Go to the Recipe: Buttery, Flaky, All-Purpose Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée)
Unfortunately we haven't YET covered Paté Sucrée and Paté Sablée. But there is a chocolate tart shell within this recipe I did awhile back, LINK. It's certainly on our radar though.
For anyone curious about the differences between these in regards to functionality.
Hi, is it here Paté Sucrée, Paté Sablée and Paté Brisée recipes?
Generally, yes, you should be able to get something usable with a 1:1 swap of gluten free flour mix. I'd consider two adjustments:
1. I'd increase the amount of water in the recipe by 10-20g, since the alternative starches in GF flour blends tend to require more water to properly hydrate
2. If your GF flour blend doesn't have it already, I would add some xanthan gum to make the dough more workable/cohesive/elastic for rolling and shaping. For this amount of flour (250g), say 2g maximum would be appropriate.
Hope this helps!
Hello, can I swap the flour for a gluten free mix and expect something close in terms of final result ? thanks
Hey Nikolas,
Bread flour is tricky because its gluten forming potential tends to be quite high. As you roll out and work the dough, gluten can develop more easily, leading to a tougher crust (as you observed). The tradeoff here is that in addition to its reliability, bread flour maximizes the potential for layers in a pie dough, since more gluten correlates positively with more structure and dough strength. For more tender, delicate pie doughs, many recipes advocate for using pastry or cake flour, which have lower protein content and lower gluten forming potential.
For your particular question, as a workaround, you can try cutting the bread flour with pure starch (cornstarch is most common), which would give you a shorter, more tender crust all else equal. As a starting point, for a given gram quantity of bread flour, I'd recommend around 5% by weight of cornstarch. So for 250g bread flour, you could try cutting it with ~12g cornstarch and see if that trends in the right direction for you.
If you're looking for guidance on substituting cake/pastry flour for bread flour in this recipe, generally you need to use slightly more cake/pastry flour than bread flour by gram weight. I'd start with 5% more cake/pastry flour relative to bread flour (so ~262g cake flour, for example), and decrease the amount of water in the recipe by at least 5%. In this case, the difference is negligible (just a few grams less ice water). But for big batches, it can make a difference.
Bread flour isn't ideal for this recipe because its gluten forming potential tends to be quite high. As you roll out and work the dough, gluten can develop more easily, leading to a tougher crust (as you observed). This is why most recipes advocate for using pastry or cake flour, which have lower protein content and lower gluten forming potential.
If you only have bread flour on hand, as a workaround, you can try cutting the flour with pure starch (cornstarch is most common), which would give you a shorter, more tender crust all else equal. As a starting point, for a given gram quantity of bread flour, I'd recommend around 5% by weight of cornstarch. So for 140g bread flour, you could try 7-8g and see if that trends in the right direction for you.
Would love some guidance or a revision of this recipe around bread flour vs pastry flour. We can all agree that AP is no good, but for me, bread flour made for a slightly tough crust that was hard to cut through with a fork. Not terrible, but not perfect.
After step 5, how long can the dough stay in the fridge before shaping and cooking?
Hi, I have the same question! Pastry flour has even less protein than AP flour, and is presumably consistent from supplier to supplier. And in a pie, if you want to reduce gluten formation, would pastry flour be the go-to flour?
Why does the recipe call for bread flour but the video says pastry flour? What would you say is the main difference between this and your perfect pie crust recipe? Which is for what?
Planning to try a version of your ‘Super Apple Pie’ for an upcoming dinner party using this crust (omitting the lid.) Would like to include apple powder in with the flour - could you suggest an amount to try?
Yes! I have just made it with pastry flour which is on 8-9% protein bread flour has 12-15%. Too late for my pastry now. I assume this will make my pastry even floppier.
Why 60 mins with a smart oven?
Made this recipe three times. Followed to a "T". THe pastry is delicious but cannot use for a quiche as it shrinks too much. Works well for a Galette. Also works better after having frozen it for a couple of weeks. Any anti shrinking suggestions?
Any insight on how long we can safely freeze this dough for later use?
How do I know how to adjust the recipe for a two crust 9" or 10" pie? (Apple!)
The class showcased our other pie dough that is mixed by hand. Docking allows more even rising and baking and the holes will fill in when baking. https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/a-guide-to-pie-dough-the-final-recipe
made this after your master class....it puffed up alot and did fall somewhat from the sides inspite of overhang....did use beans for weights....i just smooshed the center down and made the quiche....my husband loved the crust...should i have docked the bottom? it doesnt say to and i was using a liquid filling, i did add a bit more water
In the video is starts by using 250g of pastry flour. The recipe calls for 250g of bread flour. Are they interchangeable? Is one better depending on if it is a pie or a quiche?
Results should not change.
Most recipes I've seen for Pate Brisee have a ratio of flour to butter that is about 2 1/2 to 1. This is nearly 1 to 1. Can you tell us why? I found the dough quite stiff and hard to work chilled.
Do results change at all resting the dough under vacuum in a bag?
Hello, amazing flavor to this and I’m sure receipt is correct. Not sure what I’m wrong wrong but my butter melts all over.
Size of butter during incorporation was made larger. So maybe that’s it? I rested full time.
One is static while the later convection hence the difference in temps.
It is better to have too much water than not enough with pie doughs.
Thanks Matthew — I neglected to mention I rested the dough overnight in the fridge. I'll try a bit more water next time.
It is almost the nature of pie dough to shrink. Thoroughly chilling and resting will limit this. Also adding more water to your dough to start will help to limit cracking.
Great crust, if I could figure out how to get it to NOT shrink/warp after the blind bake is done. Blind bake turns out beautiful, but on the second (5-minute) bake I'm getting cracking, warping, etc. I'm following the directions; I can't do this again and lose a quarter of the quiche base to leaking. Perhaps just blow off that second bake?
Related question — has anyone found a springform pan that's got a true seal against leaks?
You can find a palm based shortening or just use Earth Balance or Miyokos butter. If you decide to us the hydrogenated oils be sure to freeze them to help with mixing.
Can I make a vegan version of this with shortening? Not ideal, I know, but respecting preferences of family member.
When blind baked? Bread flour too? Well rested dough? Maybe the dough was overworked?
Bottom of tart ( my use , rather than a pie this time ) is greasy. Any ideas as to why ?
Would you expect to see any significant changes need, particularly in regard to the amount of water when at high altitudes, 7,200' in my case?
OOPS!, sorry reading the ruler wrong.
Cheers,
Chad
The picture you are showing is 10mm or 1cm on the thickness. Each small notch is a mm and below 5 the measure goes into .5 mm increments. 1/8 inch or 3mm is the thickness to shoot for which is thin but not see through thin.
Hey Matthew,
Thanks for the response on the pecan pie recipe. I am still having an issue with the directions on the crust, it states 3mm.
This is where I am at 513g and it is way to small at 1mm.
At such a low amount of liquid you would be hard pressed to see any positive results with extra flakes. This recipe is already solid and that little amount of vodka will not improve it.
Would you ever replace 50% of the water with cold vodka?
Another BEAUTIFUL! video! Thanks!
When would you use pastry flour over bread flour for a pie crust? Bread flour gives structure and pastry flour tender and light, crust right. I was surprised by the bread flour choice
Can you tell me if the Breville time is correct, conventional oven time is 20 minutes at 204C, Breville is 60 minutes at 182C? Seems like a huge difference even at a lower temperature. Thanks!
Thank you!
Hello Miguel, If you wish to blind bake the crust the day before it is best left at room temperature. If you are asking if you can put the filling into the crust and chill it for baking the next day, then the crust may become soggy from the unbaked filling. Best to keep them separate until ready to bake the pie.
Hi is it possible to blind bake the crust, chill it, then bake it with the cold filling altogether the next day? Will it affect the crust?
Cake flour has the lowest gluten content, making it a poor choice for pie crusts. Pastry flour is a combination of cake and bread flour, usually at equal parts.
Bread flour will produce the flakiest crust.
It will still work, and is not bad. But it does mean you didn't quite mix the butter and flour far enough. It should turn out good for you.
After mixing the dough and I was shaping it into a disk I could still see little chunks of butter specks throughout the dough. Is this bad? Does this mean I did not mix the dough enough? Will it still work?
In the video, it says to use “Pastry flour,” but the recipe says Bread flour. Which is correct?
i've made this recipe several times, it's become the only pie crust recipe for me. the first pie, first bite, i thought "oh my gd, so buttery! I've got to cut back on the butter." with each bite, the pie got better, it's truly delicious. just finished rolling out a double recipe for a rectangular casserole, chicken pot pie, all ingredients organic and mostly from our home garden. even as a doubled recipe, the dough was just perfect.
I’ve made this a number of times, but today was my favorite because I took advantage of the versatility mentioned in the comments. I made a double batch, divided it into six, rested half an hour, rolled each one out, filled each will all sorts of different goodies, folded the sides up to almost meet in the middle, and threw them into the oven at 400. Blueberries, lemon zest and a little grated granny Smith to hold it together; Apples sautéed with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon; Peeled peaches in sugar - all delicious. My favorite though was bacon, onion and cheddar. Only thing I’d change is that the pies ended up a little bigger than would person would reasonably eat, which is what I'd been going for. Next time I’ll divide a double batch of this recipe into eight.
I love the precision and repeated testing that sites like chefsteps or cooks illustrated provide, and they’re so good that whenever I make a new dish I usually look up one of their recipes, then follow it to a T. That’s made me a much better cook, but recently I caught a rerun of Jacques Pepin and Julia Child doing what they do best: following their instincts, making things up on the spot, and producing delicious food. That inspired me to do the same, and I’m so glad I did. Thanks, chefsteps, for providing the fantastic crust that allowed for such a fun day of experimenting in the kitchen.
