How to make sweet pastry. This is the best pastry to use for sweet desserts like pies, tarts, tortes and tartlets. Basic shortcrust pastry is the easiest pastry to make, it is a versatile pastry suitable for sweet or savoury dishes. Sometimes a sweet shortcrust pastry is needed, especially for desserts and sweet pies as it adds extra flavor and depth. This pastry is also known as pate sucrée. This recipe makes about 240 grams. This recipe makes enough to line a shallow 20cm (8 inch) flan tin. Though it may at first seem a little sticky, rich shortcrust pastry is a little easier to handle than basic pastry. But as with any pastry recipe, resting is the key to success as once rested in the refrigerator, the pastry will keep its shape during cooked.