Paté Sucré is a French type of shortcrust pastry. In this recipe I replaced part of the flour with ground almonds, which gives the biscuits an even crumblier texture and a gorgeous, nutty taste. Toasting the almonds before using them in the dough deepens the nuttiness of these biscuits, giving these biscuits an almost savory kind of sweetness.
I came up with this recipe when I was developing my Chocolate Chestnut Tasting Plate, a dessert consisting of 3 different elements: a sweet Chestnut Cream, a smooth Chocolate Chestnut Mousse Cake with a Toasted Almond Paté Sucré Biscuit base and a generous scoop of Dark Double Chocolate Ice Cream. The toasted almonds in the biscuit base really complement the earthiness of the chestnuts and dark chocolate in this dessert.
- 100g (or 1 cup) ground almonds
- 100g (or ¾ cup + 2 teaspoons) all-purpose flour
- generous pinch of baking powder
- 30g (or 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) granulated sugar
- pinch of salt
- 113g (or ½ cup) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- a little more cream if needed
- Note: these biscuits can be made 1 week ahead of time. Store them in an airtight container until use.
- First, toast the ground almonds. Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F (standard oven setting) and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Using your fingers, spread the ground almonds in an even layer on the parchment. Bake for 4 minutes, then take the baking sheet out of the oven, stir the ground almonds with a fork (spreading them around again in an even layer), return the sheet to the oven and bake for another 1½ minute, or until golden brown. Take out of the oven (turn the oven off) and leave to cool to room temperature.
- Once the almonds have cooled sufficiently, add them to the bowl of a food processor with the flour, the baking powder, the sugar and the salt. Pulse briefly to combine. Add the cold butter and blitz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. It’s okay if there are still small pieces of butter visible in the mixture. These will ensure that the paté sucré will turn out nice and crumbly. In the meantime, whisk together the yolk and the 1 tbsp of cream. Add the egg mixture to the mixture in the food processor and pulse briefly until the dough comes together in large chunks. If the dough doesn’t come together, add a little more cream until it does.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can use your fingers to make the dough. First, tir together the almonds, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and rub the ingredients between your finger tips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Whisk together the yolk and the 1 tbsp of cream. Add to the almond mixture and stir together with a fork until the dough comes together in large chunks.
- Pour the crumbly dough on top of a sheet of plastic wrap. Using your hands, press the dough into a flat disc then wrap it with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
- Once the dough has rested, roll it out between two sheets of baking parchment, to a thickness of about ½-cm or a little less than a ¼-inch. Use a cookie cutter or a glass to cut out 9-cm or 3½-inch cookies. Re-roll the dough scraps and repeat until all the dough has been used. Transfer the cookies to a cutting board lined with baking parchment and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F (standard oven setting).
- NOTE: you can adjust the size of these cookies to how you plan on plating the dessert. I made the mousse cakes in small cake rings. However, you can also make them in a silicon cupcake mold or in pretty glasses. The idea is that you want your cookies to be a little bigger than the mold you eventually want to make your cakes in.
- Once the cookies have frozen, bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and no longer shiny. The baking time depends on the thickness and size of the cookies, so keep a close eye on them and don’t hesitate to bake them a little longer if needed.
- If you plan on making the mousse cakes in cake rings or in glasses, use the cake rings or cookie cutters to cut out cookie shapes while the cookies are still warm. This ensures that the cookies fit the molds tightly and that the cookie layer is visible after unmolding. I used a 7-cm (3-inch) cookie cutter for this.
- NOTE: in other words, I cut out cookie shapes before the dough went into the oven, then again after the baked cookies came out of the oven.
- Leave the cookies to cool to room temperature (in the cake rings if you use them) and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.