Making & Baking a Tart Shell

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top 1000French
French

By Damien Pignolet

Published 2005

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  • Dust the rolling pin and a clean work surface lightly with flour and roll out the pastry. The rolling action is a combination of downward pressure while rolling the pin away from you; go slowly, lifting, turning and lightly dusting both the pin and bench with flour until the pastry is about 5mm thick and the desired shape is achieved. Dust off the pastry with a pastry brush.
  • A good alternative, especially with very short pastry, is to roll it out between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper.
  • Place the pin on the edge of the pastry and roll the dough around it to enable you to transfer it to the tart tin. Loosely unroll the pastry over the tin, then loosen it around the edges so that it will fall into the depth of the tin. Trim the excess pastry around the perimeter, leaving an overhang of about 1.5cm. Fold this back into the tin, keeping the edge raised slightly above the rim. Flour your fingertips and compress the edges together to achieve an even height to the walls. Dust off any surplus flour with a pastry brush and prick the bottom of the tart shell all over with a fork.
  • Line the pastry shell with a piece of foil large enough to protect the top of the walls then put it in the freezer for 20 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
  • Fill the shell with pastry weights or dried beans and bake for 10 minutes or until the walls appear to be set. Carefully remove the foil and weights and continue to cook until some colour is evident.
  • Reduce the temperature to 170°C and bake until well-coloured, reducing the temperature as necessary to avoid burning - the aim is to thoroughly cook the pastry to a crisp, slightly flaky texture and a pale caramel colour. When it is ready, it should feel dry and sound hollow when gently tapped.