Tart Dough And Prebaking Recipes

BLIND-BAKED PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Whisk sugar, salt, and 2⅔ cups flour in a large bowl. Add butter and, using your fingers, smash each piece into a thin disk. Take your time doing this and don't feel compelled to break butter into even smaller pieces. Drizzle ⅔ cup ice water over, dispersing it as widely as possible, and mix with a rubber spatula to bring mixture together into a shaggy mass.
• Turn dough out onto a surface and work together with your hands, pushing and flattening until dough holds together when squeezed in your palm but some streaks of dry flour are still visible. Divide dough into 2 portions.
• Flatten 1 portion of dough into an 8"-diameter disk. Cut into quarters, stack pieces on top of one another, and flatten dough with a rolling pin to about half of its original height. At this point dough should hold together with no dry spots remaining, and have nice big flakes of butter showing. Use a bench scraper or a large knife to clean any clingy bits of dough from surface. Dust surface with flour, then dust top of dough with flour. Roll out to a ¼"-⅜"-thick round. Wrap dough around rolling pin and transfer to a standard 9"-diameter pie dish. Unfurl into dish, then lift edges and allow dough to slump down into dish. Trim overhang to an even 1" (there will be some excess). Fold overhang under and crimp as desired. Cover and chill until very cold, at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours (cover tightly if chilling longer than 1 hour). Repeat process with remaining dough and another pie dish. Or form into a 1½"-thick disk, wrap in plastic, and chill up to 3 days (or freeze up to 1 month).
• Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat oven to 400°F. Lay 2 sheets of parchment paper over dough and fill with pie weights or dried beans (they should fill the dish). Set on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (this will keep any butter drips from smoking up your oven). Bake until edges are golden brown and bottom is opaque (carefully lift parchment to check), 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven; reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Lift out parchment and weights. Bake crust until evenly chestnut brown all over, 10-15 minutes. If baking both crusts, turn oven dial back up to 400°F and let oven preheat; repeat with remaining crust.

PREBAKED PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Place flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process for a few seconds to combine. Add butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.
• Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide in two. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten and form two discs. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of dough into a 1/8-inch-thick round. Fit into desired pie plate (8 to 10 inches in diameter). Trim pastry using scissors or a sharp paring knife. Crimp or decorate the edges of the pastry as desired. Transfer to refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prick the bottom of pastry all over with a fork. Line the pastry with parchment paper; fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until pastry begins to color around the edges, about 30 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and weights and continue to bake just until the pastry dries out and turns a light golden color for a partially baked shell, and a deeper amber for a fully baked shell, 10 to 20 minutes more. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

TRADITIONAL BAKEWELL TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch pie plate. Whisk together the flour, ground almonds, and baking powder; set aside.
• Roll the pie crust pastry into a round shape a little larger than the pie plate. Cut off a 1/2-inch wide strip from the edge of the pastry circle, and line the lower sides of the pie plate with the strip, placing the cut side upwards (the pastry will not reach the rim of the pie plate). Dampen the strip with water, then place the remaining pie pastry circle into the pie plate, pressing to seal the edges of the circle onto the strip where the pastry overlaps. This will create a crust that is slightly thicker around the lower edges. Spread the strawberry jam evenly over the center of the pastry shell.
• Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until light and fluffy. Whisk the egg together with the lemon zest, and add gradually to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Gently fold the flour mixture, a spoonful at a time, into the egg mixture, folding until just incorporated. Spread the batter over the jam in the pie shell.
• Bake the tart in the preheated oven until the filling is firmly set and browned, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

TART DOUGH

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix together the egg and cream. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter. Using the paddle attachment on low speed, mix in the butter until is the size of small peas. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg mixture. Mix the dough just until it is no longer dry-looking. It will still be loose and crumbly at this point.
• Place the dough on the work surface. With your hands, combine and form the dough into a single ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm but still malleable.
• Rolling and forming the shells: On a lightly floured work surface roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thick. Yield: 6 4-inch tartlets
• When lining tart, be sure to press the dough carefully around the bottom edges of the pans.
• Prebaking shells: To prebake a frozen or chilled shell line it with parchment paper. Fill the shell with uncooked rice, beans, or pie weights. (This helps the shell retain its shape.) Bake the shell in a preheated 350 degree oven until the edges are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and the rice, beans, or weights and continue to bake the shell until it is golden brown all over.
• Unbaked shells can be stored for a day in the refrigerator or for several weeks in the freezer. Once a shell is baked, it should be eaten that day for maximum freshness and flakiness of the crust.

SWEET TART CRUST

Steps:

• Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor, and pulse to blend. Scatter in the butter, and pulse about a dozen times, until the butter is cut in - you'll have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and others the size of peas. Stir the yolk to break it up and add it in 3 additions, pulsing after each. Pulse until the dough has curds and clumps; it should hold together when you pinch it. Turn it out onto a counter, knead it into a compact ball and flatten it into a disk.
• Roll the dough into an 11-inch circle between layers of parchment (or wax) paper. If it's cold enough, fit it into a 9-to-9½-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, trimming the top even with the pan's edges; if it's not, chill it until you can work with it. Refrigerate the crust (in the pan) for at least 1 hour (or cover and freeze for up to 2 months).
• Heat the oven to 400. Place the pan on a baking sheet, and cover with a piece of buttered foil or parchment, pressing it lightly to cover the crust's bottom and sides; fill with rice.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and rice. If you're going to bake the tart again with a filling, bake it uncovered for 5 minutes more. If you'll be using a no-bake filling, bake the uncovered crust for an additional 8 to 10 minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes before filling.

FLAKY PASTRY TART SHELLS

Steps:

• 1. Place the flour, butter, and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse about 24 times, then open the machine and lift a handful of crumbs. The largest pieces of butter should be the size of raw grains of rice or barley. If there are larger pieces, continue to pulse the mixture. When the butter pieces are the correct size, transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water onto the dough. Spread the fingers of one hand as if you were about to grab a large ball, and using your rigid fingertips as if they were a large fork, stir the dough quickly and briefly until the liquid is incorporated. Squeeze a handful of the dough in your palm. The dough should have just enough moisture to stay together. Break the piece in half. If it seems dry and crumbly, cautiously add more water a few teaspoons at a time until you can squeeze it into a ball that will not crumble when broken apart. If your kitchen is reasonably cool, the butter was cold, and you used ice water, the dough should be at just the right stage of malleability for rolling out, and it will be easiest to work with immediately. If your kitchen is very warm, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 15 minutes.
• 2.Rolling the dough:
• Turn the pastry dough out on a lightly floured board and divide it into quarters for small 7-inch tart shells or in half for large 10-inch shells. Shape 1 piece into a disk and dust the top lightly with flour. Begin to roll out the dough, using quick but gentle strokes with the pin. Start with the pin in the middle of the round and roll to the top, then to the bottom. Rotate the dough 1/4 turn each time you roll to be sure the dough is not sticking and use additional flour as necessary. When the round is larger than 9 inches for a small tart, or 12 inches for a large tart, and about 1/8 inch thick, turn a 9- or 12-inch plate or bowl upside down on the dough as a template and cut around it with a sharp knife. Remove the plate or bowl.
• 3.Forming the edge:
• Fold 1/2-inch edge of dough all around to form a decorative rim. Begin by folding a 1-inch-long section over by 1/2 inch, then overlap the fold by half and roll another piece of dough over, pinching it firmly in place. Continue to roll and pinch, and a twisted rope pattern will. Form. Roll out the remaining dough and crimp the edges in the same manner. Transfer the pastry shells to baking sheets lined with parchment paper and poke the interior of the shells all over with the tines of a fork. Refrigerate the pastry for at lest 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. If you wish, you can freeze the shells on the baking sheets, and when they are frozen, stack them inside freezer bags. Bake the shells without defrosting first.
• 4.Prebaking:
• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brush the rims of the tarts with egg wash. Bake the tart shells (1 baking sheet at a time) for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and continue to bake until they are an even golden brown, 8 to 12 minutes longer. Lift a shell with a spatula and check that the underside is evenly brown. If the tart shells puff up during baking, press down the center of the pastry with the back of a large spoon. Let cool on the baking sheet.