Páte Brisée

[ktmoomau]

cherry galette (páte brisée crust)

I love working with páte brisée

tomorrow: blueberry and/or black raspberry

Do you have a particular pate brisee crust recipe you prefer?

[porcupine]

I use 9oz flour:6oz butter, 1 teaspoon salt, just enough ice water to hold it together.  Technique is critical.  You can use more butter, but not if you're blind-baking the crust (it'll shrink).  Sometimes I'll give it a turn with shavings of butter to get it extra flaky.  Let me know if you want details re: technique.

[mdt]

Do you have a particular pate brisee crust recipe you prefer?  

I make one with cornmeal in the crust that is very good. I can dig up the recipe if you would like.

[ktmoomau]

I make one with cornmeal in the crust that is very good. I can dig up the recipe if you would like.

Yes please.

[ktmoomau]

I use 9oz flour:6oz butter, 1 teaspoon salt, just enough ice water to hold it together.  Technique is critical.  You can use more butter, but not if you're blind-baking the crust (it'll shrink).  Sometimes I'll give it a turn with shavings of butter to get it extra flaky.  Let me know if you want details re: technique.

I have made a good amount of pie crusts, but would love to hear your technique as not having the pie plate underneath makes me a little nervous and I think even my basic pie crust recipe could be improved and I think it may be my technique.

[ktmoomau]

Well galette was a failure due to a crack in the crust leaking and then burning sugar and fruit on the rest of the pan causing so much smoke it set off our condo smoke detectors, which are pains in my butt as due to the placement of both in our living room they make a real racket (in one bedroom condos in our building one is in the bedroom one in the living room, not sure why there are two in our living room).   I think maybe the fruit was too watery.  I had fresh blackberries, but thawed frozen blueberries, liquid drained though.  The crust half baked tasted pretty good on top, but was soggy on the bottom or else I may have tried to move it onto a fresh pan, but that wasn't going to be able to happen.  Now oven is self-cleaning from getting burnt sugar stuffs when I removed the pan from the oven.  I will try again sometime, but probably the next attempt I will do up at my mother's house because there is a hood and better ventilation. I should have tried to rescue the berries from it, but I got a little pissed off... There are perks to condo living, but not having a range with a hood is a major downfall.

Maybe in the morning I can do the brownies...

[porcupine]

I have made a good amount of pie crusts, but would love to hear your technique as not having the pie plate underneath makes me a little nervous and I think even my basic pie crust recipe could be improved and I think it may be my technique. 

Until yesterday I would've written what everyone says about keeping things cold cold cold* - but then I made pate brisee in an 82 degree kitchen (A/C wasn't on) and it was the best I'd ever made. 

But anyway here's my basic method: whisk the flour and salt together with a fork.  Cut the butter into smallish cubes and add half of them.  Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the chunks are the size of large peas, then add the rest of the butter and continue cutting in until those pieces are the size of large peas.  Then, using your scrupulously clean fingertips (to quote JC), finish cutting in until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Work quickly so that the mixture doesn't become warm.

Using a fork, quickly stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of water.  Try to get it as evenly distributed as you can.

Turn the dough out onto a silpat or a scrupulously clean counter and do the fraisage thing.  Use a bench knife to scrape it together and gently pat it into a disk.  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour before rolling it out.

For the amount of flour and butter I posted about above, I would divide this into two pieces (for a two-crust pie, one slightly larger than the other) and wrap separately.

I have no scientific backing for the following claim, but I believe this makes a much better product then a food processor or mixer will.  The difference (hypothesizing here) is that when you use appliances, you end of with tiny chunks of butter.  With your fingertips you end up with small flakes of butter.  The dough comes together easier with less water and bakes up flakier.

For a galette, I would roll out one disk to about 11 inch diameter (sorry, I have no idea how thick that is).  I make a small effort to roll the outer 1" or so a little thinner.  Transfer the disk to a parchment-line cooky sheet.  Put it in the fridge while you make the filling.

The other day I actually measured the amount of fruit I used (I rarely do that); 1 1/2 c pitted sour cherries was perfect. I followed a basic pie filling formula, using slightly more flour then usual.  I think it was about 1/4 c + 1 tablespoon sugar and 3 tablespoons flour, plus a little almond extract and a tiny dash of mace.

Pile the fruit mixture in the center of the disk, leaving a 2" margin, then fold and pleat the edges.  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar if you're into dolling it up.

Bake at 375 F for 40-45 min, or until the fruit is bubbly and the crust nicely browned.  I think the egg wash helps brown it evenly; I always have to cover pie edges with foil to keep them from burning, but never do that with galettes.

Attached is a picture of last night's peach/blueberry/black raspberry galette. I was going to get all fancy with a spiral pattern of peach slices and berries dotted on top, but had to cut out brown spots from the peaches, so ended up chopping them.

Later this summer I'll be making a tomato galettes.  For those I brush the dough with a little olive oil and spread it with grated Parmesan (helps keep the dough from getting soggy), then arrange slices of tomato in a pretty pattern.  When it's almost done I'll add some herbs (try tarragon instead of basil for a change) and maybe some well-drained mozzarella.

In autumn, apples.  Evenly-thick slices arranged in a pretty pattern.

If you want the edges to be neat and clean use any large round disk (the bottom of a tart-pan, say) to define a circle and cut away the ragged edges.

Try blind baking pate brisee in a shallow tart pan, then fill with duxelles or a coarser mushroom mixture, then sprinkle with Parm and run it under the broiler.

Pate brisee is worth mastering.  It can be the foundation of so many things, sweet and savory, and you can let your imagination run wild, kind of like I did in this post... sorry if this was tmi.

mdt please post that cornmeal recipe!

*turn on the A/C, put a half-sheet pan of ice water on the stone counter to chill it before rolling the dough, that sort of thing

[porcupine]

ps two things

1.  make an effort not to tear the dough as you're rolling it.  If you do, try to pinch it together.  Trim the edges to get a circle and save those dough scraps for patches - they won't work perfectly, but will help with leaks.

2.  my very favorite thing to do with pate brisee: roll into a rectangle, spread with a thin layer of butter, sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar (or cardamom sugar!), roll tightly into a cylinder, and chill.  When ready to bake, slice about 1/4" and arrange the slices on a cooky sheet.  Bake at 375 until nicely browned (how long depends on how thick the slices are).

damn I need to get on with my day!  Later: my hypothesis about "tough" pie crusts.

[Rieux]

I use Martha's recipe, which has always given good results

Also, this is sacrilege, but I try to keep one or two Trader Joe's frozen crusts in the freezer for days when I have fruit about to go bad and I want a quick pie. It is actually very good (the only remade one I find acceptable).

[DonRocks]

Also, this is sacrilege, but I try to keep one or two Trader Joe's frozen crusts in the freezer for days when I have fruit about to go bad and I want a quick pie. It is actually very good (the only remade one I find acceptable).

Sounds pretty smart to me, Heloise!

NB - When I was a small child, I thought her name rhymed with "rejoice." My parents apparently thought it was so cute that they didn't correct the error. Assistance for the young.

[The Hersch]

I'd call that a tart, but it doesn't matter. It's very, very pretty. You don't say what kind of flour you use for páte brisée. Julia Child recommended a blend of all-purpose and cake flour; I'd have to look up her ratio. I've had the greatest success with King Arthur "Italian Style" flour, which is very finely ground like Italian 00, but also quite low protein, I think about 9 %. I've also found all-purpose and pastry flour, at about a 3-2 ratio, works pretty well.

[porcupine]

Generally I use King Arthur unbleached all-purpose.  If I'm really pulling out all the stops I'll use part low-protein flour, but at the risk of losing my credibility, I find the difference hard to discern.  Perhaps someday I'll conduct some experiments, but it's difficult to control certain variables (namely, technique).

I did that with butter once, by the way.  Made batches of páte brisée with different brands of butter.  With some exceptions flavor nuances were lost in the final product.  Some brands produced better textures (Plugra, Land o' Lakes, Cabot) then others (Kerrygold and President).

[Rieux]

I cheated on Martha today and made Bittman's pie crust. It was superior in every way. 

I blind baked, as it was for a cherry pie and I didn't want it soggy.

[saf]

Some brands produced better textures (Plugra, Land o' Lakes, Cabot) then others (Kerrygold and President).

I think Land O Lakes is the best butter for baking in general.

[saf]

I cheated on Martha today and made Bittman's pie crust. It was superior in every way.

I blind baked, as it was for a cherry pie and I didn't want it soggy.

Huh. I have never had any of his sweet baked recipes come out well. I shall have to try this one.

I usually use the cream cheese pastry recipe from Rose Levey Berenbaum 

And my favorite cherry pie is her recipe too

[mdt]

I make one with cornmeal in the crust that is very good. I can dig up the recipe if you would like.

Yes please.

It's not a standard brisee, but it's very good. The recipe is from a Julia Child cookbook. I found a link online, here.

[zoramargolis]

It's not a standard brisee, but it's very good. The recipe is from a Julia Child cookbook. I found a link online, here.

Interesting--it says use any berry or fruit, but includes no starch or other thickener. Even if the galette doesn't leak in the oven, I can see the first cut unleashing a torrent.

[ktmoomau]

Speaking of a galette that won't leak in the oven...  I really loved the look of this and I don't think it would leak in the oven and smoke like the other,do you think it would still be good with summer squash, I know the flavors are so different???  I will also line the cookie sheet with tin foil.  https://food52.com/recipes/7329-butternut-squash-and-roasted-garlic-galette

Failure is not an option.

[porcupine]

yes, but don't roast the summer squash first.

[zoramargolis]

I love savory tarts. That sounds like it would also be delicious as a fall dish with roasted mushrooms.