Pâte Brisée with Cream Cheese
Makes enough pastry for a single 9- to 10-inch (22.5- to 25-cm) pie crust
Lessons demonstrated in this recipe:
- How to prepare a pâte brisée substituting cream cheese for a portion of the fat.
- The butter is frozen for a short period of time and the cream cheese is chilled to ensure that they will not soften or melt during mixing.
- Resting the dough allows gluten to relax.
- An acid such as cold orange juice is added to make rolling out easier with less shrinkage while providing flavor to the crust.
| MEASUREMENTS | INGREDIENTS | |||
| U.S. | METRIC | BAKER'S % | ||
| 6 1/2 ounces | 1 1/2 cups | 185 g | 100% | pastry flour |
| 1/8 teaspoon | 0.5 g | 0.3% | salt | |
| 1 teaspoon | 6 g | 3.2% | grated orange zest | |
| 3 1/2 ounces | 100 g | 54% | cold cream cheese, cut into cubes | |
| 4 ounces | 115 g | 62% | unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for 20 to 30 minutes | |
| 1 1/2 fluid ounces | 3 tablespoons | 45 mL | 24% | ice cold orange juice |
| 243.5% | Total Pâte Brisée with Cream Cheese percentage | |||
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, the salt, and the orange peel. Pulse the mixture to blend.
- Add the cream cheese to the dry ingredients and pulse the mixture a few times to distribute it until the cream cheese resembles small pea-sized pieces (Figure 1). Stop the machine and feel the pieces to make sure they are the right size.
- Add the frozen butter and pulse the mixture 8 to 10 times to reduce the butter to pea-sized pieces.
- Add half of the orange juice, pulsing the machine only until the mixture is just combined. Pour the mixture into a bowl and with your hands gather the dough together to form a ball (Figure 2). If the dough feels too dry, add the remaining orange juice. Shape the dough into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight. How to shape and bake this dough depends on what is being made with it.