Sweet Pastry Tart Shells, Baked Blind

Recipes featured in Sean Armstrong’s Kitchen: Modern food to cook at home by Sean Armstrong, published by Random House.

Ingredients

380g butter, diced
150g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
20ml milk
500g high-grade flour
pinch of salt
100ml water, approx

Method

Soften the butter until warm and very pliable, but not too soft and runny. Add the caster sugar and mix extremely slowly in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with dough hooks until the sugar is combined. Then add the egg yolks and milk and mix very slowly, being sure not to aerate the mixture. Sift the flour and salt, add to the butter mix and work together until the mixture just comes together. Remove from the bowl, place on a flat tray and rest in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.

Makes about 1 KG.

Blind Baking

Blind baking is a very important part of making any tart, sweet or savoury. Be sure to follow the method carefully.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease the tart or flan tin. Roll out pastry to 3mm thick and line the tart or flan tin. Set the lined tin to rest in a cool place for 20 minutes. This will prevent the pastry from shrinking while cooking.

Line the pastry shell with baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove the beans and paper and prick the base with a fork. Return the shell to the oven and bake for 3 – 4 minutes until the pastry has dried. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before use.