Jacques Pépin’s Shortcrust Pastry Dough (method #2 : with a food processor)

The Butter

1. Dice the Butter (¾ Cup or 169 g) but do not let it melt or even soften : The Butter must be cold and you must work onto the next steps rapidly

2.  The Butter (¾ Cup or 169 g) must be cold and hard : The blade of the Food Processor (with chopping blades) will soften it

3.  The Butter (¾ Cup or 169 g) is too soft here as you can see on the photo : place it in the fridge and wait 30 minutes before even starting the recipe

4. In the mixing bowl of a Food Processor (with chopping blades), combine:the Flour (2 ¼ Cups or 330 g), the Butter (¾ Cup or 169 g) cold, to cut into 0.25" (or 1/4" or 0.635 cm) thick slices, the Salt (¼ teaspoon) et the Sugar (1 teaspoon)

5. Crumble the dough by processing the dough in 1 second intervals

KitchenAid Food ProcessorFood Processor Cuisinart

6. Then process the dough for 8 seconds

7. At this point, pieces of Butter should still be visible

8. French cooks call this a "sand"

6-Inch Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl

9. Time to add the Water (½ Cup or 104 g) : it must be very cold

10.  If the Water is not cold enough (like during summer), place in the freezer for 5 minutes

11. Gradually add the Water (½ Cup or 104 g), mix by hand and stop adding when you can gather the dough with your hands into a mass

12. The dough is done when it has begun to mass. Proceed to "Frasage" (blending)

13. The dough gathers together

Frasage (blending)

14. Gather the dough again into a mass and repeat the "frasage" : Do this several times

Cooling down

15.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using

Food Wrap