg wash on the crimped edges using a pastry brush.

9. Evenly scatter the pecans and chocolate chips over the bottom of the shell. Thoroughly stir the reserved filling mixture, then slowly pour it over the pecans and chocolate chips. Use a finger tip to gently stir the filling to coat all the pecan bits and chocolate chips with filling and evenly distribute over the filling.

10. Bake on the middle shelf (I placed the pie on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil for easy clean up) until the center feels firm and bounces back when gently pressed with your fingertips and the crust is golden – about one hour.

11. Transfer the pie to a metal rack to cool to warm room temperature before serving (about one hour).

Serve at room temperature or warm. It’s wonderful as is, but a drizzle of caramel sauce, dollop of whipped cream or scoop of ice cream is another way to go.