Paule Caillat's Brown Butter Tart Crust
Genius Recipes
- Serves
- 8 1/2" or 21 cm tart shell
Pie, without the masochism. This is a tart crust that loves you back, adapted from Parisian pastry expert Paule Caillat. Fill it with chocolate ganache, lemon curd, or sweetened mascarpone and summer berries.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (the crust will crack less with higher-fat European-style butter like Plugra)
- Flour as necessary (about 5 ounces, or a slightly mounded cupful, per David Lebovitz)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon sugar (for savory fillings, just use 1 teaspoon)
- pinch of salt
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Directions
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 410° F (210° C).
- Step 2
In a Pyrex type oven-safe bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, salt, and sugar.
- Step 3
Place in the hot oven for approximately 15 minutes, until the mixture is boiling and the butter starts browning.
- Step 4
Remove from oven, add flour quickly, until it forms a ball. Keep adding flour, one spoonful at the time, until it pulls off the sides of the bowl.
- Step 5
Once the dough is cool enough to touch, press it in to the tart mold evenly with your fingertips.
- Step 6
Pierce the bottom with a fork, line the sides with the back of the fork to form ridges.
- Step 7
Bake at 410° F (210° C) for 15 minutes or until the crust is light brown and shows fine cracks.
- Step 8
Remove carefully from oven. It is ready for filling.
- Step 9
Note: David Lebovitz recommends a brilliant patching technique for any cracks -- just reserve a small knob of dough to spackle into any cracks after baking while it's still warm. (No need to bake again.)