Sweet Butter Pastry is kind of a cross between Shortbread and Shortcrust Pastry. The addition of sugar renders the crust perfect for less-sweet fillings, such as curds and pastry creams. The sugar renders it more fragile, though. It’s great for blind-baked crusts for tart shells and ideal for the bottom layer of bars and squares. It’s not so great for cut-outs and complex pie crusts. For those, reach for Buttermilk Pastry.
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Sweet Butter Pastry
Sweet Butter Pastry is kind of a cross between shortbread and unsweetened pastry. The addition of sugar renders the crust perfect for less-sweet fillings, such as curds and pastry creams.
- Yield: Makes two 11" pie shells 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 350 g or 2 ½ c all-purpose flour
- 100 g or ½ c granulated sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp fine-grained sea salt
- 225 g or 8 oz unsalted butter, cut into ½ ″ cubes, kept cold
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten with 43 g or 3 tbsp ice water
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until lumps of butter are pea-sized. With the machine running, quickly add the egg-water mixture through the chute. Let run for a few seconds until the machine makes a heavy rumbling noise. Turn off immediately; do not overmix.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and gently form it into a ball. Divide the ball in half and flatten each half into a 1” thick disc. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least an hour.
- Divide the dough into two, shape into flat disks, and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least an hour.
- Press the dough into a 10-inch-round or 9-inch-square false-bottom tart pan, making sure that the finished edge is flat. Chill until firm.
Notes
Adapted from Pie Style by Helen Nugent
