When used to reference batter, the term may be used to describe Pâte à Choux, which is a light pastry batter formed into a pastry shell, shaped for holding sweet fillings. The term Pâte used to describe a dough may be applied to Pâte Sucrée, a sweet, flaky, short pastry dough that is similar to Pâte Brisée but with more sugar and egg yolks added as ingredients. Reference to this type of Pâte often describes dough used to make dessert tarts and shell pastries.
The use of Pâte to describe a type of pastry can be applied to the French dessert referred to as Pâte Brisée. Made with a small amount of sugar and a large amount of butter, the dough of this short crust pastry bakes into a crumbly consistency that is not flaky or very sweet, but rich and buttery. It is used for making pastry shells that will be filled with sweet fillings or heavier fillings such as savory meat and cheese ingredients. When used to describe a paste, Pâte may be used to refer to the fillings for cream puff pastries, eclairs, tarts, pies, or appetizer shells. A French word that looks very similar to Pâte is Pâté, which differs only with the use of an accent character over the "e" in the word. This spelling of Pâté is used to describe a French "charcuterie' which are pastes made of ground meat shaped into loaves, round cylinders or flat cakes that may be produced as firm or spreadable Pâté paste to be served hot or cold.