Shortcrust pastry: tarts, tartlets, sablés

Shortcrust forgives less than it appears to: it slumps in the oven, softens under the filling and cracks when moved. The lessons in this group take exactly that apart — how to mix and roll so the wall holds its shape, and what to seal the base with so the tart does not go soft overnight.

Inside — tarts with berry compote and fresh berries, a lemon tartlet with Italian meringue, Pecan Toffee, Linzer sablés and Breton biscuits, plus savoury quiches on the same base.

Three different constructions live under one name. Brisée carries almost no sugar, is mixed by rubbing and resists moisture best — hence quiches and anything with a loose filling. Sucrée is sweet and firm, gives a clean cut and an even thin wall: it suits tarts that have to be sliced into portions. Sablée is the crumbliest, with almond flour and more butter — it melts in the mouth but softens fastest under a wet filling.

A wall slumps for two different reasons, and they are cured differently. If it has sunk evenly all round and thickened, gluten developed or the dough was not rested. If it flowed and left a pool of fat at the base, the butter melted before the oven. A crack across the base means a third thing: uneven rolling, where the thinner areas dry faster than the ones beside them.

An assembled tart does not keep — its parts do. Bases are baked ahead and held sealed for up to a week, and the tart is assembled on the day it is served: even with a chocolate seal, moisture from the filling reaches the pastry within two days.