BPA 105 Day 8: Les Pâtes

BPA 105
Day 8, Tuesday
10.21.2008

Lesson 8: Les Pâtes

Today we will make two kinds of Pâte Brisee; a mealy dough and a flaky dough. The mealy dough will be used for the bottom crust of our pies and the flaky for the top. We are also going to make a Pâte Sucree, which is a sweeter dough we will use for tarts.

We are given our percentages for each of the doughs.

Mealy dough
Pastry flour 100%
Butter 65%
Cold iced water 25%
Salt 2%
Sugar 5%

Flaky dough
Pastry flour 100%
Butter (today we used shortening) 70%
Iced water 30%
Salt 2%
Sugar 5%

I know I want 15 oz of each dough so I add up all of the percentages to find the yield.
15/ 197 = .076 is my conversion factor. I then multiply the conversion factor by all of my ingredients.

Mealy dough
Pastry flour 7.6 oz
Butter 4.94 oz
Cold iced water 1.9 oz
Salt .152 oz
Sugar .38 oz

Flaky dough 15/207= .072 conversion factor
Pastry flour 7.2 oz
Shortening 5.04 oz
Iced water 2.16 oz
Salt .144 oz
Sugar .36 oz

Important things to remember:
-For the flaky dough you want walnut size pieces of butter and for the mealy dough you want more of a pea size piece
-Keep everything cold. It is very important that the water and butter are as cold as can be, if the butter begins to get soft or melt you will not have a good final product.
-Add an acid. In this case there is no acid but you could add lemon juice to strengthen the dough
-Chill at each stage. It is critical to put the dough back in the cooler after any time you have worked with it, keeping the butter as solid as possible.
-Do not over mix after the water is added. This is a huge problem. Don’t mix it until its smooth; you want it sticky and tacky.
-Sprinkle the water. Just sprinkle the water on the top or along the sides of the bowl; you want the least contact with the flour.
- With the re-rolling of the doughs make sure they are cold. The gluten tenses up with you roll and the butter distributes evenly. The flaky can’t be re-rolled; it turns into mealy dough.

Mealy dough:

In your bowl have the flour and drop in the pieces of butter. You can use your bowl scraper to make sure that all of the butter is coated in flour. Add the sugar and salt and use your fingers to break up the butter into smaller pieces. It is best to use your fingertips as they are the coolest part of your hand. At this stage we are cutting in the butter. You want flat small pieces that will create layers in your dough. Adding flour makes the dough more elastic. Spread out the flour and butter in the bowl and sprinkle the water or drop it around the sides of the bowl. Use the bowl scraper and fold the mixture. Once the water is mixed in, use your fingertips to gather the dough together. You want to see large chunks of butter. The dough will not be very smooth, it will have lots of chunks and it will hold its shape. Form it into ball and wrap plastic wrap around the dough and flatten it to a 1” round. Label it as Pate Brisee and put it in the cooler.

Ingredients are scaled out. Flour, sugar and salt are tossed with the chunks of butter

The butter is in flattish smaller pieces. Sprinkle the water around the sides of the bowl

Use the bowl scraper to fold everything together. Form the dough into a ball

Wrap and label the dough and put it in the cooler immediately

Flaky Dough:

Follow the same process as the previous dough except leave the butter in larger chunks. The larger the chunks the more layers your dough will have when you roll it and the flakier it will be when baked.

Use your fingertips to cut the butter into the flour, sugar, and salt mixture

After the water is added fold the dough and form a ball. Plastic wrap, label and chill

Pâte Sucree:

Pastry flour 100%

Salt .5%

Powdered sugar (10x) 25%

Butter 62.5%

Eggs 25%

Lemon zest .5%

Yield = 213.5

15 oz of dough. 15/ 213.5= .07 conversion factor

Pastry flour 7 oz

Salt .35 oz

10x sugar 1.75 oz

Butter 4.375 oz

Eggs 1.75 oz

Lemon zest .35 oz

In this dough I use the creaming method, beating the butter and sugar together in the mixer. I then slowly add the eggs and beat until the mixture gets creamy and fluffy. At this point you can add the lemon zest, though I omitted it in my dough. I then added my sifted flour and salt. When it's done it will look really fluffy and soft. This dough is very high in fat and is rich.

Because I am using the creaming method for this dough I don't need to sift my sugar. All lumps will dissolve while mixing.

I start it at a slow speed until it gets creamy. I then moved it to a higher speed to make it fluffier. If I don't have a good emulsification the dough will look greasy at the end. You want to make sure the fat is incorporated very well. The creaming also incorporates air and lightens the color. When it is pale I add the eggs (whisked) very slowly. You don't want to rush this stage, it is important to take the time in mixing them in. Stop periodically and scrape the bowl making sure all of the egg is off the sides and the butter is not stuck at the bottom.


When the eggs are fully incorporated you can begin to add the flour. At any point you can add the salt, since we are not using yeast there will be no negative affect on the dough. You want to use an easy dissolving salt with a fine grain. I added my salt to the flour and sifted it over parchment. I scrape the bowl moving the butter mixture to one side and pour the flour on the other side. Don't go higher than speed 1; pulse it so the flour doesn't fly out of the bowl.

When it looks like it's coming together take the bowl of the mixer and finish mixing with the bowl scraper. Make sure all of the butter and flour is incorporated. Form it into a ball, plastic wrap and label it and put it in the cooler.