Rich Tart Pastry

The word Mürbteig (rich tart pastry) implies “mellow,” “tender,” “crisp,” and “brittle”: you will meet each of these qualities in the course of making and baking the dough. There are many variations on rich tart pastry, depending on the relative proportions of butter, sugar and flour or upon the addition of a special ingredients such as ground almonds, hard-cooked egg yolks, or cream.

Butter is so important in rich tart pastry that the old name for it was Süsser Butterteig (sweet butter dough). Basically it is a first-class cookie dough, tender and crisp with a fine butter flavor. Certainly the variety of Mürbteig doughs coupled with the enormous range of fillings constitutes one of Germany’s finest contributions to baking and gastronomy.

 

Recipes

All recipes are meant for a 10-inch springform pan.

When several alternatives are given for the flavoring, see the individual tart recipes for which one to use.

Note that flour for rich tart pastry does not need to be sifted. Measurements given are for unsifted flour.

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 1

Here is a good choice for an unobtrusive crust; use it when the filling is delicately flavored and you do not want to overpower it. It is crisp, medium-sweet, and has the typical Mürbteig taste.

1¾ cups unbleached flour

⅓ cup sugar

1 egg or 2 egg yolks

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

or

grated peel of ½ lemon

or

1 tablespoon dark rum

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 2

A cookie-like crust, whose special crispness is due to a greater proportion of sugar. It goes well with all fruits and fillings.

1¾ cups unbleached flour

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 egg

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

grated peel of 1 lemon

or

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 3

This is an especially fine crust and does honor to the literal translation of Mürbteig: “mellow dough.” The crust has a nice yellow color and is sweet and crisp. Just delicious!

1¾ cups unbleached flour

½ cup sugar

3 egg yolks

½ cups plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

or

grated peel of one lemon

or

1 teaspoon dark rum

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 4

Four egg yolks give this Mürbteig a smooth, luxurious taste. It goes very well with a sweet filling.

1¾ cups unbleached flour

⅓ cup sugar

4 egg yolks

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

or

grated peel of one lemon

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 5

When this crust melts in your mouth you will forget the trouble it took to get four hard-cooked egg yolks through a fine sieve. I especially recommend it for a fully prebaked tart shell to be filled with custard and fruit.

2 cups unbleached flour

½ cup sugar

4 hard-cooked egg yolks

¾ cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon dark rum

or

grated peel of 1 lemon

or

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Note: Boil eggs for 10 minutes. Let cool. Rub the yolks through a fine sieve.

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 6

This light crust with baking powder has a neutral taste and is good for all kinds of tarts, especially the Cheese Tart.

1½ cups unbleached flour

½ cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

⅓ cup sugar

1 egg

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

grated peel of 1 lemon

juice of ½ lemon

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 7

The simplest of these crusts has a low butter content, so baking powder is needed to make the pastry lighter. The taste is pleasant and the shell is quite good for a simple tart.

1¾ cups unbleached flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

⅓ cup sugar

1 egg

¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter

3 tablespoons whole milk

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

or

1 tablespoon dark rum

or

grated peel of 1 lemon

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 8

If you choose to make a rich, custardy filling with lots of eggs, perhaps you would like to balance it with an eggless Mürbteig such as this one. It makes a very good tart shell, medium-sweet and very crisp.

1½ cups unbleached flour

⅓ cup sugar

½ cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

or

1 tablespoon dark rum

Note: Because there is no egg to help bind the dough, it will take a little longer for the dough to form into a ball. Repeatedly compress the dough in the palms of your hands and release it.

 

Rich Tart Pastry No. 9

This is a very crisp sugar crust. It is medium-sweet with a full, almond flavour. Because of the dryness of ground nuts and because there is no egg, this crust can be hard to roll out in one piece. I recommend doing the bottom of the pan first and then rolling out the sides separately. A good choice for a fully prebaked shell.

¾ cup unbleached flour

½ cup cornstarch

⅓ cup sugar

½ cup unsalted butter

¾ cup blanched, finely ground almonds

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

or

½ teaspoon almond extract

Note: Watch this crust carefully as it bakes. It should only brown very slightly; otherwise the almonds produce a bitter flavor. Also, because there is no egg to help bind the dough, it will take a little longer for the dough to form into a ball. Repeatedly compress the dough in the palms of your hands and release it.