---

A sweet, short paste is a standard dough that can be used as the base for sugar cookies, tarts, pie crusts, and quiches. It has just enough sugar to get a hint of sweet, but is not exclusive to desserts. It’s also not as high in fat or sugar as a sugar crust, so it holds up well and gives a sturdy structure to its filling.

Today we’re making this as a tart shell to house our Saffron Crème Pâtissière and some other delicious elements that we’ll make tomorrow.

---

Ingredients:

• 3 c pastry flour
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• 10 Tablespoons COLD unsalted butter
• 4 ½ Tablespoons COLD shortening
• ½ c to 3/4 c ice-cold water

(This recipe will yield enough dough for two 7”-9” tarts or a full top & bottom enclosed pie crust; the recipe can be halved if needed.)

Preheat the oven to 400°

Grease your tart pans well and set aside.

Combine your dry ingredients

cut your butter and shortening into 1/2″ cubes

and plop them into the flour mix.

Pinch the fats in by scooping them up with the tips of your fingers and squeezing them into the flours. Try to keep the dough away from the middle of your hands where you emit more heat. You want the butters to stay in tact.

Using a mixer or food processor, slowly add the water into the flour/butter mix until you have a thick, but combined dough.

The final blending or “fraisage” is what smooths the butter into the flour to create a paste.

Using only the heel of your hand,

press down,

and smear the dough in 6” runs across a lightly floured surface. Turn the dough and repeat until the butter is well combined.

Flour your dough and seal it in cling wrap to chill for a minimum of 3 hours. (I usually leave it overnight.)

Once it’s fully chilled, roll out your crust to 1/4” thickness and place in your pans.

If you’re making mini-tarts, use a biscuit cutter to fit the pan

and depress into the cavity.

For a full size tart, gently press the edges without letting them get too thin

and flatten the edge with your thumb while slicing the excess dough.

To prevent the crust from rising, line with crumpled parchment paper

and fill with uncooked beans (or pie weights)

or another cake pan that’s one size smaller.

Bake for 8-9 minutes and remove from the oven.

Take out the weights (you’ll see the shell is not fully cooked)

 and poke holes with a fork throughout the bottom.

Return to the oven for an additional 8-10 minutes until the crust is thoroughly cooked and starting to turn pale gold.

When it has cooled, remove it from the pan to cool and crisp up and receive your fillings.

---

To be continued…

---

I woke up this morning with one, singular thought on my mind: Saffron Crème Pâtissière needs to exist. And thus, a recipe is born…

Saffron is an extraordinary spice. It is actually the stamen of a Crocus flower that grows in Greece and is used in Indian and some Middle-Eastern cooking. It’s earthy and aromatic and is often found in breads or rice. I’ve had a precious little vial of it, sitting on my counter for a couple of weeks. But this is what I do when I want to create a new thing: I let it stare at me from a kitchen shelf until voila! I wake up with its new identity in mind.

---

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk
• 1 ¼ teaspoon saffron threads
• ½ teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• ½ cup pastry flour
• 1 Tablespoon butter

Begin by measuring your saffron threads,

and putting them in a sauce pan with your milk.

Bring your milk to a boil slowly, letting the saffron infuse until the milk is golden.

This will take some time, so while you wait…

 

Prepare your flavorings and butter so they’re ready to go into the pastry creme as soon as you remove it from heat (later).

And beat the egg yolks with the sugar on high

until it turns soft yellow and thick, about 2-3 minutes.

Beat the flour into the egg yolk/sugar mix and let it sit while you…

 

Prepare a pouring vessel with a sieve

and pass the boiling milk through to collect the saffron threads.

In a SUPER slow drizzle, over a medium-high mixer, gradually add the boiling milk to the egg/sugar/flour mix.

Then transfer it into a medium sauce pan and whisk the bejeezus out of it over a med-high heat. Don’t Stop! Once it comes to a boil, put the heat to low and continue whisking for 2-3 minutes. This is the forearm workout of the month, but don’t give up or your creme will curdle and burn.

Remove it from the heat and quickly whisk in the butter and flavorings.

Put it in a container and cover the top of the creme with cling wrap so it doesn’t form a skin. Throw it into the fridge for at least 4 hours, but preferably over night. It’ll keep for a week in the fridge, but can also be frozen after it chills.

---

This is Day One of a three to four day dessert, so stay with me…

see you tomorrow.

---