Perfection Pie

Making pate brisee is not a chore in my kitchen; It is pure satisfaction.  The attraction for me is its versatility and the frisage, a final smear of fat and flour together with the palm of the hand which gives me control in a world of chaos.   I have an army of savory table tarts and sweet pies in my repertoire that all center around a flaky, salty, buttery crust.  And though I enjoy having half a dozen trusted doughs in mind for variation, I found the need to streamline one for travel and speed baking.  There are debates about how to make the best pate brisee- by hand, mixer or food processor; with frozen butter or with cold butter; ice water or cream; egg yolk or none.  I am going to dish it all out to you with my method and trusted ratio for the perfect crust. 

This method requires nothing more than the ingredients and a rolling pin (or wine bottle, if desperate) to get your dough in the oven.  You can choose to use any machinery you like with any method of incorporating the fat and liquid that you prefer.  The ratio will work.   I enjoy doing it all by hand working in a bowl or on the counter top and use chilled water, straight from the brita in my fridge as the liquid.  Because I am so in love with salt, I use Maldon sea salt in the dough so that it is noticeable.  For a sweet variation, I add 1 T of sugar to the dry mixture and sprinkle coarse sanding sugar on top for texture and extra sweetness with salty crust.  

My Perfect Pate Brisee Ratio-

Yield- this is not enough for one pie.  You will want to double it for a bottom crust and a lattice top, as pictured.  But the ratio of one cup of flour to one stick of butter is unforgettable. 

1 Cup of AP flour

1 T Maldon Sea Salt

1 T sugar (FOR SWEET VARIATION ONLY)

1 Stick of Salted Butter (4 oz)

2-4 T cold water

Method:

1. Combine the flour, salt and sugar (if using) in a bowl.

2. Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and work into the flour with your hand.  Begin by rubbing the butter together with the flour and then smearing it together as the butter softens a bit.  Once the mixture is begins to clump slightly and the butter is no longer chunky add enough water so that the dough will clump together when squeezed with your hand.

3. Turn the mixture out onto a counter to frisage- using the palm of your hand begin smearing it away from you to form the dough.  This will take some effort and is deeply satisfying.

4. Form the smeared dough pieces into a ball and chill for at least 15 minutes, though 30 is best, before rolling out for any variety of tarts or pies. 

-CY

Comments

[Marjorie]

Perfect timing for this post. I just picked up a bag of organic cherries from the market yesterday and I've had pie on my mind for days. I enjoy making pâte brisée by hand and couldn't agree more about the addition of the sea salt.

[Tom Banaszewski]

Just found this while looking for a good lunch spot in Shanghai. Thought of you.
http://www.smartshanghai.com/blog/1336/StarDog.html

How's your grad program been?

Best,

tom

[Susan G]

This is the same recipe I use except that I use 1 t. of vinegar with the iced water. You're the tops...