Pink of Perfection

It seems to me that the Grand Diplôme program has about 47 lessons in pastry which, in my book, may just be 45 too many. But at the very least, I’ll be learning the difference among them, which is probably a basic culinary knowledge requirement.

We begin, class, with Pâte Sucrée, a rich, slighty sweet pastry made with flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. This is the backbone for sweet tarts and pies (though people also make pies, of course, with pâte brisée, a pastry dough made without sugar and sometimes without egg). It’s nice to have options.

I made this tart to bring to a barbecue on Saturday night. This means I spent hours on a rainy Saturday afternoon, listening to Lauryn Hill, showing off my mad rapping skillz, slicing strawberries, rolling out dough, and admiring the silver shine of a tart pan. My meditation practice, sadly, has never really made the jump from “sporadic thing I do” to “part of my daily routine” but weekend baking is a great stand-in. In the relaxed assemblage of a baked good, it seems we have no choice but to be in the moment and enjoy the crack of thunder and hiss of rain on the black pavement.

Pâte Sucrée
adapted from Grand Diplôme Cooking Course
makes enough for two 9-inch tarts or one 9-inch double crust pie

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg yolk
ice water

With a food processor: Pulse together flour and salt. Cut butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture, pulsing, until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add sugar, egg yolk, and 3 tablespoons ice water, and process until dough forms a ball. If the dough is not holding together, add additional ice water, one tablespoon at a time.

Turn onto a lightly floured counter and knead lightly until smooth. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 30 minutes. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

By hand: Sift flour with salt into a bowl. Cutter butter into flour in small pieces. Then rub the butter in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles crumbs. Make a well in the center and add sugar, egg yolk, and 3 tablespoons water and stir to combine. Draw flour into mixture in the center quickly with a knife, adding more water if necessary, to form a smooth dough.

Turn onto a lightly floured counter and knead lightly until smooth. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 30 minutes. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

Note: I did not divide my dough, but instead rolled out the one flattened disc for the bottom of my tart. There was quite a bit to cut away and toss, but it also mitigated some of the stress of rolling and rolling, trying to make the dough big enough for your pan yet not thin enough to fall to bits.

Strawberry Tart with Buttermilk Pastry Cream
adapted from CHOW
makes one 9-inch tart

1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/4 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped and reserved)
1 quart strawberries, sliced
pâte sucrée

Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Whisk gently to break up any lumps, and set aside. Prepare an ice water bath in a larger mixing bowl, and set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine buttermilk and egg yolks, whisking until evenly incorporated. Whisk in dry ingredients, and place the pan over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes. (Note: I used low-fat buttermilk and medium-sized eggs and found I had to whisk much longer to create a custard-like texture).

Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla extract or reserved vanilla seeds. Transfer pastry cream to a small bowl nestled in the ice water bath and let cool completely, stirring occasionally to help it cool faster. Cover with plastic wrap, placing wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate up to two days.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove chilled pastry dough from refrigerator and on a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to fit an 9-inch tart pan. Transfer dough to tart pan, pressing well into corners and against the sides. Line with aluminum foil, and fill center three-quarters full with rice or dried beans.

Place tart shell in oven; after 10 minutes, remove foil and beans/rice, reduce heat to 375°F and continue cooking about another 15 minutes until crust is golden brown. Let cool.

Pour buttermilk pastry cream into tart shell and arrange sliced strawberries on top.