HungryForever

PÂTE BRISÉE [Short Paste, Pastry Dough, Pie Crust]

A good French pastry crust is tender, crunchy, and buttery. The best one, pâte brisée fine, is made in the proportions, according to weight, of 5 parts flour to 4 parts butter. American all-purpose, hard-wheat flour produces a slightly brittle crust if only butter is used. However, a mixture of 3 parts butter and 1 part vegetable shortening will give a tender crust with a good buttery flavor. Unlike standard American methods, the French system calls for a fraisage at the end of the operation, which is a short pushing out of the dough with the heel of the hand to insure an even blending of fat and flour.

Ingredients

1cup all purpose flour5 ounces
3ounce ounces butter and 1 vegetable shortening¾ stick, 2 Tb
3 to 4½ Tb iced water
tsp ½salt
tsp ⅛sugar (optionalfor color)
2cups all purpose flourscooped and leveled
1tsp Salt
tsp ¼sugar
6ounces chilled butter cut into ½-inch bits1½ sticks
4 Tb chilled shortening
cup A scant halfof iced waterplus droplets more as needed

Instructions

Directions for making short paste by hand and in the food processor

Hand mixing. You must train yourself to work rapidly, particularly if your kitchen is warm, so that the butter will soften as little as possible. Use very quick, light finger movements, and do not linger on the dough at all with the warm palms of your hands. A pastry blender may be used if you wish, but a necessary part of learning how to cook is to get the feel of the dough in your fingers. Il faut mettre la main à la pâte!
Place flour, salt, sugar, butter, and vegetable shortening in a big mixing bowl. Rub the flour and fat together rapidly between the tips of your fingers until the fat is broken into pieces the size of oatmeal flakes. Do not overdo this step as the fat will be blended more thoroughly later.
Add the water and blend quickly with one hand, fingers held together and slightly cupped, as you rapidly gather the dough into a mass. Sprinkle up to 1 tablespoon more water by droplets over any un-massed remains and add them to the main body of the dough. Then press the dough firmly into a roughly shaped ball. It should just hold together and be pliable, but not sticky. Proceed to the fraisage.