Pate Sablee - French Shortcrust

This is a great crust for Tarts and certain Pie types.  It's and lightly sweet, and crumbly, not flaky.  First used it in making a blackberry and rhubarb tart

Quantity:
Makes enough dough for a thick crust in an 11-inch tart pan.  If thinner, there will be leftover that is great for making small tarts or even a galette (an unshaped pie with the dough rolled out and folded over the filling)

250 g flour
180 g. butter, salted
3/4 tsp salt
1 lg egg
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/3 c. powdered sugar

Start by whipping the granulated sugar and butter together.  This is a bit different than normal pie crusts that want the butter cut into the flour.  This gets the crust to be more crisp and crumbly.  Add the egg, and powdered sugar, and beat in the flour.

Chill the dough for 30 minutes and then roll out on floured surface.  This makes great thin crusts for tarts of various sizes, or thicker.  Roll at 1/4 inch for a thicker crust.

Once you've set the crust in the backing pan, prick the bottom with a fork in various places and weigh it down.  The simplest way is put a sheet of aluminum foil and then fill it with dry beans.  The beans aren't hurt by the high heat, and can be stored again after they've cooled.  Bake the crust by itself (without filling) for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.