How to roll out pastry for a tart

To start with, it is necessary to use pastry:

• Which is not in a ball, but rather flat like a thick pancake.
  • In a ball, you will break it rather than spread it with the rolling pin.
• Which is very cold, straight from the fridge if possible.
  • If pastry is warm, therefore soft, it will be easy to roll out but will stick to the rolling pin and will be practically impossible to put in the mould.

Dust working surface and rolling pin generously with flour (don't worry about using too much, the surplus will be removed before baking).

Roll out pastry with the rolling pin, and for that here is the most important knack: you should always roll from the centre out to the edge of the pastry.

Never pass the rolling pin over the whole surface of the pastry, you will inevitably made a bump in the middle.

You should work as quickly as possible so that your pastry stays very cold. Flour the top, and/or turn the pastry during this operation.

Roll out to the required thickness (2 or 3 mm usually), or size, depending on your mould (to try, put your mould gently on the pastry, which should be about 2 cm larger all round).

Once the pastry is rolled out, it is necessary to transfer it to the mould, which is a delicate operation.

For this, the best way is to pass a metal spatula or slice underneath, then wrap it around the rolling pin, and then unroll it over the mould.

You can watch a video demonstration on the right.

Then, you need to press the pastry into the bottom and sides of the mould, so that it is properly lined, and so that the bottom of pastry when cooked will be nice and solid.

You can watch a video demonstration on the right.

Once this operation is complete, trim off the surplus pastry with a knife by following round the top of the mould.

Note: With this surplus, you can make small tarts, or if it is a sweetcrust pastry, small biscuits to serve with coffee for instance.

Remove any surplus flour with a brush.

And finally, prick over the bottom of the mould with a fork or a "pique-vite", to avoid the pastry bubbling up during baking.

Put the mould in the fridge for one hour so that pastry firms up before baking, it is then ready for use.