How to make a good pastry tart case


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.
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Last modified on: July 14th 2019
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For 1 tart, you will need:

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Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Resting: 30 min.
All in all: 45 min.
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Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - ⌛ 5 min.
How to make a good pastry tart case  : Stage 1
Start by rolling out the pastry – 350 g 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.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 5 min.
How to make a good pastry tart case  : Stage 2
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.
How to make a good pastry tart case  : Stage 3
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.

Stage 4
How to make a good pastry tart case  : Stage 4
After refrigerating, take the tin out of the fridge and sit it on the work top.

Stage 5 - ⌛ 2 min.
How to make a good pastry tart case  : Stage 5
Use a knife to trim off any excess pastry...

Stage 6
How to make a good pastry tart case  : Stage 6
...all around the edge.

Stage 7
How to make a good pastry tart case  : Stage 7
Your pastry case is now ready to be filled.

Stage 8
How to make a good pastry tart case  : 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 recipe310 RDI=120 %1,770 RDI=170 %1,330 RDI=200 %20,350 RDI=1,020 %85,180 RDI: 1,020 %
Per 100 g90 RDI=30 %510 RDI=50 %380 RDI=60 %5,810 RDI=290 %24,340 RDI: 290 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
Possible allergens in this recipe: Gluten, milk, egg, Nuts
How much will it cost?
  • For 1 tart : 1.80 €

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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)
Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Croute à thé, Parisian-style chocolate custard tart, How to roll out pastry for a tart, Mini almond-morello tarts, Apple-almond shortbread tart, ... See them all 45

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