Sucree, Brisee, Sablee

• The simplest of the trio, pate brisee, is made with flour, salt, butter and cold water, much like an American pie crust. More thorough beating results in a less flaky texture, and some brisees contain a teaspoon or two of sugar. The most complex, pate sablee, also contains sugar, egg and ground almonds, yielding a shortbread-like texture. Pate sucree is the more popular and more versatile dessert-tart choice. Added egg and sugar, along with thorough mixing, produces a dough resembling a lightly sweetened plain cookie. Less elastic than American pie dough, patee sucree requires chilling at several stages of preparation and a light touch with the rolling pin to prevent tearing and crumbling. Like cookie dough, though, its tears are easily patched. Beginning pastry cooks can even press it into the tart pan with fingers.

Blind Baking

• Blind baking does not involve finding the oven with your eyes closed. It is the common term for partially baking an empty pie or tart shell to prevent melting or softening when fillings are added. Most recipes based on pate sucree specify a partial or full baking before filling.

Curds, Caramels and Creams

• Tarts made with pate sucree often require you to precook the filling. For a lemon or orange tart, thicken juice, sugar and cornstarch over heat to make a curd. Caramelize sugar and combine it with eggs over heat, then add nuts for a nut-tart filling while the tart crust partially bakes. To fill a tart with pastry cream, a classic custard thickened with flour or cornstarch, you need to completely cook and cool the cream, then pour it into a fully baked crust. When you choose a pate sucree tart recipe, check the stages to which both crust and fillings need to be cooked before the dessert is assembled and baked.

Nut Tarts

• Perhaps the idea for pecan pie came from delicious French nut tarts, which use a similar sugar-egg mixture as a base for the nuts and sometimes incorporate chocolate into the mix. French tarts start with pate sucree and feature all kinds of nuts. Experiment with a walnut, hazelnut or macadamia filling. Although tart fillings are shallower than most pie fillings, the results will be equally delicious.

Fruit Tarts

• Make a delicious fruit tart by cooking seasonal fruit to a thick consistency and spreading it on a partially or fully baked pate sucree crust. The most spectacular fruit presentation is surprisingly easy. Spread a generous layer of cold pastry cream on a baked crust and decorate with one or more kinds of fresh, canned or poached fruit. Melt apple jelly, orange marmalade or other jelly with a little sugar. Brush a thin layer of jelly over the fruit to finish the dish and dazzle your guests.