Pâte Sablée, Two Ways

I absolutely swear by these two pâte sablée recipes. One thing that totally does my head in with making pastry is shrinkage. Often after blind-baking, your tart has wonky edges and has shrunk by half, and you are left with so little room for the filling it makes you want to tear your hair out. With this recipe, your pastry shells are rich, crisp and delicious, and come out looking identical to the way they went into the oven! Just watch you don’t overhandle or let the pastry wilt, or it will become very hard to handle. If this happens, just pop it back into the fridge to stiffen up again. Regardless, the other magical quality this pastry has is that cracks and holes are easily patched and seal up on baking.

MAKES ABOUT 850 G (1 LB 14 OZ) PASTRY

CHOCOLATE PÂTE SABLÉE

180 g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

100 g (3½ oz/1 cup) almond meal

260 g (9¼ oz 1¾ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

½ teaspoon salt

55 g (2 oz/½ cup) Dutch process cocoa powder

200 g (7 oz) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 2 cm (¾ inch) dice

1 small egg

CHOCOLATE PÂTE SABLÉE

Pulse the sugar, almond meal, flour, salt and cocoa in a food processor until combined. Add the butter, and pulse until sandy. Add the egg, and process until the mixture begins to bind into a ball. Tip onto a clean work surface, and pat into a thick disc. Cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

ALMOND PÂTE SABLÉE

180 g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

100 g (3½ oz/1 cup) almond meal

260 g (9¼ oz/1 ¾ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

¹/₈ teaspoon salt

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

200 g (7 oz) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 2 cm (¾ inch) dice

1 small egg

ALMOND PÂTE SABLÉE

Pulse the sugar, almond meal, flour, salt and orange zest in a food processor until combined. Add the butter, and pulse until sandy. Add the egg, and process until the mixture begins to bind into a ball. Tip onto a clean work surface, and pat into a thick disc. Cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.