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Pâte Brisée Woes

kh.anuj

Been struggling the last few months to consistently produce a quality short crust pastry using the pate brisee recipe here on ChefSteps. I find myself running into the same issue almost everytime wherein the dough shrinks and eventually falls apart at the rim of the Springform pan. I've attached a couple of pictures to show you all what this looks like.

Needless to say I've followed the recipe exactly and tried variations thereof based on previous failures. I have all the necessary equipment, everything is kept super cold and the dough is sufficiently rested before going into the oven.

I have a feeling I might be over-mixing the initial sablage/rubbing/cutting. I usually mix for about 1-2 min on speed 1 to get it crumbly. I suspect this might be causing the butter to over coat the flour in such a way that the fat is inhibiting the flour from absorbing too much water. This creates a fragile dough due to insufficient gluten formation and consequently falls apart. Although I almost always have visible flecks of butter in the final dough.

If anyone has any tips, tricks, suggestions I'd be pretty damn grateful.

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kh.anuj

Iteration 3:

Completed a successful iteration of the Pate Brisee using AP flour (11.7% Gluten Content) and 29% water. Procedure was almost the same. Attached a picture below.

Using 250g pastry flour.

1. Mixed for 2:30 min on speed 1.

2. Added 75g water.

3. Mixed for 1:10 min on speed 1.

The Pate Brisee had considerably more structure this time round. The dough felt firmer both out of the fridge and after rolling. Even with the additional water, the AP version for a moment didn't seem like it was going to come together. The 10 second increase in mixing time post water was the minimum time to get the dough cohesive. There were some visible streaks of butter.

The AP pastry though did not have the same texture as past shortcrust pastries made with pastry flour. The baked dough felt flimsy as opposed to fragile. Not bad, but could use improvement.

The 26.4% version with pastry flour broke apart. Not surprised since if enough gluten couldn't be formed with a minute with 30% water, can't imagine it would with less.

If I take the water anywhere past the recommended 22%, the dough comes together far too quickly to get kneaded in the stand mixer, not to mention its incredibly sticky. I think I might try including a fraiser step or just kneading the dough a little.

Found at interesting article here:

http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/07/the-food-lab-the-science-of-pie-how-to-make-pie-crust-easy-recipe.html

Keller uses a similar approach to Kenji in Bouchon Bakery. Might try this version with pastry flour to see what happens.

kh.anuj

Attempted another iteration today, sad to say this one failed too. I've attached a picture below. Similar results. Here's the recipe I used.

340g pastry flour

280g butter

100g water

1. Mixed for 2:30 min on speed 1.

2. Added 100g water.

3. Mixed for 1:00 min on speed 1.

The dough felt very soft this time. Too soft.

I might try another iteration using AP flour at 12% gluten content. Operating under the assumption that the pate brisee is breaking apart due to lack of gluten formation, if simply changing the flour results in a successful iteration I know insufficient gluten is being developed when using pastry flour either due to mixing time or amount of water. If it doesn't then something is prohibiting sufficient gluten formation, over-mixing i.e. fat inhibiting water absorption.

Will simultaneously try another one with 26.4% water content using pastry flour.

Chris_Young_80640

Mix long enough to really break up the fat before adding the water. Then mix for long enough after adding the water that the dough is cohesive enough to sheet. You should not be able to see individual bits of fat.

kh.anuj

Cheers Chris,

You're probably right about the brand, I've had no success after switching to King Arthur Pastry Flour from my regular brand. Will try adding a bit more water.

Also, if you could elaborate on "mix for longer". Its unclear as to whether you mean mix longer before or after water is added.

Will start another iteration now.

Chris_Young_80640

I think you are correct, you are not getting enough gluten formation. Traditional multistage methods of dough mixing for short doughs were developed to minimize the degree of gluten formation by "water proofing" the flour proteins with dat. But some gluten formation is desirable so that the sheeted dough remains intact and structurally sounds during the baking.

Based on the photos, and the fact that you are seeing visible bits of butter, you are probably not mixing enough. Try to mix for longer and get a more uniform dough.

Also, keep in mind that the water level in the recipe plays a major role in the properties of the dough, and that water level will need to be adjusted from brand of flour to brand of flour. So even though you might be following the recipe to a T, you're flour is probably a bit different than ours and requires a bit more water. If the dough feels to dry and fragile, increase the liquid water in the recipe by a few percent.