Sable Pastry (sanded shortcrust) – recipe by master Luca Montersino, ideal for pies, cream tarts, or cookies. It is a method of working shortcrust pastry that makes it particularly crumbly compared to the traditional method.
This recipe is featured in the master’s book: Peccati di gola by Luca Montersino available also in Kindle format. It’s a very interesting book that talks about the 8 basic pastry preparations, full of recipes with beautiful final and step-by-step photos, written and explained as only the Master can do, making even the slightly more complicated things simple. Highly recommended!
There are many preparations that can be made with shortcrust pastry.
Various types of pies: fresh fruit, frangipane, crumbled, jam-filled, covered and stuffed with fruit, chocolate… or it can be used for preparing cream tarts and cookies of many kinds.
Back to the recipe!
With this method, the flour is mixed with butter to obtain a non-compact but sandy mixture. This way, the fat coats the starch molecules and the flour proteins, keeping them isolated from each other and waterproofing them. Thus, they will be less vulnerable to the dough’s humidity even after baking. The mixture of flour and butter, not having formed a compact mass, will result in a greater crumbliness compared to traditional shortcrust pastry.
The next step is to add the sugar and eggs, which will bind everything together and give a minimum of compactness to the dough, so it can be rolled out. As soon as the eggs are incorporated, it is necessary to turn off the mixer and let the dough rest in the fridge for 3/4 hours. The cold will allow the shortcrust pastry to reach the ideal working temperature.
After removing it from the fridge, it will have the ideal temperature but not the right consistency: just work it for a minute in the mixer with the hook, or by hand, on a floured surface to proceed easily with rolling out.
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DON’T MISS THESE RECIPES:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Affordable
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups butter (at room temperature)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 8 tbsp egg yolks
- Half pod vanilla (bourbon)
- lemon zest
- 1 tsp salt
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How to Prepare Sable Pastry – Montersino’s Recipe
Work the butter with the flour until you get a sandy mixture that resembles wet sand. At this point, add the sugar, give a quick stir and also add the eggs, vanilla seeds, lemon zest, and salt.
Work the dough until it compacts a bit, then remove it from the machine and form a ball with your hands. Flatten the ball and wrap it in plastic wrap, seal it well, and let it rest in the fridge for 3 hours, then work it for a minute to soften it a bit and proceed with your preferred recipe.
Notes
When preparing shortcrust pastry, you can vary the amount of butter and sugar depending on the desired consistency. Increasing the sugar amount will make the pastry crunchier, while more butter will make it more crumbly.
