Tag Archives: pate sablee

Fresh Strawberry Pie with Rhubarb Curd

Posted on by February 12, 2015

My Fresh Strawberry Pie with Rhubarb Curd all started with two quarts of gorgeous little local fresh strawberries. You know the ones. They’re really small. And sometimes oddly shaped. And deep dark red. They were at the market, and it was time for a fresh strawberry pie. But I didn’t have the heart to make a Jello-ed, jellied pie with those perfect berries. Even the homemade strawberry puree plus cornstarch versions you see this time of year didn’t seem worthy of those berries. So I started thinking about what else has a consistency that would help fresh strawberries bind together in a pie-like way. Which got me on to lemon curd. Which made me think of the tart neighbor, passion fruit curd, which we had all over our breakfast, all over Australia. Which got me thinking about other fruits that would be a welcome addition to curd. I could reinforce the strawberry, kind of like the original complete with strawberry Jell-o, but after thinking of lemon, tart sounded right to me. And of course, rhubarb and strawberry are such friendly ingredients, and I still had a bag frozen that was calling to me like a siren. So next thing you … Continue reading →

Dying Fruit Tart

Posted on by October 28, 2014

This Dying Fruit Tart is how I handle the fact that I overbuy fruit sometimes, especially in the summer. I’ll be at the market and everything looks *so* good. And I just can’t be bothered to remember that we have lots of social plans and won’t be home to eat it. So I ignore the problem and wait until the beautiful summer fruit is about to go bad. And then I’m really sad and disappointed with myself. But I have some solutions. One of them is to make some sweet tart dough and bake a dying fruit tart. Usually, you don’t need to add much sugar in a dying fruit tart because the fruit has become super sweet. I make the pâte sablée two at a time and keep one in the freezer for last second dinner plans and use frozen fruit in a pinch. I like the 9-inch tart because it doesn’t leave me with days and days of leftovers. Trust me, we have plenty of dessert around without a lovely Dying Fruit Tart. Pâte Sablée (Sweet Tart Dough) 3 cups of fruit you no longer want to eat, yet aren’t ready to throw away ½ cup – 1 … Continue reading →

Pâte Sablée (Sweet Tart Dough)

Posted on by November 5, 2014

Pâte Sablée (Sweet Tart Dough) is another repertoire recipe that’s a good one to know. It’s different from regular Pastry Dough due to the higher amount of sugar in the dough, as well as the egg. It’s a more forgiving dough to work with, because of the binding properties in egg, which is a nice quality in a dough, and therefore, a great dough for beginning bakers. Another property is that it doesn’t stay as flaky; it’s more of a tart dough, and is more like a cookie shell in texture, which works really well with fruit tarts and sweet custards, etc. I wouldn’t use Pâte Sablée (Sweet Tart Dough) in place of Pastry Dough for everything, but it’s a great one to know in the summer when fruit abounds. I also learned a great trick from the Tartine cookbook. When you are planning on blind baking these empty and filling them later with custards or fruits, etc., you can brush the inside of the dough with egg white before you bake it. This will “seal” the shell, so to speak, which will slow down the process of the shell getting soggy and soft. All in all, this versatile Pâte Sablée (Sweet … Continue reading →