Pâte Sablée is a sweet and rich pastry made with flour, butter, icing sugar and egg yolk.
It’s rich and buttery and melts in the mouth. The proportion of butter to flour is much higher than in pâte sucrée (sweet dough), pâte brisée (Savoury Pie Dough) or Tart Pie Dough (Pâte à foncer).
Pâte Sablée is more fragile and difficult to handle due to the high butter content and use of egg yolk. The less the dough is handled the better. It should be kept cool at all times during handling, otherwise the butter will melt and toughen the dough during baking.
What should you use Pâte Sablée for?
It’s the best used for making shells for small fruit tartlets, lemon tarts, pecan pies and custard tarts. The shells are fragile, delicate and with a melt in the mouth texture. It can also be used as a base for cheese cake.
Pâte Sablée tarts are best eaten same day, so you can only use it if you plan to eat the tart, the same day.
It can also be used to make delicate cookies, that look like shortbread cookies, but are finer and more delicate, and melt in the mouth.
Pâte Sablée tarts cannot be kept in the fridge otherwise they’ll become soggy and unpleasant. They are best assembled just before serving.
Storage of Pâte Sablée Dough
If double wrapped, airtight, it will keep perfectly in the fridge for up to one week, or for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Michel used Pâte Sablée to make Sablés with blueberry mousse, Mini sablés, Catalan tart, Pecan pie, Pear clafoutis and mince pies.
How to Make Pâte Sablée
Heap the flour on the counter and make a well in the centre. Add the butter, sugar and salt into the well. With your fingertips mix and cream the butter with the sugar and salt.
then add the egg yolks and work them in delicately with your fingertips.
Little by little, draw the flour into the centre and work the mixture delicately with your fingers
until it forms a homogenous dough (the dough comes together).
Using the palm of your hand, push the dough away from you 3 to 4 times until it’s completely smooth.
Form into a disk, wrap with cling film and put in the fridge until ready to use.
Michel Roux's Pâte Sablée
Original Recipe: Pastry: savoury and Sweet by Michel Roux
Preparation time: 8 minutes; Makes: 650g (1Ib 7oz)
Ingredients
- 250g (2 cups, 8.8oz) all-purpose flour
- 200g (7oz, 13 tablespoons ) butter cut into small cubes and slightly softened
- 100g (3.5oz) confectioners (icing) sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 medium egg yolks, room temperature (you must use medium size egg yolks)
Instructions
- Heap the flour on the counter and make a well in the centre. Add the butter, sugar and salt into the well. With your fingertips mix and cream the butter with the sugar and salt, then add the egg yolks and work them in delicately with your fingertips.
- Little by little, draw the flour into the centre and work the mixture delicately with your fingers until it forms a homogenous dough (the dough comes together).
- Using the palm of your hand, push the dough away from you 3 to 4 times until it’s completely smooth. Form into a disk, wrap with cling film and put in the fridge until ready to use. The dough is better refrigerated overnight.
- Pâte Sablée is more fragile and delicate to work with than pâte sucrée, but it melts in the mouth like no other dough. If well wrapped, it will keep perfectly in the fridge for up to one week, or for up to 3 months in the freezer.
- It’s recommended that you weigh all ingredients. If you’re using a mixer make sure the butter is at room temperature to avoid over-mixing the dough and forming gluten.
Using a stand mixer (Method from Jacquy Pfeiffer)
- Place the flour, room temperature butter and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low speed using the paddle attachment (K-beater) until the mixture is crumbly. Do not over-mix otherwise the dough will form gluten.
- Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix on low speed until the ingredients are just mixed together.
- Add the egg yolks and mix on medium speed until all the ingredients come together. As soon as they come together, stop. Do not over-mix!
- Scrape the dough out of the bowl and press it into a 1/2 inch thick rectangular block. Wrap air tight with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
myfavouritepastime.com
Canadian Egg Sizes
Jumbo over 70g (2.5oz)
Extra Large 63-69g (2.2-2.4oz)
Large 56-62g (1.97-2.1 oz)
Medium 49-55g (1.7-1.94oz)
Last Updated: February 16, 2019
My Favourite Pastime 
A great post and excellent recipe. BTW, if I was to make a torte could I use this pastry?