Shopping Cart

Rooibos Tea – Infused Pâte Sucrée Breton Tarts

Rooibos Tea – Infused Pâte Sucrée Breton Tarts

Walk into any French Patisserie and you’ll be amazed by the array of Pâte Sucrée Breton tartlets, impossible to choose from.

With their flaky, crunchy, butter pastry, I love making these for afternoon teas or sophisticated dinner parties.

Rooibos Tea - Infused Pâte Sucrée Breton Tarts

Making the filling is exceptionally easy and the sky is really the limit when it comes to decorating these.

I chose a subtle tropical-infused Rooibos tea from my tea box, which is Rooibos tea with peel, fiber and petals from mango, apple, hibiscus, papaya and lemon.

You don’t want to add a lot of water to the filling, so you really need almost a concentrate of strong tea.

So I used 3-4 teaspoons of tea, brewed it over the stove for 10-15 minutes, cooled it down and mixed in 60 ml with my filling.

The result was the most subtle fruity, floral undertone that elevated the velvety filling to whole new level.

I think teas such as Earle Gray, Chai, peppermint, hibiscus or rose can work really well here.

Now, let’s talk about the shortbread crust. In my opinion, the pastry crust is the essence of a great Pâte Sucrée Breton tart.

The Pâte Sucrée crust originates from Brittany, France, where it was originally served as a crumbly, deliciously rich, butter cookie.

From here the key ingredient to a great Pâte Sucrée crust: butter.

This pastry is very versatile and it can be used for just about any tart crust.

Tips for making the lightest Rooibos Tea – Infused Pâte Sucrée Breton Tarts (sweet short crust) pastry:

Whenever you’re making pastry, it is important to use best-quality butter for maximum flavor, color and flakiness.

It is also the butter that helps make pastry so light.

If the butter starts to melt, stop immediately and put everything back into fridge for 20-30 minutes before continuing.

However, be careful not to overwork the pastry as this may also affect the lightness.

The second most important thing when making pastry is time.

Having enough time to thoroughly rest the pastry after making it is very important.

A note on freezing the pastry:

You can make batches of this shortcrust pastry and store it in the freezer for when you need it. I always have a batch of crust pastry ready in the freezer and it thaw and bake perfectly.

Roll the pastry into a neat ball, wrap with cling film and freeze immediately after preparing.

To thaw the pastry, remove it from the freezer and allow to slowly thaw in the fridge overnight.

You can view my YouTube channel “Cooking In The Veld” by clicking the link below or by scanning the QR code.

YouTube Recipe Vlog:https://linktr.ee/Stean_Kruger.

Click here for the full recipe: Stean Kruger Cooks