How to make a good pastry tart case
Lining a tin or mould with pastry to make a tart or pie seems simple enough: you roll out the pastry, put it in the tin and trim off any overhanging bits.
It may not be rocket science, but if you want a tart with a perfect pastry case, it really helps to take care over a few details, which I will show you here.
It may not be rocket science, but if you want a tart with a perfect pastry case, it really helps to take care over a few details, which I will show you here.
78 K 3.1/5 (14 reviews)
45 min.
Easy
1 tart
1 IngredientLast modified on: July 14th 2019
For 1 tart, you will need:
350 ml 
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Resting: 30 min.
All in all: 45 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 5 min.
Start by rolling out the pastry – 350 ml sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée) here – which should be really cold. You might find these tips helpful.
Roll the pastry out to the diameter of your tin + the height of the sides.
Roll the pastry out to the diameter of your tin + the height of the sides.
Stage 2 - 5 min.
Sit the tin your mould on a sheet of cooking parchment laid on a baking sheet. Ease the rolled-out pastry down into the tin. Use your fingers to press the pastry gently into contact with the sides, leaving any excess pastry overhanging the edge..
Stage 3 - 30 min.
It is most important to make sure that the pastry sit well into the corner where the base meets the sides (shown by the arrows on this diagram). There should not be any space left behind it.
Put the tin on its baking sheet into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Put the tin on its baking sheet into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Stage 4
After refrigerating, take the tin out of the fridge and sit it on the work top.
Stage 5 - 2 min.
Use a knife to trim off any excess pastry...
Stage 6
...all around the edge.
Stage 7
Your pastry case is now ready to be filled.
Stage 8
You can prick over the base if necessary (depending on the filling and pastry you are using).
Remarks
French pastry chefs have a whole arcane vocabulary of their own. There is no need for amateurs to know these terms and they often have no real equivalents in English, but if you'd like to broaden your chef's vocabulary, you can look them up on the following pages (just click on the little flag top right to see the original French version: the rolled-out pastry ("abaisse" in French), and the process of lining with pastry ("foncer" in French).
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 310 RDI=120 % | 1,770 RDI=170 % | 1,330 RDI=200 % | 20,350 RDI=1,020 % | 85,180 RDI: 1,020 % |
| Per 100 g | 90 RDI=30 % | 510 RDI=50 % | 380 RDI=60 % | 5,810 RDI=290 % | 24,340 RDI: 290 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 1 tart : 1.80 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Mini almond-morello tarts, Two-coloured chocolate-orange tart, Apple-almond shortbread tart, Blackberry and almond fondant tart, How to make tart cases, ... See them all 43
Other recipes you may also like
How to cook potato grenaille
The French call very small potatoes "grenaille". This is a typical way of cooking them: the tiny potatoes are pan-fried in their skins and make an excellent accompanient for meat. Grenaille can be made with any kind of potato; it is a question of size, rather than variety, though I think that firm-textured potatoes, such as rattes or charlottes, work best. I am using rattes in the photos. The cooking is a combined method: boiling first, then frying. This is quicker than using a single method. September 16th 2015468 K4.5 45 min.
How to prepare corn salad
Corn salad (or lamb's lettuce) is a green salad plant. It can be used like lettuce, but requires careful preparation as it is often grown in sand. Here is how to prepare corn salad from the freshly picked plant to the leaves ready to use. April 10th 2013155 K4.1 20 min.
How to make tart cases
It's not easy to make beautiful, even tart cases, but here I'll let you into the secret of how the professionals do it. You will see that there are a lot of little details that make all the difference. It's a bit technical, but don't worry, I'll guide you through the important points. October 3rd 202181 K 2 hours 30 min.
How to prepare tomatoes
Yes, I know you will say to me: why peel tomatoes? The answer is very simple: it's much better, gives a better texture, softer in the mouth. The skin is tough, adds nothing to the taste (and you will have noticed that commercial tomatoes have practically no taste), and finally it's there (on/under the skin) that the awful chemical products that the fruit receive during growth, are concentrated (treatments, pesticides, etc...). June 6th 2012340 K 24 40 min.
How to keep meat tender after cooking
When you cook meat, the cooking heat causes the juices to run back inside, so the outside dries up somewhat. Here is a tip to avoid this. February 21th 2011119 K4.3 5 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-09-07)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.